Sandy’s 2015 Legislative Diary

Opening the right doors

Every year, my goal is to introduce a bill addressing poverty or income inequality.

After reading about this idea in a speech by Congressman Paul Ryan last July, I emailed the Secretary of Human Resources, “To what extent do we now inform eligible individuals at intake or subsequent contacts with DHR of the various programs that could benefit them?”

I shared his response with Regan Vaughan, a lobbyist for Catholic Charities. She and other advocates for the poor suggested that we pursue a No Wrong Door pilot program. Individuals with a range of needs that cross departmental lines would be assisted by one case worker.

That idea became House Bill 66.

We had a good public hearing before the Appropriations Committee on February 3.

The chair of that committee and the chair of the relevant subcommittee sit near me on the House floor. The day after the hearing, I told both of them that either favorable action on my bill or language in the budget would be acceptable.

There is a provision in the budget bill requesting that the Department of Human Resources provide the General Assembly with an analysis of additional steps that could be taken to ensure that when Marylanders attempt to access the social safety net, they are able to access a full range of services from multiple entry points.

That report is due December 1.

I will work on this with DHR and the advocates between now and then.

Staying on top of what’s going under ground

March 23, 2015March 23, 2015 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

You can get a lot done with your laptop and knowledgeable staff.

The Red Line would run through the neighborhoods in the Edmondson Avenue corridor of the 41st District.

A Sun editorial yesterday indicated that the tunnel under Cooks Lane is a potential target for cost savings.

Cooks Lane is only two lanes wide on each side, and in many places it’s just one lane because of residential parking. Several years ago, we worked with the community to have the line run underground instead of on the surface.

I asked the General Assembly’s budget staff to find out the status of the tunnel.

The Mass Transit Administration replied:

“We’ve not yet started to consider cost savings for Red Line, so I can’t confirm or deny [whether Cooks Lane tunnel will be impacted]. Eliminating either tunnel or otherwise changing an aspect of the project that would change the environmental or community impacts [and] would require” [approval from two federal agencies]. “This could delay construction by several years.”

On behalf of my 41st District colleagues, I shared this information with the neighborhood president, assuring him that “We will do our best to keep the tunnel in the plans if the line goes through Cooks Lane.”

All politics and tunneling are local.

The objective, not the name

March 19, 2015November 8, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Crossfiles can be very helpful before crossover.

A crossfile is an identical version of your bill that has also been introduced by a senator.

Crossover is the deadline (next Monday) to pass your legislation to the other house and avoid having it delayed in the Rules Committee.

A friendly lobbyist wrote me this morning that a crosssfile had gotten a favorable vote in a Senate committee.

There were two amendments that the House committee staff “could surely get” so that they could be added to my bill before next Monday’s deadline.

No need to hurry, I responded. “I will discuss with the House committee chair after crossover when the committee can move both bills.”

If that happens, it’s likely that my bill would be referred to the Rules Committee but still make it to the Senate floor for enactment soon after the Senate crossfile.

But even if only the Senate bill passes and not mine, I’m ok.

I will have achieved my policy objective.

Having my name on the bill doesn’t matter.

Choice and access, yet again

March 18, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

This may have been the 33rd time I spoke on this issue on the House floor.

The subject was abortion, specifically the circumstances when the Medicaid program will pay for the procedure.

The language in the budget bill is a compromise that was reached before I was elected in 1982.

Every year, it seems, there’s an attempt to change it.

Pro-choice members tried to broaden the language when I first got here but failed.

Not any more…

“This has nothing to do with access to abortion,” declared a supporter this morning of an amendment that would severely limit when the state would pay for an abortion.

“It has everything to do with access,” I responded.

“As Justice Ginsburg has pointed out, women of means will always be able to obtain an abortion,” I continued. “Poor women, on the other hand, must overcome obstacles to having the procedure.”

There were knowing responses on the faces of several women legislators as I spoke.

The amendment failed, 55-83.

Next year in Annapolis

March 17, 2015November 8, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Sometimes your only option is to withdraw your bill and wait for next year.

Make that set the stage for next year.

Ken Birnbaum is a life insurance agent and former president of the Cross Country Improvement Association. Last year, he told me that a client had been denied coverage for any travel to the West Bank of Israel.

Today, I concluded that the bill would not pass this session.

