Author: delsandy

Convertibles and the Legislative Process

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A new car salesman once asked me if I was interested in a convertible.

“That’s one more thing that could go wrong,” I responded.  “No thanks.”

I am no expert in the parts that could go wrong with a convertible top or any other part of a car.

However, I am a lifelong friend of Herman Berlin.

His family business is Baltimore Auto Supply Company.

Since the state has entered into a contract with Auto Zone, Herman has lost business, and the State of Maryland has lost the opportunity to buy certain parts at a lower price.

I’ve introduced House Bill 199, which would require the state government to give more notice to local businesses before it enters into contracts with national companies and to evaluate the impact of such contracts on a regular basis.

The bill hearing is February 15.

Herman and I had a zoom meeting with state officials today to see if both he and the state could benefit from making certain changes in procurement policy that would not require a change in the law.

“It’s always easier to make progress without having o pass a bill,” I told him.

He understood.

Herman is a quicker study of the legislative process than I am of auto parts.

A Duty To Act

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Telford Taylor was my Constitutional Law professor.

He taught Marbury v. Madison, which established the principle of Supreme Court review of the actions of the executive and legislative branches.

He also taught me what a lawyer could do.

He was the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes trial.

He also defended people targeted in the McCarthy era.

Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It reminded me of Telford Taylor and of the legislation I successfully introduced to provide compensation for people who were taken to concentration camps on the trains of the French National Railroad.

One of the Nuremburg principles is the duty not to follow a superior’s unlawful orders

I helped write such a provision into Maryland’s police reform law two years ago.  An officer should Intervene to prevent an excessive use of force.

I was reminded of that by the failure of any one to act in the horrific video of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

 

Crisis and Opportunity

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“Never allow a good crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.”

Rahm Emanuel said that when he was President Obama’s chief of staff.

That sound advice came to mind twice today.

This morning, I spoke to advocates for a right to legal counsel.

We passed a law providing access to a lawyer for tenants in housing court two years ago.

I had been working on this issue for over a decade.

The pandemic got the bill passed.

The surge in evictions prompted Speaker Adrienne Jones to put this issue on her agenda.

Maryland’s nursing shortage and the need to modernize our response to public health challenges were considered this afternoon by the Health and Government Operations Committee.

The nursing shortage will prompt us to consider a host of incentives and benefits so that patients will receive quality health care.

Adopt those incentives and payments here, and you create a precedent to do it elsewhere.

The Covid pandemic is the basis for the commission,

“It’s a moment of opportunity,” stated Dr. Josh Sharfstein, vice dean of the Johns Hopkins.Bloomberg School of Public Health.

It sounded familiar.

Deja View All Over Again

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Waiting for my SLAPP bill to be heard in the Judiciary Committee, I scanned the room.

A majority of the committee members, it seemed, were new to Annapolis and the committee.

A good thing that I had not taken the hearing for granted.

I was ready to discuss the bill as if it had not already passed the House of Delegates  three times.

“A frivolous lawsuit to intimidate someone from exercising their First Amendment rights,” I began my testimony, “is a SLAPP suit.”

The only opponent was the Executive Director of Maryland Right to Life.

She asserted that my legislation would “create a huge legal loophole for news outlets and other bad actors to evade legal liability for acts of defamation.”

The Supreme Court of the United States determines the legal standard for defamation, not the General Assembly of Maryland.

This pro-life group opposed last year’s bill.

In response to my inquiry, the Attorney General’s office wrote that it’s legal argument was unsound.

I will again share that response with the committee.

After the Gunfire

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Gun safety is the most depressing issue I work on.

Far more people die from guns in this country than anywhere else.

Legislative remedies are blocked or limited by the NRA

Now, even the Supreme Court has struck down gun safety laws.

We heard testimony today on the positive effects of intervention to assist someone hospitalized because of gunfire or other violence.

The patient and/or the family is asked if there is a danger of retaliation.

If needed, steps are taken to try to prevent that from happening.

Before leaving, the patient gets a case manager who assists with rehabilitation, mental health, and long term healing. The patient is also offered job training and employment.

Studies demonstrate that these services have a positive impact for the individual.

