I’m an insider.

I’m also one of the more liberal members of the legislature.

My first year here, I learned that you can often get a lot more done if you’re willing to seek common ground and settle for incremental progress. And you’re more likely to achieve that end if you don’t harden another legislator’s viewpoint by drawing attention to your differences.

A case in point this week.

Students in a legal clinic at the University of Maryland Law School sued a chicken farm on the Eastern Shore for violating the Clean Water Act.

That prompted the State Senate to make $250,000 of the law school’s appropriation contingent upon a report being submitted about the cases brought by the Environmental Law Clinic.

I got a call early this week from a member of the faculty. My advice: draft alternative language that responds to the legislature’s legitimate concerns but doesn’t put any of your funding at risk. I also arranged a meeting with House leaders.

I also said: “I won’t vote for a floor amendment that would strike the committee’s language. A recorded vote would harden positions on both sides and make it more difficult to reach an acceptable compromise.”

Senator Harry McGuirk was known as Soft Shoes because he frequently got things done without leaving traces of his involvement.

I can’t claim that I’m filling his shoes, but sometimes I’m following in his footsteps.