I want to share with you two very special moments from this legislative session.
Leo Bretholz was on a train taking him to a certain death. It was World War II, and the French railroad company was transporting thousands of Jews and others in cattle cars to Nazi concentration camps. Leo, then 22, escaped by prying open the bars of a small window and leaping from the train.
A subsidiary of that business is seeking the contract to run the MARC commuter line between Baltimore and Washington. Leo came to Annapolis to testify on my bill to require the French railroad to put its records from that era on the Internet to be eligible for this contract.
The history of the people and companies responsible for these atrocities must be made available to remind us of our responsibility to stand up to oppression today.
Two hours after the hearing began, someone asked Leo if he was tired. “I’ll survive it,” he responded. Two months later, on the final night of the session, I called Leo – just after our bill had been enacted.
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The KIPP School is in my backyard – a neighbor in the Coldspring community. More importantly, it’s a school where teachers and students excel.
KIPP sends its 8th graders to the city’s best public and private high schools, helping many of them secure scholarships. 86% of KIPP’s first graduating class finished high school in four years, and every one of those students went on to college.
Central to KIPP students’ success are their teachers. Their commitment to these children extends beyond regular class hours. However, KIPP cannot afford to pay them the overtime rates mandated in the contract for teachers in Baltimore City, even though most of its dedicated teachers are willing to work for slightly less pay.
I introduced House Bill 792, which would allow a charter school such as KIPP to conduct a secret-ballot election on an amendment to a collective bargaining agreement. Approval by 80% of the teachers would be needed to adopt the change.
My legislation accomplished what I hoped it would. It prompted KIPP administrators and Baltimore Teachers Union officials to negotiate a long-term solution that will allow the school to continue its great work for its students.
To give the news about this agreement to the 100 parents of KIPP students gathered in Annapolis to testify for the bill and to share their joy is a moment that I have never experienced before and will never forget.
Education – A Unique Opportunity For Our Children
We have a unique opportunity to improve the education of our children. President Obama’s Race to the Top competition made measuring teacher effectiveness an essential part of that discussion. From the parents of KIPP students to people who have never set foot in a public school, there is a growing awareness that our schools can prepare students for a productive life, regardless of their economic and family background.
These promising developments prompted Senator Bill Ferguson and myself to bring together a coalition of education reform advocates. We introduced three bills.
Under Senate Bill 609, if a public school site is declared surplus property, charter schools must then be informed and given the opportunity to use it before anyone else. Any portion of a private building used by a public charter school would be exempt from property taxes. This bill is now law.
To provide quality educational opportunities for its students, a charter school must be allowed to hire teachers and administrators who support and further the school’s unique mission. Our legislation would have required that a public charter school operator and the local board consent to the hiring of all employees, who must also meet state standards. Although such a policy has been successfully used in Baltimore City, our bill did not pass.
The Maryland Council on Teacher Effectiveness was convened to develop methods for measuring student achievement and growth and determining what constitutes effective or ineffective teaching. Our third bill would have authorized the suspension or dismissal of a teacher who failed to meet the standards proposed by this council, as implemented by a county board of education. Since the council has yet to make its recommendations, our bill failed. As I have learned over the years, controversial bills seldom pass the first time they’re introduced.
Voting Rights – Dirty Tricks and Outside Money
Voting is the most fundamental right of citizenship. I again worked to expand and protect your exercise of this right.
There are no limits on the amount of money that can be poured into a campaign by individuals and groups acting independently of a candidate, after a widely criticized Supreme Court decision, Citizens United. However, we can still require disclosure of the source of these funds, as well as how they are spent. I was instrumental in drafting House Bill 93, which imposes reporting requirements for independent expenditures similar to those already in the law for other campaign committees in state elections. This legislation was adopted.
Dirty tricks designed to mislead voters have a long and sad history. Several years ago, legislation sponsored by Senator Lisa Gladden and me made it a crime to use force, fraud, or intimidation to influence someone’s decision whether or not to vote. Unfortunately, punishing the perpetrators after the fact does not prevent them from illegally influencing an election’s outcome.
The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorizes a judge to issue an injunction before Election Day if there are reasonable grounds to believe the law has been or will be violated. House Bill 31 would have given state courts that power.
A petition drive to have a referendum vote on legislation passed by the General Assembly should be conducted under the same rules as the election itself. House Bill 101 would have prohibited those gathering signatures, as well as those opposed to the referendum, from using force, fraud or intimidation. HB 31 and 101 passed the House but died in the Senate.
Death Penalty – An Inherently Flawed System
Our system of imposing the death penalty is inherently flawed. I’ve said that since I first introduced legislation repealing Maryland’s death penalty. The Governor of Illinois said the same thing when he signed the bill last month ending state executions in his state.
A majority of the members in both houses of the Maryland General Assembly support repeal. We hope to bring this issue to a vote next year.
After the mass shooting in Tucson, which left six dead and 13 wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, I wanted to guard against similar tragedies in Maryland. At a minimum, we should limit the ability of people with mental illness to obtain guns.
I was the principal co-sponsor of House Bill 730, which would have created a task force to study the access of individuals with mental illness to regulated firearms. Although the bill failed in the Senate, we still expect Governor O’Malley to appoint a task force.
State Contracts –Opportunities for Local Residents
The state frequently enters into contracts with the private sector to buy supplies, provide personnel, and construct or repair roads and buildings. Those agreements can further important public policy objectives.
