I’m a conservative…

When it comes to bill drafting.

If there’s law that already addresses the issue I’m concerned with, copy it.

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

That was the case yesterday for my bill imposing penalties for the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

They would be the same as those for the sale of tobacco products to minors, as enacted in House Bill 185 last session.

I was the sponsor of that bill.

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On a similar note, legislation to give a preference to Maryland architects when bidding on state government projects was heard by my committee today.

I wrote our committee counsel, “Is the local preference standard in the bill the same as that in other states?”

She responded, “Yes and it would only kick in if another state had a specific preference that we would apply an identical preference.”