I will work with Lifebridge Health and other advocates to increase funding for these programs.

Making the 4th Time a Charm 

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Don’t take anything for granted.

My first bill hearing of the session is this Wednesday.

It’s my SLAPP legislation, which would strengthen the protections against frivolous lawsuits.

The most frequent example: a developer sues neighborhood residents who oppose his project.

My bill has passed the House three times.

However, it’s yet to receive a committee vote in the Senate.

As I was revising my written testimony for the House Judiciary Committee, I reminded myself, “Even though a majority of the committee has voted favorably on this legislation, don’t assume that the votes are there.”

I’ve also reached out to people and organizations that would be effective advocates in the Senate.

First Meetings But Not the Last

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I didn’t have meetings like this over the last eight years.

As I was leaving the State House after our floor session this morning, Governor Wes Moore was entering.

We’re on the first floor.  He’s on the second.

The governor let me know that he would be issuing an executive order today creating a state agency to run his Service Year initiative.

At a reception two days ago, I met the member of the Governor’s legislative staff who’s responsible for wagering issues.  That includes the redevelopment of Pimlico.

We met today at noon.

I began by telling him that I went to my first Preakness when I was in elementary school.

I concluded by telling him of my role in last year’s legislation requiring the Maryland Stadium Authority to update the legislature on the progress of the redevelopment plans for Pimlico and Laurel.

Both of these conversations will continue.

A Call To Service

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“Wes had taken an oath of service.”

“Service is the thing that makes your heart beat faster.”

At today’s inauguration, the first statement was made by Lt. Colonel Jaime Martinez, who served in Afghanistan with Captain Wes Moore.

The second was made by Oprah Winfrey.

“My years of service transformed me,” Governor Wes Moore declared in his address.  “The work will be done together.  Today is not the victory.  Today is the opportunity.”

On Friday morning, I will be meeting with the governor’s staff member responsible for his legislation making a year of service available to students in the year after they graduate from high school.

Running the bases for first-time college students

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This story begins with the Baltimore Orioles.

But it has nothing to do with baseball.

John Angelos announced yesterday that the team would be contributing $5 million to the College Bound Foundation.

I wrote Cassie Motz, the Executive Director of the Foundation.

“What can the State do to support this effort?  Could the state…provide counseling for students during their time at college so that they graduate on time?“

Her response was the basis for my bill drafting request:

“This bill would mandate that a College Completion Program, similar to the one offered by the College Board Foundation, be provided to recipients of a Guaranteed Access Grant.”

This is a $20,000 annual state grant for students who have a cumulative high school GPA of 2.5 or higher and whose family income is 130% of the poverty level.

Since so many of these students are first-generation college goers, they face significant barriers to graduating.

Now it’s up to me to run the bases and get my bill safely home -to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

Protecting Our Precious Right To Vote

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I was struck by what Martin Luther King III said today on Morning Joe: His daughter now has fewer voting rights and personal rights regarding her body than when she was born.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “Give us the ballot and we will place judges on the benches of the South who will do justice and love mercy.”

President Johnson worked with Dr. King and other civil rights leaders to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Johnson felt that when people’s voices are “translated into ballots…many other breakthroughs would follow.”

Voting rights were seen as a major bipartisan priority.

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Last month, President Biden signed into law the marriage equality bill. On another front, the public outcry over the Supreme Court’s abortion decision was felt nationwide, even in deep red states like Kansas.

No such success or fervor met voting rights legislation. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act was defeated by a filibuster.

In Maryland, we have set an example for Congress and other states to follow regarding voting rights.

For example, it is against the law in Maryland to “willfully and knowingly…influence or attempt to influence a voter’s decision whether to go to the polls to cast a vote through the use of force, fraud, threat, menace, intimidation, bribery reward, or offer of reward.”

I sponsored the bill which made this our law.

People responsible for the robo calls urging people not to vote during the final hours of an election were convicted under this law.

This session I will be introducing legislation to extend this prohibition to actions seeking to influence a voter’s decision to vote by any lawful means, including mail-in ballots.

Everyone’s right to vote is precious.  It must be protected.

  • My Key Issues:

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