Category: Sandy’s 2013 Legislative Diary

Listen carefully

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Why do we need this bill?

Every bill sponsor must answer that question satisfactorily.

Twice today, I had conversations about possible compromises on bills that were opposed last year by a government agency in one instance and an industry group in the other.

In both instances, they now prefer to help write the law, instead of responding to an unfavorable court decision.

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After the death penalty repeal bill passed the Senate this morning, someone asked me how I would prep for the floor debate in the House.

“I’ve been prepping for the death penalty debate for the last 30 years.”

Know the case for your bill and listen carefully to the other side’s arguments so that you can effectively respond.

Sailing into the headwinds

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In the mornings, I often run into a Naval Academy grad (Class of 1957) taking his daily walk.

“Have you raised my taxes yet?”  he frequently asks.

I know the answer he doesn’t want to hear.

Yesterday, the Governor announced his proposal to increase the gas tax to raise money to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure.

When I ran into my neighbor today, I decided to sail into the headwinds.

I told him what the Governor had done.

“Why do we need to do that?”  he asked.

“To compete with Virginia, which has increased its tax to improve its system,” I responded.

“Why does that matter?” he replied.

I thought about saying that we could compete with Mississippi instead but thought better of it.

A list of the 14

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“I don’t want to jinx myself,” I told the reporter.

He had asked me to comment off the record about our chances to pass death penalty repeal in the House.

We expect the bill will pass the Senate this week, but it hasn’t yet.

Hence my reluctance.

But if/when the bill gets to the House, the vote in the Judiciary Committee could come swiftly.

I now have a list of the 14 “Yes” votes in the committee – the members who have committed to vote for repeal.

I will ask each of them to reaffirm their position and to vote against any amendments that might be offered.

They would kill the bill.

Guns and the law

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Around 10:30 last night, I read the bill.

The hearing on the Governor’s Firearm Safety Act began at 1:00.

Initially, I was turned off by the opponents’ bogus claims that any regulation of gun possession, including an ownership fee, violated the 2nd Amendment.

These people surely aren’t absolutists about other protections in the Bill of Rights.  The Supreme Court isn’t.

For example, a tax on newspapers does not violate the freedom of the press, unless it targets them for different treatment than other businesses.

(I read those cases around midnight.  The bill hearing would last until 3:00.)

As the hearing wore on, there were fewer constitutional claims and more personal stories.

Some declared that they would leave Maryland if the bill became law.  Many others said it would make them criminals.

Massive civil disobedience?  I hadn’t read about that happening in New York after a law was enacted there in January.

So I read the Governor’s bill.

Assault weapons would be banned on October 1.  If you already owned such weapons, they would not be taken away from you, but you would have to register them.

Gun owners would become criminals only if they chose not to obey the law.  That’s not the same as saying that the bill would make you a criminal.

Annapolis etiquette says that you don’t question the accuracy of testimony by a member of the public.

However, I told a Republican colleague that if he made that false claim during the debate on the bill in committee or the House floor, I would not be silent.

Win-wins at Pimlico

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All parking is local.

For the last ten years, approximately 1,000 employees of Sinai Hospital and the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital have parked on the Preakness Way lot of the Pimlico Race Course – except on Preakness Day.

They are a short walk or shuttle ride from their jobs.

And they are not parking in the nearby residential neighborhoods of Cylburn, Sunset, and Levindale.

A win-win for everybody.

Pimlico needs to construct 300 stables when the Bowie training facility closes, as well as housing for backstretch employees.

Four weeks ago, the track submitted a preliminary construction plan with the stables and housing located on the Preakness Way lot.

My 41st District colleagues and I expressed our concerns with the negative effect this would have upon the track’s neighbors – our constituents.

Pimlico and Sinai officials met today.

When the Preakness Way lot needs to be vacated, the track will provide parking at another location, most likely the Belvedere and Park Heights lot.

Another win-win for everybody.

The real reason and fighting the last war

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 There’s the reason and there’s the real reason, goes an Annapolis maxim.

Translation: the stated reason may not be the actual reason why something happened.

This morning, I met with a group of doctors, who asked me to oppose a certain bill.

“Who’s the sponsor?” I asked.

