It was a very quiet walk to work this morning.

The main streets of Annapolis were plowed but with hardly any cars on them.

At a chance meeting in the committee offices, a lobbyist assured me that the votes were there for a favorable report on a bill we had heard.

“But first you have to get it on the voting list,” I replied.

That means convincing the chairman and the committee leadership that the bill is necessary (Why do we need this bill?) and can be amended to address concerns raised at the public hearing.

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In the fourth year of a term, it’s never too early to plan for the fall election – when all 188 seats in the General Assembly will be on the ballot.

There’s a new wrinkle this fall – early voting. For five days in the week before the primary and the general election, polls will be open in a handful of locations in Baltimore City and in each county.

Getting out the vote will no longer be a one-day operation. This uncertainty bred anxiety at a discussion among my colleagues.