Category: Sandy’s 2016 Legislative Diary

Free and fair elections

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

“And let’s also come together in a spirit of bipartisanship, to protect that most fundamental right of every American citizen: the right to free and fair elections.”

Governor Hogan said that in his State of the State address today.

He was referring to his legislation that would institute nonpartisan drawing of district lines for Congress and the General Assembly.

I introduced a bill today that meets the Governor’s standard of protecting our fundamental right to free and fair elections.

It deals with any proposed change in voter registration, polling place locations, absentee ballots, or provisional ballots.

An election board would have to provide the public notice of any revisions.  These changes could not have the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or disability.

The Attorney General could ask a judge to prevent the implementation of any change that violated this law.

I welcome Governor Hogan’s support for my legislation.

February 2 – Better a letter

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Sometimes a letter will do.

But legislation may be needed to get that letter written.

A constituent was upset that the licensing permit issued by Baltimore City for his business was not valid in other counties.

Why should he have to pay for additional permits?

I shared my bill draft with the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO).

When we met yesterday, the MACO representative was very open to seeing if this problem could be solved by a work group.

I asked for a written response before February 10.

My bill hearing is that day.

I have drafted legislation that would require a state agency to submit an annual report to the General Assembly summarizing the results of the work it is legally obligated to do on a certain matter.

That report would enable the legislature and other interested parties to evaluate the agency’s performance.

If the agency head were to provide me a satisfactory written commitment to submit such a report, I would not pursue this legislation.

No hearing date for this bill yet.

Access to justice and opportunity

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Frank Robinson left spring training early in 1966, his first year with the Orioles.

He needed to find a place to live. No one would rent to him in segregated Baltimore.

I spoke about that at a meeting of the Access to Justice Commission this morning.

In 1966, I was a student at City College. So was another speaker this morning, Congressman Elijah Cummings.

City College, I said, was our access to opportunity.

My access to justice bill this session would provide legal counsel on a pilot basis in a child custody case or for either party in a protective order proceeding resulting from domestic violence.

My access to opportunity bill would provide scholarship money for low-income students attending four-year colleges.

More on Frank Robinson http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-frank-robinson-housing-0124-20160122-story.html

January 21- Learning from lynchings

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

One dark aspect of American history – lynchings, has received little attention.  Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson wants to erect markers at the site of every lynching in the states that joined the Confederacy.

House Bill 173 is my attempt to recognize Maryland’s lynchings in an appropriate way. My press release follows.

 

George Armwood was the last known lynching victim in Maryland. Armwood’s tragic death inspired the careers of two of Maryland’s foremost civil rights leaders, Clarence Mitchell Jr. and Parren J. Mitchell.

Delegate Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg has introduced House Bill 173 to establish the Commission on the Solemn Remembrance of the Victims of Lynching. The commission would study and make recommendations regarding the construction of appropriate markers or memorials for Armwood and other lynching victims.  These findings would be reported to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2016.

Approximately forty known lynchings occurred in Maryland between 1854 and 1933, according to research conducted by the Maryland State Archives. The true number is unknown and research could reveal other instances.

The Armwood lynching was the first story that Clarence Mitchell Jr. covered as a cub reporter for the Baltimore Afro-American.  Relating this incident to his family and younger brother prompted Parren’s interest in civil rights.

“Mob rule and violence deprived citizens of equal protection and due process under the law,” declared Delegate Rosenberg. “We should learn from our history, not forget or ignore it.”

Public memorials and historical markers remembering the victims of lynching in Maryland would provide greater context to modern race relations. Currently, there are only a few historical markers of lynching sites throughout the country.

In 1994, the Thurgood Marshall statue in front of the Maryland State House was erected to memorialize his distinguished civil rights career. Established through the Thurgood Marshall Memorial Statue Commission, the statute is a symbol of the struggle for equal protection under the law. Like the Marshall statue, historical markers regarding lynching would add to our knowledge and understanding of our history.

The Commission on the Solemn Remembrance of the Victims of Lynching would formalize research efforts to expand knowledge about the African-American legacy in Maryland. In collaboration with the State Archivist, the Maryland Historical Trust, the Maryland Historical Society, as well as local museums, the Commission would make recommendations to the General Assembly on the construction of public memorials and historical markers for the victims of lynching.

