A dead bill in another forum may smell as sweet – eventually.

Some of my legislation may not flower before we adjourn, but some of these proposals will be worked on after the session ends.

Consigning a bill to summer study often delays the inevitable, but it doesn’t have to.

I realized last fall that my bill to fund loan forgiveness for public service attorneys was not going to pass this session.

That came about when I learned that the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, an arm of the judicial branch, had crafted a bill to increase funding for the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.

That bill would be in the line ahead of mine this session, but that commission could work on my idea next. Its support would be a big boost for my idea in 2011.

A second summer study came about after the committee chairman said at the public hearing on another bill of mine that he wanted to examine in greater depth how the state allocates the money from the legal settlement with the cigarette industry.

He’s already told me I can be an active participant in that review.

So I won’t be spending the entire summer on the campaign trail or Camden Yards.