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Middle Ground

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“Nonnegotiable,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has said. “There is no middle ground,” Senator Bernie Sanders declared.

The subject is abortion.

The two Presidential candidates are quoted in an article headlined, Lost in Abortion Noise: Nuance, Politics Straddles 2 Extremes, but Americans Fall in Middle.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/15/us/politics/abortion-debate-pennsylvania.html

We have taken the lead on this issue in Maryland.

Bipartisan majorities in the General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 162, which wrote the holding of Roe v. Wade into state law.

That legislation was petitioned to referendum and approved by the voters, 62-38%, in 1992.

Under our law, a woman decides whether to bear a child before the fetus is viable.

After that, a woman can have an abortion only if the procedure is “necessary to protect the life or health of the mother” or “the fetus is affected by genetic defect or serious deformity or abnormality.”

What should we do now?

The votes are there to broaden the medical conditions where the State pays for abortions that are not funded by the federal government because of the Hyde Amendment.

We already pay for a limited number of abortions for health reasons under the Medicaid program.

However, I think our focus should be elsewhere.

We should increase state funding for preventive reproductive health care that would reduce the number of abortions and improve women’s health.

I’m already working on it.

 

The ones who did

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I graduated from City College in 1968, a tumultuous time for Baltimore City and the nation.

Last Saturday, I attended City’s commencement, also a turbulent time.

I went for two reasons.

I’ve watched one of the graduates, Emma Conn, grow up.  I’m close friends with her parents, David and Amanda.

I also wanted to share in the accomplishment and excitement of the occasion for the students and their families, for whom this graduation is a very big step forward in their lives. Virtually the entire class is headed on to a community or undergraduate college.

One of the class members put the moment in perspective.

She spoke of the 34 kids in her head start class.  The majority  are dead or in prison.  Others have dropped out or failed a grade.  She and one other walked across the stage Saturday.  “Today isn’t a day to focus on the ones who didn’t make it, but instead to celebrate the ones who did,” she said.

Two days later, I spoke to nearly 100 public service interns – college and graduate students who will be working for the government or a non-profit this summer.

I read to them from that speech.

“These are problems we must address,” I told them. “You’re starting down the road where you can make a difference in people’s lives.”

 

Neglect it and they will still come.

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On Friday, Black Eyed Susan Day, the crowd at Pimlico set records for attendance and wagering.

Peter Schmuck, the Baltimore Sun sports columnist, was impressed by the Preakness Day numbers:

The announced attendance of 131,256 should remind everyone just how important the race is to the city of Baltimore and the record handle of $99,852,653 showed that the Derby controversy might have enhanced the attractiveness of the event — at least to the people that bet on the 14 races.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/preakness/bs-sp-schmuck-preakness-column-20190518-story.html

People voted with their feet and their wallets to keep the Preakness at Pimlico.

Politicians pay a lot of attention to polls. In this instance, they should.

These new records came about despite the closure of the grandstand, resulting in a loss of 7,000 seats. The engineers’ report that prompted this action is still being kept from the public.

After the turnout this weekend, it will be difficult for the Stronach interests to argue in the legislature or a court room that the dilapidated condition of Pimlico constitutes a disaster or an emergency, what’s required under state law to move the race.

After plumbing failed again in women’s bathrooms on Preakness Day, it will also be difficult for the track owners not to repair that problem before next May.

“I’ve said all along I’d rather see it stay here in Baltimore,” Governor Larry Hogan said on Saturday. “We’re certainly hopeful that cooler heads can prevail.”

He then said he was…hopeful that discussions could move forward despite the lingering legal fight between the two sides.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/preakness/bs-md-preakness-mainbar-20190518-story.html

I’m with Governor Hogan.

 

The Most Important Person

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I don’t care why a colleague is voting the right way.  That support helps us get to 71, the number needed to pass a bill.

That was my thinking as we gradually (over seven years) reached  the majority to repeal the death penalty.

Peter Schmuck’s column in yesterday’s Sun makes that point about moving the Preakness to Laurel – in the DC suburbs.

There already is a real question about how much excitement the Preakness — under any circumstances — will generate in the Washington area. Obviously, the hardcore horse racing fans in the Mid-Atlantic region will show up anywhere, but does anyone seriously believe the parochial affinity for the race and infield festival that generates annual six-figure crowds at Pimlico will somehow shift from Baltimore to Laurel?  

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/bs-sp-why-moving-preakness-a-bad-idea-20190508-story.html

That’s not one of the arguments we’ve been making, but we will now.

This comes on the heels of the decision by Pimlico’s ownership to close a portion of the facility for safety reasons while refusing to make public the engineer’s study that prompted this action.

I went to Pimlico yesterday, the first day of the abbreviated spring meet.

I ran into a classmate from Pimlico Junior High.  He said that a horse trainer had told him that the racing surfaces at Pimlico – both dirt and grass, were superior to those at Laurel.  I had heard something similar from friends in the industry.

When I went to bet on the favorite in the sixth race, the teller recognized me from the polls for early voting.

It reminded me of Black Eyed Susan Day several years ago.

