Sandy’s 2014 Legislative Diary – Page 6

Conceding a point to get a bill

My law school training taught me never to concede a point.

I relish the back and forth with a committee member when I’m testifying on one of my bills.

Ditto when I’m questioning a witness.

My legislative training, on the other hand, teaches me that compromise is achieved by conceding a point or two.

That was the case this afternoon when Delegate Simmons said, “I think your bill needs some massaging.”

House Bill 385 would extend the protection of the reporter’s shield to all people who engage in the gathering and disseminating of news, as defined by the existing law – even if they do so on their own blog.

But my bill won’t pass unless the definition of protected blogger is narrowed – massaged, as my colleague said.

After the hearing, I asked two of my witnesses, a lawyer for the Washington Post and the publisher of the Baltimore Brew, to email me descriptions of the reporting done for them by free lancers and other people who are not their employees.

I want to make sure our massaged bill includes them.

Delay of game, Protecting bloggers

February 4, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

When the legislature meets for only 90 days, time is your enemy.

There are many hurdles that you have to clear for your bill to pass and only three months to do so.

Consequently, I don’t usually ask that my bills be heard in March.

Except for the three times that I pledged to do so over the last 36 hours.

In each instance, the prospect of a bill hearing where my concerns would be publicized can persuade the affected individual or group to address my concerns between now and that hearing.

One of my bills, however, will be heard tomorrow.

Maryland’s reporter’s shield law protects journalists from having to reveal their confidential sources when subpoenaed to testify – in certain circumstances.

House Bill 385 would extend that protection to bloggers who engage in the gathering and disseminating of news, as defined by the existing law.

I want my witnesses tomorrow to include a conservative blogger.

I asked a Republican colleague if he could contact RedMaryland, “the premier blog of conservative and Republican politics and ideas in the Free State.”

He readily agreed to try.

A compromise you can’t refuse

February 3, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Keep your friends close but the bureaucrats closer, to paraphrase the Godfather.

If you can reach agreement before the bill hearing, a united front and some compromise amendments will increase your chances of passage.

The alternative could be a bloated fiscal note exaggerating the cost of implementing your legislation.

A letter that commits the agency to the policy your legislation would impose could achieve your public policy goal, making the bill unnecessary.

At one meeting today, I said I would ask the committee chairman to schedule our bill in March, to give us time to work things out.

At another meeting, I committed to offering an amendment delaying my bill’s effective date, consistent with the agency’s timetable.

Sometimes a meeting will provide intelligence on an opponent’s likely argument.

“Please put your concern in writing,” I requested, followed by “I appreciate your coming to see me before the bill hearing.”

Shades of Moonlight Graham

February 2, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Moonlight Graham would have sympathized.

Graham, the character played by Burt Lancaster in Field of Dreams, played right field for two innings in one major league game but never came to bat.

Dave Ford, a former Orioles pitcher, had not pitched in two weeks when Earl Weaver brought him into a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

On the first pitch, Robin Young got a bunt single.

The next batter was a lefthander. Earl Weaver changed pitchers.

When the dejected Ford got back to the dugout, Mike Flanagan greeted him, “Did you have your good stuff?”

When it rains for two days at Fantasy Camp, you hear a lot of good stories from the former pros.

I, however, was stuck on two at bats from the one game I played on Wednesday.

The rain stopped and the fog finally lifted by 9:30 Saturday morning.

I was again hitless in two at bats.

But we won, and I’ll get a chance to inch closer to the Mendoza line (.200 batting average) when we play again at Camden Yards on June 21.

Executive Action: From the White House and the Dugout

January 29, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

President Obama promised executive action on the minimum wage last night.

There is ample precedent.

The Emancipation Procalmation, President Truman’s order to integrate the military, and President Clinton’s expansion of public lands through the declaration of national monuments are cited by the New York Times.

I would add the executive actions dealing with fair employmnt taken by Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy prior to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

There is a common but not universal thread.

The President extends benefits to a race or class of citizens whose needs are not being adressed by the legislative branch.

—

I’m writing from Orioles Fantasy Camp.

Pressed into service as a second baseman, I almost turned a 6-4-3 double play, but my throw was a few feet short and pulled the first baseman off the bag.

Would the outcome have been different had I made the throw from behind the plate to second base beforehand?

Jim Gentile on how Casey Stengel summoned him to pinch hit in the All Star Game:

“Get me that big guy from Baltimore who swings hard.”

