Sandy’s 2014 Legislative Diary – Page 5

No tough pitches to hit

A baseball scouting report can evaluate a hot high school prospect or an entire team.

My bill defining “supervisor” to reflect the realities of the workplace for sexual harassment cases had its public hearing today.

It would adopt Justice Ginsburg’s reasoning when she dissented in a case this past June.

Identical legislation will be heard in the Senate tomorrow.

 I often take notes on the arguments made by the opponents of my bills.

 This time, I emailed them to the Senate sponsor, Jamie Raskin:

 Since Judicial Proceedings will hear your crossfile tomorrow, a scouting report on opponents'

arguments:

 Raised doubt about whether we have the authority to act "contrary" to Supreme Court decision;

 Will result in flood of litigation; and

 Creates liability for actions of wayward employees.

 Senator Raskin should not have much trouble hitting these arguments out of the park.

Quiet Progress

February 25, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

No one spoke.

That was good.

My first two bills were heard on the House floor today.

Shortly before the session began, the Republican minority leader commended me for the bipartisan support for my bill criminalizing actions by either side during a referendum signature drive.

The second bill would outline how money should be spent for survivors of homicide victims. None of the drama surrounding the death penalty repeal bill itself this time.

Since both bills were unamended, there was no need to explain changes made by the committee.

In the House of Delegates, you don’t draw attention to your bill once it gets to the floor.

You do that after you’ve gotten at least 71 votes – a majority, on the tally board.

College Prep – Then and Now

February 24, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I last prepared for the College Boards in 1967.

This afternoon, I prepared with the College Board for a bill hearing on Wednesday.

House Bill 854 would require the State to administer an outreach program informing high-achieving high school students about their college options – in terms of schools and financial aid.

My legislation is modeled on such a mailing by the College Board and the State of Delaware.

“You need to answer two questions in your testimony,” I stressed to College Board officials:

What was the impact of your Delaware mailing or of other similar efforts?

What follow-up is necessary after the mailing?

“First generation college students need the information in the mailing, followed by a professional who combines the data for them,” they related.

Full disclosure: I was admitted to college on the basis of my Board scores and my swimming times.

No amendments. No negative votes. No debate.

February 20, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

When you have your case won, sit down and shut up.

My first bill is coming to the House floor next week.

The day after it was heard in the Judiciary Committee, we gave a unanimous favorable report to my legislation creating programs for survivors of homicide victims.

No amendments. No negative votes.

“This time it didn’t take seven years,” as it did to repeal the death penalty, I wrote one of the leaders of that effort.

Should we count our votes on the House floor? Should we prep a Republican member to speak on behalf of the bill?

No.

I take very few things for granted.

In this instance, however, you don’t draw attention to a bill that’s going to pass.

It’s the text, not the sponsor line.

February 19, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I was discussing strategy on a bill that is one of my highest priorities this session.

It’s also been introduced in the Senate.

The House bill will not be heard by my committee.

However, the lead sponsor of the identical Senate bill serves on the committee that will consider the legislation.

He’ll be in the room when decisions are made.

I suggested that we try to move the Senate bill first. I will ask the House chair to hold my bill until the Senate acts.

The name on the sponsor line is not what matters. It’s what follows – the text of the bill.

Tasks to do before counting to 12

February 17, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

It’s still a little early to count to 12.

That’s a majority of a committee’s members and thus the votes needed to send a bill to the House floor.

However, there’s plenty of work to do that will make it more likely I can count to 12.

Some examples from my completed list of tasks this weekend and today:

Start counting votes in the backroom (the committee leadership), whose support is crucial to a favorable outcome in the full committee.

Meet with representatives for three executive branch agencies to coordinate and simplify the friendly amendments they might offer to my bill.

Send a letter to civil right organizations in the state seeking their support for a fair employment bill.

Read the letter one agency sent me and forward to it another in the hope that it will adopt a similar policy.

Edit the testimony for my two bills being heard tomorrow.

Questions for different reasons

February 12, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

The Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee were thinking ahead to the next bill.

So was I.

The Pre-Kindergarten Expansion Act of 2014 was introduced by the O’Malley-Brown Administration.

The legislation would authorize a competitive grant process for public school systems and private providers to expand pre-K.

There is $4.3 million in the budget for the winning proposals.

To provide ½-day pre-K for all children in the state whose parents choose to enroll them would cost an additional $120 – 140 million.

Lt. Governor Brown said that in response to a question from a Republican delegate.

Another GOP member asked what expansion would cost county school systems. (An unfunded mandate in Annapolis parlance.)

The questions I asked (to myself): How do we make the case for expanded pre-k? When is the right year to do so? Can we do so in a way that benefits the schools that are already providing these services, such as Baltimore City’s?

Dissenting from the bench, A statute in her chambers

February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Justices Ruth Ginsburg and Elena Kagan recently spoke at a panel in New York

They discussed the Lilly Ledbetter case, where a 5-4 majority denied a female supervisor her day in court because she had not met the strict time limits the Supreme Court imposed for bringing lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination.

Justice Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, calling on Congress to overturn Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Justice Kagan called it “possibly the most effective dissent of this generation” because Congress reversed the Court’s decision by passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. A framed copy of the law hangs in Justice Ginsburg’s chambers, the New York Times reported.

I sponsored similar legislation that the General Assembly enacted.

This past June, Justice Ginsburg was again in dissent when a 5-4 majority defined “supervisor” in very narrow terms in a sexual harassment case, Vance v. Ball State University.

In a few weeks, I will testify on our post-Vance legislation, establishing a broader definition of “supervisor.”

I will let the committee know that Justice Ginsburg has a copy of Maryland’s Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

I was honored to give her that bill at a meeting in her chambers.

Can seven states be wrong?

February 10, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

How much does the company pay you?

Pretty simple question but not such a simple bill.

Under the Women’s Equality Act, introduced by Governor Cuomo of New York, an employer could not prohibit an employee from “inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee or another employee.”

The bill passed the Democratic controlled house in Albany last year but not the Senate because of another provision that dealt with abortion, reported the New York Times.

My House Bill 391 has the same language.

This legislation would be preempted by federal law, according to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

“How did the New York bill get as far as it did if this was the case?” I wondered.

I asked our Reference Library if any other states had passed laws similar to my bill.

Seven was the answer.

Did all of those states pass a law that is invalid?

I asked the Attorney General’s Office if federal law preempted my bill.

That answer requires further research.

The bill hearing is Wednesday.

A new justification

February 6, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I never heard this one before.

I had testified on my bill to extend early voting to the Sunday before Election Day.

“This is the next logical step in the expansion of the right to vote,” I said. “We no longer limit the franchise to white males who own property; we should no longer limit voting to 13 hours on a Tuesday.”

I was followed by Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, who said that observant Jews cannot vote on their Sabbath (Saturday), and Rev. Al Hathaway, pastor of Union Baptist Church, who spoke of the tradition of urging people from the pulpit to get out and vote.

“I’m concerned that too much pressure is being put on people to vote early,” complained a Republican delegate. “Sunday voting would worsen that.”

The GOP has gone to great lengths to suppress minority voting sometimes subtly, sometimes by force of law.

This justification was new to me. And equally unworthy.

My Key Issues:

Category: Sandy’s 2014 Legislative Diary