As part of welfare reform, my 1998 legislation required the State to develop a model hiring agreement for certain procurement contracts. Private firms and the Department of Human Resources must endeavor to train and hire current and former welfare recipients and their offspring.
That law has not been applied to construction contracts – until now. Reverends Al Hathaway, Todd Yeary, and Lester McCorn met with me to discuss their concern that low-income Marylanders were not being hired to work on state building projects. We then met with officials of the Board of Public Works, who have agreed to expand the hiring program to construction contracts.
Lead Poisoning – An Obligation To Those Harmed
We have significantly reduced the number of children suffering from lead poisoning over the many years that I have worked on this issue. From day one, the landlords have said, “If you require us to do preventive measures, the cost will put us out business.” That’s why I was dismayed to learn that the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) is making the same misguided argument as the property owners.
My colleagues and I wrote Mayor Rawlings-Blake, “According to The Baltimore Sun, over the last several years, HABC has spent nearly $4 million in lawyer’s fees pursuing questionable legal theories and strategies to avoid its legal and ethical obligations to those it has harmed – even in those cases where HABC agreed in court to the amount of the award.”
“We would be happy to meet with you to discuss and explore the means by which HABC could find or raise the revenues necessary to compensate victims of lead poisoning who now face life-long conditions of often severe disability,” our letter concluded. I am pleased to report that those discussions have begun.
Sunday Auto Sales – Observing the Sabbath
Mr. and Mrs. Meir Sher came to me with a problem last fall. They own Sher Auto Sales on Reisterstown Road. Under Maryland’s Blue Laws, their business must be closed on Sunday. Since the Shers are Orthodox Jews, they do not work on Saturday, their Sabbath. This 5-day work week seriously hampers their business.
We need to work with your fellow used car dealers, I told the Shers. House Bill 624 allows a used car dealer in Baltimore City to inform the Motor Vehicle Administration that the business will be closed on Saturday, instead of Sunday. The other dealers did not oppose our bill, and it was overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly. I look forward to joining the Shers on June 5, the first Sunday that they will be open.
I was not successful on a bill to allow an employee to use accrued leave time for a religious observance. House Bill 1002 did not pass, but the Human Relations Commission will be studying this issue this summer.
Encouraging Public Service – Easing New Grads’ Debt Burden
Many young people want to enter public service but can’t afford it. They have too much education debt and must take higher-paying jobs instead. Two of my bills will help idealistic graduates do what I have done – take the public service career path they’ve always wanted.
Nearly $50,000 will be generated annually by an extra $75 fee imposed on out-of-state lawyers handling a legal action in Maryland, with the enactment of House Bill 523. This money will be used to forgive a portion of the academic loans of attorneys entering public service. My thanks to Judge Irma Raker and the Maryland Judiciary’s Access to Justice Commission for proposing this new source of funds for the Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program.
A summer job is often crucial to a student’s career path. Law students who intern in a State’s Attorney’s office will now be eligible for a grant under the Walter Sondheim Jr. Summer Internship Program after the passage of House Bill 487. Over one hundred students and the government or non-profit agencies where they worked have benefited from this program since my legislation created it in 2008.
41st District Neighborhoods – A Grocery Store, Race Track, and Red Line
We will soon see shovels in the ground for projects that will benefit many neighborhoods in the 41st District.
The vacant lot at Liberty Heights and Hillsdale Avenues has been an eyesore for a decade. The City recently awarded development rights for a Shop Rite grocery store. The 41st District delegation, Senator Lisa Gladden, Delegates Jill Carter, Nathaniel Oaks, and I, will work with the Howard Park community and the store owners to ensure that neighborhood residents are given the training needed for these new jobs.
Slot machine revenues for the communities near Pimlico Race Track will soon be a reality. Residents have begun meeting to help decide which economic and community development projects will be built with the nearly $300,000 expected this fiscal year.
Pimlico must develop a five-year business plan for addressing the challenges affecting its operation because of my proposal that this requirement be added to House Bill 1039. The track is the world center of racing on Preakness Day, an event with very significant economic benefits. It must demonstrate how it will become a more attractive venue the rest of the year.
The Red Line mass transit system in the Edmondson Avenue corridor, the Jones Falls Trail in Mount Washington, and the Master Plan for Roland Park are some of the other local issues that we will be working on this summer.
Consumer Protection – Arbitration and Electricity Rates
Far too often, if a Maryland consumer has a dispute, he or she is forced to make a choice among arbitration options without access to information about the performance of a specific arbitration firm or any conflicts of interest, such as the arbitration firm’s relationship with debt collection agencies.
That’s why I introduced the Transparency in Consumer Arbitrations Act. With its passage, large, non-governmental arbitration firms which operate in Maryland will be required to make available on a searchable website information about the arbitrations they conduct on behalf of Maryland residents, including the parties involved, the types of claims handled, and the outcomes of disputes.
This information will help consumers make informed choices about which arbitration firms have a reputation for honesty and integrity in their dealings. Such data are critical to citizens who must take their complaints to binding arbitration panels but can choose which arbitration forum to use.
You also need to know your options when buying electricity. I introduced legislation last year to require the Public Service Commission to make price information about competing electricity suppliers easily accessible to the public on its website. My bill did not become law, but similar legislation was enacted this session.
I’ve enjoyed corresponding with you over these past 90 days. I look forward to seeing and hearing from you in the months ahead.
-Sandy Rosenberg