Recent tragic events like the Charleston church shooting have highlighted the need for a productive discussion on race relations. In an effort to reconcile the past, local governments and citizen groups throughout the country have begun efforts to research and document the history of lynching. Information about this time in history is essential to provide context about the African American experience.

This valuable information would also help to expand educational outreach programs and publically accessible online resources through State Archives.

January 21 – The most fundamental right a citizen has

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

“When I spoke to this body on Opening Day, I talked about our obligation to address the needs of the least among us,” I began my speech on the House floor today.

“The people who would be able to vote because of this bill – those who have been imprisoned but are now on parole, are the least among us.

“But when George Washington was elected our first President, only white men with property could vote.  The majority of the adult population was the least among us.

“Voting is not a reward. This debate is not a distraction from other more important issues, as some have contended.

“This debate is about the most fundamental right a citizen has.

“John Lewis knew that when he marched across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma. President Johnson knew that when he introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  And the Supreme Court knew that when it declared that the right to vote preserves other basic rights.”

The Governor’s veto was overridden, 85-56.

January 20 – A right, not a reward

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I usually wait until the floor debate to write my speech.

I try to respond to something another delegate has said. Even then I write my remarks only in my head.

Veto overrides tomorrow will be the first of many opportunities this session for the two parties to offer their different public policy approaches.

I’ve been asked to be ready to speak on the bill that would allow a person to vote who was imprisoned for a felony but is now free on parole or probation.

Voting “is something that should be a reward,” a Republican delegate asserted in today’s Baltimore Sun.

That is dead wrong.

“Especially since the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized.”

I didn’t come up with that language. The Supreme Court did.

January 18 – All hands on deck

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

It’s all hands on deck for the next 90 days.

If someone can help pass my bill, I need their assistance now – not to commiserate afterwards on what could have happened.

“I know the next 90 days will be crazy for you,” one friend wrote me, “but I hope we can connect afterwards.”

“Perhaps there will be an issue this session where we can connect during the next 90 days,” I responded.

It’s up to me now to suggest the issue where he can get involved.

After I wrote about my SLAPP bill last week, I heard from a friend who’s a journalist in another state.

“Our SLAPP protection is very good,” he wrote. “We have employed it successfully.”

“Appropriate for you to nudge your Maryland counterparts to get involved?” I suggested.

He did.

A third friend thought my bill “would be great. Keep me posted.”

“You should write [the key player] as well,” I urged him.

Gaining the necessary votes for a bill is cumulative.  Every positive contact helps.

January 14 – The Key Question

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Why do we need this bill?

That’s the key question a bill sponsor must answer.

It’s one thing that hasn’t changed during my 34 years in the legislature.

This afternoon, we were discussing my SLAPP bill draft.

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, for example, try to intimidate the little guy from participating in public debate over zoning issues.

They are also used in response to investigative journalism.

My SLAPP bills have a better history in the House of Delegates than they do in the State Senate.

“But don’t assume that at the House hearing we won’t have to explain why we need to improve our SLAPP law with this bill,” I said today.

“Answering that question is a given.”

January 13 – Our obligation is greater

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

This is the prayer that I offered at today’s opening session.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, wrote the prophet Isaiah.

Since we last came together, our city was aflame.

It is now our task to respond to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

To adopt policy and a budget that expand opportunity for those who are poor in both spirit and in material comfort.

The tired, the poor, the masses yearning to succeed.

Our differences are real but our obligation is greater.

After 90 days, may we leave here lifting a lamp for all whose honor and duty it is ours to serve.

January 12 – Policy matters

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Policy matters.

If you’re concerned enough to read this legislative diary, you know that.

And you know that policy is what motivates me.

Wes Moore spoke at the annual Democratic Party day-before-session lunch today.

Moore is a Baltimore native, Rhodes Scholar, and U.S. Army veteran.

Describing two instances in his life where the social welfare system played a crucial role, he declared, “Policy matters.”

“We fight for the others, for those who need a champion,” Moore said.

Me too.

  • My Key Issues:

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