A Real Human Being

January 29, 2014January 29, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Personalize your testimony.

I tell my students that – my staff as well.

It’s far better to make your argument by talking about a real human being, instead of some abstract principle.

Delegate Pete Hammen, chair of the Healh and Government Operations Committee, is a guest lecturer at my class, not a student.

When he defended the Administration’s health insurance bill on the floor Tuesday, he was most effective when he talked about a 62-year old constitunt who had gotten insurance because of the Affordable Care Act.

No doubt many of those listening thought of constituents, friends, and family who would benefit from having health coverage and with it, the ability to obtain preventive care.

Downloading data – technology and chance

January 27, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Some things depend upon technology.

The major obstacle to extending early voting to the Sunday before Election Day are the 36 hours needed to download data between 7 pm on Sunday and 7 am on Tuesday.

In Baltimore City, for example, there are five early voting centers for the week of early voting but hundreds of polling places on Election Day. To avoid fraud, the data on who voted early must be downloaded to thousands of electronic voting books.

That’s a very time consuming and costly process, according to a study of early voting conducted by the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center, in response to the Sunday voting legislation that I introduced last year.

To get a second opinion, I wrote a friend in the information technology field, “I welcome your thoughts on this analysis and the extent to which these concerns are likely to be addressed by the 2016 Presidential election.”

Some things happen by chance.

Walking to the post office on Church Circle, I saw the lobbyist for the newspaper industry.

She told me that they hope to have a national expert to testify next week on my legislation that would extend Maryland’s reporter’s shield law to bloggers who are not employed by a media company.

That was on my list of things to do. My staff won’t have to conduct that search now.

What a difference a day makes?

January 23, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Our election laws should maximize turnout, with sanctions for those who commit fraudulent acts or seek to prevent others from voting.

Inspired by the long lines of people voting early during the Obama-Romney election, I introduced a bill last year to authorize voting on the Sunday before Election Day.

The State Board of Elections, however, was concerned that there would be too little time between Sunday evening and 7 a.m. on Tuesday to download the data on who had already voted to the electronic poll books used at each precinct.

My proposal did not pass, but another bill was amended to require a study of the impact of Sunday voting on voter turnout and the technical changes required to implement this reform.

The University of Baltimore published its study this week.

I found out yesterday that the hearing date for House Bill 263, my Sunday voting legislation, will be February 6.

I told my staff this morning that I will have to respond to the concerns raised in the UB study.

I later learned that when Attorney General Gansler officially filed his candidacy for governor today, he announced that he supported early voting on Saturday but not Sunday.

The hearing on my bill may be the first time this session that the politics of the Democratic primary becomes part of the legislative process.

It won’t be the last.

Thanks for a study and a plan

January 22, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

“I read the bill.”

That was the subject line of the email I sent the Lt. Governor’s policy director.

“Uncodified section of HB 297 re: parental involvement is more detailed than our bill draft. Thanks.” was the text.

House Bill 297 is the Administration’s pre-K bill.

Senator Bill Ferguson and I had a pre-meeting with the staff before a meeting with the advocates, which was followed by a press conference with the Lt. Governor, Senate President, and the Speaker.

At the pre-meeting, we were shown a draft of the bill.

The legislation that the Senator and I had worked on required a study of “the benefits of parental engagement in conjunction with early childhood education.”

I asked that such language be added to the Administration bill.

Today, I read the bill.

HB 297 would require the State Department of Education to develop an outreach plan based on the best practices identified by the study.

A study and a plan are better than a study.

So I sent my email.

As Tip O’Neill said (but not in an email), “People like to be asked and people like to be thanked.”

Making Bail and Passing the Budget

January 21, 2014 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

The Maryland Constitution requires that only one bill be enacted at each 90-day session – the budget bill.

The Maryland Constitution also requires that a defendant be represented by an attorney at a bail hearing.

Our Court of Appeals decided that this fall.

The estimated cost to provide such representation with public defenders under the current system is $30 million annually.

There is no money in the budget bill to meet that obligation.

However, there are already two proposals to change the bail system, at a cost below $10 million.

At today’s briefing, I sought to remind everyone why this issue is before us.

“Are there statistics about the benefit to the accused of having counsel at the bail hearing?”

The response: Those numbers are being worked on.

My Key Issues:

Category: Sandy’s 2014 Legislative Diary