Author: delsandy

All that I’ve learned

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House Bill 812 is the bill in the reproductive health care package that I’m sponsoring.

This morning, I began my study of the legislation – to review what the bill would do and why that’s needed.

And to strategize about how to present the bill in the most appropriate and persuasive way.

HB 812 would provide additional privacy protections for medical records to reduce the risk of criminal prosecution or civil litigation for out-of-state patients seeking reproductive care in Maryland and for the health care professionals who provide it.

For every bill that I introduce, I apply all that I’ve learned over the years to make the case to get it passed.

This time, even more so.

The stakes are too high.

Three Election Reform Provisions, Not Hypotheticals

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My Election Reform Act of 2022 has three provisions.

“Two of the problems that House Bill 410 addresses are not hypothetical,” I testified today.

“One addresses what will no doubt soon not be a hypothetical.”

Before last year’s primary, the polling place for the Grove Park neighborhood was moved from the local school to the fire station.

From plenty of parking to no parking.

My bill would require that if a polling place change is made more than 21 days before the election, there must be a public hearing.

This would give the affected voters an opportunity to express their concerns.

In Maryland and other states, election boards were swamped with public information requests that interfered with necessary preparations for last year’s elections.

Under HB 410, an election board may deny access to election records, within 90 days of an election, if a judge finds that inspection of the records would cause “substantial injury to the public interest.”

Finally, it is already against the law to willfully influence or attempt to influence through the use of force, fraud and other illegal acts a voter’s decision to “go to the polls to cast a vote.”

My legislation would make such actions illegal, when directed at a voter’s decision to “vote by other lawful means,” such as a mail ballot.

A Withdrawal Is a Win

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If you live near Loyola University, your neighborhood participates in the school’s strategic planning.

That collaboration began with a bill of mine that was defeated – forty years ago.

Loyola had purchased a nearby apartment building to convert it into a dormitory.

My legislation would have required that the elderly tenants, whose leases were not renewed, be assisted in finding a new apartment.

After my bill was defeated, Speaker Ben Cardin and Mayor William Donald Schaefer urged Loyola to begin a planning process with its neighbors to avoid conflicts like this.

That cooperative effort continues today.

However, before my bills are defeated, I now ask the affected parties if they can take steps to address a problem that do not require a change in the law.

With that commitment, I can withdraw my bill.

I did that twice today.

To assist entry-level workers in gaining the skills needed to advance to higher paying jobs, the Department of Labor will modify an existing program.

Employees at Sinai and Levindale, many of whom live nearby, will benefit.

Two weeks ago, I wrote you about discussions with Herman Berlin, an auto parts distributor, and state procurement officials.

Herman wrote me today, “The memo from [a state procurement official] is exactly what I need.”

A Middle Course – Then and Now

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After the General Assembly passed the bill that made Roe v. Wade’s legal standard the law of Maryland, a referendum followed.  62% voted Yes.

This week, we announced a legislative agenda to protect the women who need reproductive health care, as well as the people who provide that care.

The legislation I am sponsoring would enable a woman to keep private data associated with her treatment.

Why do we need such a bill?

The laws of Texas and other states put a woman and her care providers at risk of criminal prosecution or civil action.

Denying access to this data reduces the risk of people being hauled into court.

“We believe that most Marylanders would prefer a middle course on this issue,” the House Republican Caucus responded in a statement.

As noted above, a clear majority of Maryland voters agreed with the action we took in 1992.

In no small measure because of the anti-choice laws passed by other states, I believe the voters also agree with the course we are taking now.

That can include bipartisan efforts to address the needs of newborns and their families.

See In Post-Roe World, These Conservatives Embrace a New Kind of Welfare  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/conservatives-child-care-benefits-roe-wade.html

Preparing for a Bill

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At the outset of the Trump administration, legislation was introduced authorizing Maryland’s Attorney General to sue the federal government without obtaining the Governor’s approval.

Speaker Mike Busch referred the bill to the subcommittee that I chaired.

The day before the floor debate, my committee chair, Delegate Shane Pendergrass, asked me if I was prepared to defend the bill.

I replied, “I’ve been preparing to defend this bill for 66 years.”

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, I am sponsoring one of the bills that would protect women and health care providers in Maryland from civil and criminal liability under the laws of Texas and other states.

It was 32 years ago this week that the General Assembly enacted legislation adopting the Roe standard.

How do I know this (without Googling)?

The day before the final vote on that bill, my aunt celebrated her birthday.

She told her guests that I would be the floor leader for the bill the next day.

Aunt Margie is coming to Annapolis tonight to celebrate her birthday.

At dinner, I told her, “I’ve been preparing to defend this pro-choice legislation for 32 years.”

Not So Quick

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“Give us amendments as soon as you can.”

A chairman doesn’t say that often.

