I don’t have much experience trying to kill legislation.

           Sponsoring as many bills as I do, my modus operandi is making a persuasive argument and trying to clear all of the hurdles necessary for my bill to become law.

           Instead, I’ve been on the receiving end of falsehoods and delaying tactics.

          At a strategy meeting today on a bill I oppose, I had the chance to do unto others as they have done unto me (but only the delaying part).

           Lots of witnesses and lots of amendments, I suggested.

           If the bill passes out of the House, then have it amended in the Senate. The House will have to act on it again.

           Time is your enemy when you’re trying to pass a bill. Delay is your friend if you’re trying to kill it.

March 14

 My first bill had already passed my new committee four times.

 House Bill 31 is designed to thwart dirty tricks before they affect the outcome on Election Day.  It would enable the Attorney General or a registered voter to prove to a judge that there are reasonable grounds to believe someone has or will violate the election law. 

 Last year was the first time the bill got to the Senate floor, but it died there in the midnight hour of the session. 

 The only question from a committee member today was whether this legislation would result in lawsuits over heated but legitimate political arguments. 

 “The bill does not criminalize anything that isn’t already illegal,” I responded.  “But it does enhance the penalty.  You would be in contempt of court.”

 A similar question arose over my second bill. 

 House Bill 101 would treat disruption and deception during a referendum petition drive as we already do dirty tricks. 

 You could not use fraud, force, menace, or intimidation when urging people to sign a petition or trying to prevent them from doing so.  An equal opportunity prohibition. 

 This time, the question came from a witness, a lawyer with experience in election law. 

 “What do menace and intimidation mean?  If someone yelled at a potential signatory, would that be a violation?” he asked.

 “This is a criminal law,” I responded.  “To be convicted, you must willfully and knowingly use force or intimidation.  A jittery voter on the receiving end doesn’t make it illegal.”

 The language in HB 101 is not new; it’s already in Maryland law and the federal Voting Rights Act.  So I asked committee counsel to see how these words have been applied by the courts over the last 40 years.

February 8

            Show me the program!

            I was watching the State of the Union speech last night, not a rerun of “Jerry Maguire.”

            When President Obama spoke about the educational reforms resulting from the Race to the Top competition and a once failing school in Denver where 97% of the seniors had graduated this past May, I was elated.  “This is what I’m working on in Annapolis!” I said to myself.

                 “If you want to make a difference in the life of a child — become a teacher,” the President declared.  “Your country needs you.”

                  And then he moved on to another topic. 

                 “Show me the program!” I said to myself.  At that moment, the President should have proposed incentives for people to become teachers. 

—- 

            The topic this afternoon was of great interest to all of the members of my committee: the date for the primary election when we seek reelection. 

            Federal law now requires that absentee ballots be received by members of the military and overseas voters 45 days before a federal election. 

            This means we can no longer hold our gubernatorial primary in September.  Rather than hold it in the late summer before Labor Day, while many people are on vacation, a change to June or July is likely. 

            If I’ve done my job well, it doesn’t matter when the election takes place. 

            As an election administrator testified, “We’re always looking at ways to make things better for the voters.”

January 26

               There’s an elephant in the room, but the Republican Party won’t acknowledge it.

                One would think an op-ed on the state budget would mention the impact of the Great Recession. 

                 Not the one in today’s Sun written by Larry Hogan, a Cabinet secretary in the Ehrlich administration.  Our deficit is all the fault of Martin O’Malley, he writes.

                 My committee had a briefing on the budget from our non-partisan fiscal staff this afternoon.

                 I asked about the impact of the national economy on state revenues.  They’ve been flat for the last three fiscal years.  In addition, safety net costs have risen – unemployment, welfare, and Medicaid.

                  The $680 million per year in additional revenue from the taxes we raised and slots we authorized at the special session in 2007 would have eliminated our structural deficit, according to our staff’s projections at the time. 

                  You can argue (and I don’t agree) that spending should be cut significantly or that high end taxpayers should not pay more, but at least acknowledge that we’re in the mess we’re in because the bubble burst on the national economy.

              I thought I had touched all of the bases on one of my bill drafts. 

              My constituents, who had come to me with a problem that the legislation would resolve, were satisfied.  I’ve spoken with the lobbyists for both of the relevant industry associations and sent the proposal to them yesterday.  

               But I realized this morning that I had forgotten to do the same with the state agency that regulates my constituents’ business.  So I promptly (and nervously) emailed the bill to the agency’s lobbyist.

               His response:  “The language looks solid from our perspective.” 

               Another detail dealt with, followed by a sigh of relief.

January 20

               Some people plan ahead. Some people don’t.

               I spoke with one person today who suggested that I should meet with other interested legislators and advocates to draft legislation on one of the issues before the Ways and Means Committee.

               At another meeting on a different issue, I asked if such a group was in the works. The answer: no.

                Some issues are of such importance that the legislature will try to find a solution, regardless of the foresight of the affected parties. It’s preferable, however, to start early.

January 14

 December 24

Several compelling moments at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, this

morning and at the Western Wall this Sabbath Eve.

Jews watching their synagogue burn on Kristallnacht.  When the dome

falls, the reaction reminds me of the towers falling on 9/11.

Archives of the Warsaw ghetto were saved in milk jars.  The Dead Sea

scrolls were saved in vases.  I knew Dr. Samuel Iwry, who authenticated

the latter.

Jan Karski, a leader in the Polish underground, relates his meeting

with FDR to inform him about the concentration camps.  “We shall win

this war,” Karski intones the President.  “Justice shall prevail

afterwards.”

Trees were planted at the museum to honor the righteous among the

nations – non-Jews who resisted the Nazis and aided Jews.  But there

were too many and they’ve stopped planting trees.  They are honored in

another way.

The Nuremburg rallies remind me of the vile comparison that some right

wingers made to the Obama acceptance speech in Denver.

—

I’ve never been to the Western Wall at sundown on a Friday when it’s

been so crowded.  In addition to observant Jews, there are countless

tourists.

Our dinner is in a yeshiva overlooking the Wall.  By 8:30, there are

two people praying.  The contrast is startling and moving.

December 27

We had just visited the archaeological site at Zippori, the capital of

Israel after the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans

in 70 AD.

“When this was a flourishing city, Nazareth was an obscure town on a

nearby hill,” our guide told us.

Now it was time for lunch.  I sat with my family, underneath a photo of

a church.

“I think that’s a church in Nazareth commemorating Mary’s being told

that she was with child.  There are two – one that’s Roman Catholic,

the other is Eastern Orthodox.  I went there once with a Christian

friend.

“That’s not unusual in Israel.  Two trips ago, I went to this remote

town called Cana to see the church where Jesus performed his first

miracle – turning the water into wine.

“This was the parable at a Catholic mass I attended in my legislative

district. The water was for the ritual washing of hands before a meal. 

‘Jews still do that today,’ I told the congregation.”

“And I decided to visit the site when I was here in 2008.”

Lunch over, I walked outside and related my story to our guide.

“You’re in Cana right now,” he responded to my surprise.