It’s the first day of the legislative session.

We hope it will be a 90-day session, pandemic and vaccines willing.

My day consisted of the routine and hopefully the profound.

My first virtual bill hearing is Friday.  Under the new rules, I had to submit my testimony by 3:00 today.  I met the deadline.

My 41st District colleague, Dalya Attar, was named today to the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Pimlico redevelopment plan.

We decided to meet tomorrow so that I could bring her up to date on the relevant issues.

And as has become the custom, I offered the prayer at the start of the session on Opening Day.

 

We are again welcomed to this historic State House by Thurgood Marshall and the students he represented in Brown v. Board of Education and Murray v. Pearson, which integrated the University of Maryland School of Law.

Since we last met, some words have new meanings.  Zoom, House Annex, Virtual Hearing.

Some phrases have not changed.  Propose, Persuade, Count to 71.  The Rule of Law.

Some issues have come to the forefront.  Our commitment to racial and economic justice.

As we work together to address these and other challenges in the days ahead, may we remain committed to the people who sent us here to make policy on their behalf.