The name didn’t tell me anything about who wanted the bill to pass.

“What group supports the bill?” I asked.

That answer was the real sponsor.

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Legislators and lobbyists, like generals, always fight the last war.

Last year, several co-sponsors of the marriage equality bill changed their minds and voted against the bill.

No one wants that fate to befall their bill this session.

A lobbyist emailed me about a bill that I’m cosponsoring.

“We are now working to confirm co-sponsors, supporters, soft supporters and any undecideds on the bill… Taking no vote for granted, can I put you down as a YES in support for the bill when it gets to the House floor?”

When the time comes to count to 71 for a House vote on death penalty repeal, we won’t take any vote for granted, even those of our co-sponsors.

 

A task force by another’s name

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A new concept, however worthy, is not likely to pass the first time it’s introduced.

This past summer, I read about social impact bonds.

These bonds seek to align the interests of investors with a desirable social outcome.   Typically, when the government contracts with a nonprofit, it makes payment based upon the volume of services delivered.  With a social impact bond, the bondholders pay the service provider and are reimbursed by the government only if the desired outcomes occur.

These programs originated in the United Kingdom, where they decreased recidivism rates.  Other states are experimenting with social impact bonds, with Massachusetts leading the way.

I introduced a bill that would require the State Board of Education to issue requests for proposals for social impact bonds.  I had attended a conference about pre-kindergarten services where these bonds were discussed.

I didn’t expect House Bill 517 to pass but hoped that the public hearing tomorrow would prompt the Ways and Means Committee to create a study group.

This weekend, I learned that a colleague already had that idea.

Delegate Waldstreicher’s legislation would establish a task force.  His bill is before the Appropriations Committee, which can pass his bill or include language in the budget bill to achieve the same objective.

I’ve withdrawn my bill and will testify beside Del. Waldstreicher.

February 24 – Lincoln and the GOP, Then and Now

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I saw “Lincoln” again last night.

This time, with floor debate on repeal of Maryland’s death penalty days away.

Without doubt, the most historic vote I will cast.

This time, with my niece, Rachel.

Afterwards, she asked me to explain how the Republican Party had changed from the party opposed to slavery to its present-day ideology.

I told her about FDR’s New Deal, Senator John Kennedy’s call to a jailed Dr. King late in the 1960 Presidential campaign, and President Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy.

 

Government Informers and Number 18

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When a newborn displays the effects of prenatal drug use or fetal alcohol disorder, should health care providers be required to inform the government?

House Bill 245, introduced by the Department of Human Resources says yes.

I awaited the next question.

“Shouldn’t we determine if the mother is an abuser when the child is still in the womb?” asked one of my colleagues.

I tried to make the point that doctors and health departments encourage pregnant women to avoid drugs and alcohol.

Then I spoke of the substance abuse treatment offered to women when they apply for welfare benefits and upon their annual renewal visit.  I helped create and fund that treatment option.

I also emailed a pro-choice lobbyist.

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Michael Phelps took some batting practice swings at the Orioles spring training camp today, wearing an orange Orioles jersey with No. 18 on the back.

“Hey, that’s my number!” I emailed some friends.

I wear 18 because like Brooks Robinson and Reggie Jackson, I was born on May 18.

I don’t know when Michael Phelps was born, but he won 18 gold medals.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-michael-phelps-takes-batting-practice-with-orioles-20130221,0,6181298.story

 

Our best and brightest – then and now

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What do Governor Martin O’Malley, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton have in common?

They grew up in Maryland and went to college out of state.  That would make them ineligible for the state program that gives a stipend to thirty summer interns with non-profits or state or local government.

I referenced those three public figures at the outset of my testimony on a bill to remove that in-state requirement.

We want to encourage our best and brightest to return home for their careers.

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My staff told me of an amendment to one of my bills that would delay its effective date.

I emailed back, “I won’t endorse that unless pressed when I testify but if that’s the compromise needed to pass the bill, I’m all for it.”

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Over the years, I’ve interviewed many candidates for judgeships.

Today, I interviewed the first one whom I’ve taught.

He was in my Legal Writing section at the University of Baltimore in 1992.

I asked him for a writing sample – from his law practice.

 

  • My Key Issues:

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