But that was the case today on my bill requiring that people engaged in real estate wholesaling be licensed by the state.

I was prompted to introduce Houde Bill 301 after reading about the negative effect these individuals were having on Baltimore City neighborhoods.

I testified alongside a lobbyist for the Maryland Realtors.  He said that we would be offering amendments to House Bill 301.

I interpreted the chairman’s comments as indicating that he wanted to act favorably on an amended bill.

As we left the hearing room, several opponents to the bill spoke to us.

They raised concerns that we could not ignore.

The lobbyist drafted an amendment by late afternoon.

We shared it with the bill’s opponents and will get their reaction before we present it to the committee.

 

One of the articles that prompted me to introduce HB 301:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/investigations/bs-bz-baltimore-landlords-investor-homes-20221028-v5mmhm7aubbrbdw2zngmnjiuri-story.html

Ordinary and Profound

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President Biden will give his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to a nationwide audience.

By chance last night, I channel surfed to C-Span and came upon the President’s remarks at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Tunnel last week.

As a Senator and as Vice President, his trip home to Delaware on Amtrak was delayed by this aging infrastructure,

This is what President Biden said about the people whose homes he saw from the train.

These are jobs for folks I used to think about as I took the train home at night going through the stretches of suburban Maryland, suburban Baltimore, and look out the window, see the flickering lights on people’s tables. Not a joke.

I used to look and them and just wonder what their conversations were at their kitchen tables, their dining room table, what were they thinking about before they put their — just before or after they put their kids to bed, asking questions that are ordinary and profound.

Repealing the death penalty is the most profound thing I will ever do.

Not just as a legislator but as a human being.

Yet it’s the ordinary things that my staff and I do – solving a neighborhood problem, helping someone receive government benefits, or helping a business owner get a fair shake, that more directly affect people’s lives.

People Are Benefiting

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Money from Maryland’s legal settlements with the tobacco industry and opioid distributors is being used to address the problems caused by cigarettes and fentanyl.

Money from settlements with violators of the safe housing provisions of our consumer protection law is being used to provide legal counsel for tenants facing eviction.

I was the lead sponsor in the House of Delegates of the legislation requiring that these funds be used for these purposes.  Senator Shelly Hettleman sponsored the housing bill in that body.

Last fall, Westminster Management reached a settlement regarding allegations that it had violated the consumer protection law.

“Tenants in Westminster properties suffered with mold, leaks, floods and infestations of rodents, roaches and bedbugs,” stated Attorney General Brian Frosh.

The principal investors in Westminster are the Kushner family.

Approximately, three thousand tenants are expected to be represented by lawyers in housing court because of the $2.45 million payment the State has received.

It is fitting that violators of our housing laws will be assisting tenants. whose lawyers will have the housing law applied to their circumstances.

I learned about setting aside funds from legal settlements in this manner during my first term in Annapolis.

Forty years later, it is gratifying that people are benefiting.

Straightforward and a More Perfect State

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As a bill sponsor, I try to describe what my bill would do in a straightforward (no legal terms) manner that is readily understandable to a fellow legislator or a constituent.

“To support House Bill 259,” I told the Judiciary Committee members this afternoon, “You have to answer two questions.”

Should the State of Maryland hold gun manufacturers liable for the harm caused by their product?

Does the bill before you allow such lawsuits within the limited set of circumstances permitted by the relevant federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act?

I answered both questions with a Yes.

What matters is the response of a majority of the committee.

—

Governor Wes Moore, in his State of the State address today, declared, “Service is how we re-engage our people in the project of forming a more perfect state.”

If proof were needed as to how important a year of service opportunity is to the new governor, that makes it very clear.

Co-sponsorship and forward movement

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As I’ve discussed before, co-sponsorship is the biggest waste of time in Annapolis.

Asking your colleagues to add their names to a bill does not help make the case that your legislation is sound public policy.

But there are exceptions.

When the Governor gives the General Assembly the opportunity to sign on to his bills before he makes the case for their passage in his State of the State address tomorrow, I signed on to all nine of them.

Two are of note for me.

One would create a service option for students the year after they graduate from high school.

Encouraging others to follow my career path in public service has been the passion of my legislative career.

Governor Moore will also be introducing a bill creating the Build Our Future Grant Pilot Program.

I don’t know the details of his legislation, but Senator McCray and I will be introducing a bill that would invest in skills training for City residents to produce a workforce to rebuild Baltimore City’s infrastructure.

See https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/opinion/community-voices/commentary-investment-in-people-offers-path-forward-to-fix-baltimore-infrastructure-QIAROQRTHZG6NEA6UVXO56MEB4/?

The Governor’s bill could become the vehicle for forward movement on aspects of our bill.

  • My Key Issues:

  • Pimlico and The Preakness
  • Our Neighborhoods
  • Pre-Kindergarten
  • Lead Paint Poisoning