Waking through the crowd with a friend from college, I spoke with several people I knew from the legislature.

On the parking lot as we were leaving, someone I didn’t recognize thanked me for coming to his community meeting a few weeks earlier.

Afterwards, I turned to my college friend and said, “That’s the most important person I saw today.”

Alliances have consequences

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Alliances have consequences.

In the first month of the Trump Administration, legislation was introduced in the US Senate to prohibit federal funding for Planned Pasrenthood and other organizations that provide family planning services.

In response, House Bill 1083 was enacted by the General Assembly.  This law establishes a Family Planning Program to ensure the continuity of family planning services in Maryland.

HB 1083 passed the House of Delegates, 90-51.  No Republican voted for the bill.

If the Republican members of the House were to constitute a majority of the votes for the next Speaker, it would have far reaching policy consequences on family planning and countless other issues.

Disruption at City Hall

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The Mayor of Baltimore will not seek reelection.  After Thursday’s raid by the FBI, that is even more evident than when the members of the City Council and the City delegation in the House of Delegates, myself included, called upon Mayor Pugh to resign earlier this month.

Not running for a second term will be the case for three consecutive mayors.

That disruption at City Hall is not good.

But the work of governing goes on.

On Thursday, I attended the Maryland Racing Commission  meeting to urge that the public release of the engineer’s report which prompted the Maryland Jockey Club to announce that it was closing the Pimlico north grandstand for the Preakness for safety purposes.

I joined the Howard Park community at the Baltimore City Liquor Board, where an agreement to post a “No Loitering” sign outside the 4G’s liquor store was submitted to the Board.

I attended a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood and did not know most of the people there. That’s a good thing. The organization has broadened its base of support.

Lawyers and non-lawyers alike

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Attorney General William Barr’s defense of his client, President Trump, declared an MSNBC commentator yesterday, will dishearten the career lawyers at the Department of Justice.

And, I said to myself, any American who cherishes the rule of law – lawyers and non-lawyers alike.

That struck home with me especially because I visited the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston this past weekend.

One exhibit recreated Robert F. Kennedy’s office as Attorney General, including a console phone with some twenty buttons with names for direct dialing to RFK’s top aides on such issues as school integration, the Freedom Riders, and labor corruption.

There was also a button marked Hoover.

No doubt RFK had conversations on that line with the FBI Director about the bugging of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nonetheless, the lawyers who worked for RFK would be equally upset by Barr’s performance today. They set the standard.

So will the historians who analyze the service of Kennedy and Barr as our nation’s leading attorney.

 

An asset that benefits the community

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Transforming Pimlico Race Course into an asset that benefits the community and region year round  and providing a quality education for all of our children.  These are my priorities – for the past 90 days in Annapolis and for the next four years. We made significant progress on these issues and others during this year’s legislative session.  I welcome your thoughts on what we achieved and what issues matter most to you.

As you know, Speaker Mike Busch passed away just before the session ended.  I was honored to offer a prayer before the House of Delegates in his memory.  I said, in part, “As this House, his team, his state evolved on issues, he did more than adjust to that change, he understood it.”

My full session summary is at http://www.delsandy.com/2019-session-summary/

100%

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Once again, I was honored to give the Orioles Opening Day prayer for the House of Delegates.

This was a sad winter for members of the Hall of Fame.

Frank Robinson died.

So did Don Newcombe, great pitcher for the Dodgers.

Babe Ruth’s daughter.

And we learned that Tom Seaver has dementia.

I had a conversation with Frank Robinson that I want to share.

I said to Frank, “I never saw Jackie Robinson play. You’re the most intense competitor I’ve ever seen. Who taught you that?”

“My high school coach,” Frank replied. “He said, ‘You’re not going to make a great play in the field every game. You’re not going to get a big hit every day. But you can play 100%.’”

In these final days of the session and afterwards, may we do the same.

Play ball.

Amen.

Discussions

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Whatever happens in the remaining days of the legislative session, discussions about the future of Pimlico and the Preakness must take place afterwards.

That’s what the Maryland Stadium Authority study recommends.

That’s what the bill I testified for, House Bill 1190, would require.

That’s what I wrote a Baltimore Sun reporter this morning after reading this paragraph in an online article this morning.

But in a statement, the company indicated the city’s plan was a non-starter: “We don’t believe that hypothetical scenarios are in the best interest of the City, State or the thoroughbred racing industry as this just perpetuates delaying decisions.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-triple-crown-plan-20190401-story.html

I responded to the reporter:

To the contrary, further discussion of this Triple Crown proposal during the interim is an opportunity to transform the Pimlico property into a major economic, health care, and recreational hub, which would benefit all of the surrounding neighborhoods; keep the Preakness in Baltimore, which bolsters the region’s economy; and enhance Maryland’s racing industry,  which would thrive from public and private investment in Pimlico, Laurel, and Bowie. 

This afternoon, I was asked to participate in a program about the proposed Preakness move to Laurel.

The Stronach group is available for this panel discussion, the email said.

I hope the track owners are also available for discussion with the City and the State.

  • My Key Issues:

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