I wrote Ken the following letter.

Ken,

As you know, the insurance industry proposed an amendment to HB 352 at the bill hearing. That made it necessary for me to seek a compromise that would protect travelers to Israel and other countries and not be opposed by the industry. After discussing several options with members of the Health and Government Operations Committee (HGO), I have reluctantly decided that we cannot pass an acceptable bill at this session of the General Assembly. Consequently, I have withdrawn the legislation.

HB 352 is based upon model language provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. I have informed the chairman of HGO that I will research how this language has been implemented in other states and whether those jurisdictions have considered the changes proposed to HB 352 by the life insurance industry.

With that information in hand, I will resume discussions with my fellow legislators and the insurance industry.

I will keep you informed of those conversations.

Sandy

Not always in our neighborhoods

March 16, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

“Neighborhoods such as Roland Park required homeowners to sign covenants barring African-Americans.”

That sentence is from Baltimore leaders agree: City has a race problem, a front-page story in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun.

Those restrictive covenants also excluded Jews.

I have represented Roland Park my entire career.

My three colleagues in the 41st District for the last 12 years, Lisa Gladden, Jill Carter, and Nathaniel Oaks, are African-American.

Approximately 2/3 of the population of our district is African-American.

Blacks and Jews have a shared but not identical history of being outsiders, bearing the brunt of discrimination.

There are local concerns and public policy issues where these communities agree, but sometimes they don’t.

What’s constant is our effort to represent our diverse constituencies.

Should a conflict or crisis arise, we’re not newcomers in any neighborhood.

Words not spoken

March 12, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Sometimes you keep quiet.

My bill was being debated on the House floor. It would authorize the Maryland Attorney General to ask a judge to issue an order prohibiting an imminent violation of the law that would affect a pending election.

Republicans have opposed the bill in the past. They did so today.

I might have answered their questions differently than did the chair of the Election Law Subcommittee.

But I’m waiting until the debate just before the vote that would send the bill to the Senate.

My bill on police body cameras “seeks to find the appropriate middle ground between the various complex and competing interests” on this issue, I wrote in my testimony for today’s public hearing.

I drafted this legislation with the American Civil Liberties Union. I have encouraged the ACLU and the police chiefs to seek compromise.

When I was asked about specific provisions in my bill, I replied that those questions could be better answered by the negotiators.

Don’t read it. Know it.

March 11, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Don’t read your testimony.

Know it.

That’s the advice I give the law students in my Legislation class, and I follow it myself.

You’re far more effective if you know your issue and speak directly to the committee members, instead of constantly glancing down at a piece of paper and losing eye contact.

I didn’t read my testimony today. Instead I read a letter of information from the state health department.

We risk the loss of $3.8 million in federal substance abuse grants because nearly 1/3 of Maryland retailers sold tobacco products to minors when inspected, wrote Secretary Van T. Mitchell.

Under one of the provisions in House Bill 1015, retailers would be required to complete a training program, which would educate them about the laws governing the sale of tobacco products and the proper procedures for verifying the age of a customer.

I don’t know if my bill will pass. I now know that Secretary Mitchell recognizes the need to act.

Between the Lion and the Lamb

March 10, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before.

“I’m not sure which is the lion and which is the lamb.”

I was testifying between a supporter and an opponent of my legislation.

House Bill 1098 would protect the rights of elderly and disabled tenants when their public housing units are sold to private developers.

Before the bill hearing, a lawyer from the Maryland Disability Law Center and a Deputy Commissioner of Housing for Baltimore City met with me and the chair of the subcommittee that would review my bill.

They didn’t reach a final agreement on tenant protections, but they’re close.

I asked them to meet again. They will.

I asked them to testify beside me to let the committee know a compromise was near. They did.

Playing on another court at another time

March 5, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

If you have a good shot, take it, Bill Russell advises.

When someone opposes your bill but asks you to engage in a dialogue on their home court after the legislature adjourns, take it.

That’s the advice I gave someone today.

Bill Russell starred on 11 NBA championship teams. He didn’t have to admit defeat often.

In the legislature, however, when defeat is imminent, you can withdraw your bill.

The outcome is the same. The bill doesn’t become law.

But no one is recorded as voting against it. That makes it easier to get their support next season.

My Key Issues:

Category: Sandy’s 2015 Legislative Diary