TTo pass a bill, you need the right policy and you need the votes.
Your bill must require, fund, or prohibit what’s in the public interest. It must improve the situation it addresses.
And a majority of your colleagues must agree.
That’s the case if your bill speaks to a neighborhood problem.
That’s the case with abortion rights and the death penalty – two of the issues that I’ve worked on over the years.
Congressman John Lewis was asked if “there were any flaws in the original Voting Rights Act.”
He replied, “I think the original drafters of the act, those members were trying to get a bill through Congress that would be supported by the majority. But we need to fix it.”
Speaker Adrienne Jones appointed me to the Workgroup to Address Police Reform and Accountability in Maryland.
We need to fix our police system, and we need to fix the racial and other inequities in our society
Yesterday was the work group’s first hearing.
I can be most effective by concentrating on certain issues.
Both were raised at the meeting:
A police officer should have a duty to intervene when another officer is acting improperly. How do you define that duty? Should there be incentives to intervene and protections for doing so?
How and when should a police department screen for implicit bias in a job applicant? It’s better to address this problem at the outset than after an incident.
My suggestion: what have other states done in these two areas? We can learn from their experience.
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You can speak with Police Commissioner Michael Harrison on our 41st District Town Hall Thursday evening from 5:30-6:30. For details on this Zoom meeting, write JGreenfield@house.state.md.us or call 410-664-2646.
