You don’t have to be the lead sponsor of a bill. Not if you can legitimately say that you played a role in moving public policy in the same direction – the right direction, as the bill. Race to the Tots was the name Senator Bill Ferguson gave to our 2013 bill creating a competitive …more >
In Heller v. District of Columbia, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the following in his majority opinion: Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in …more >
There is no bipartisanship when it comes to guns. The reason: primaries. My Republican colleagues fear a challenge from the right wing if they deviate from the party line. Ditto for family planning or abortion. A Republican member said to me, “I can’t touch family planning. That’s Planned Parenthood.” Education is another matter. Later today, …more >
I chair the Government Operations and Estates and Trusts Subcommittee. The bill giving Attorney General Brian Frosh the authority to sue the federal government without the Governor’s approval was referred to the subcommittee last year. The seven bills dealing with estates and trusts that the full committee heard today will be referred to the subcommittee …more >
“We will support your bill with written testimony only.” I received that message today. That means no oral testimony. I responded, “It would be far more effective if you were to provide oral testimony…This provides for dialogue with the Committee.” Later in the day, I said to my staff, “Whom do you ask a question …more >
There are eight weeks left in the session. But if you want to pass your bills, there are only five. That’s because of the Crossover date, which is three weeks before the end of the session on April 9 at midnight. If my legislation passes the House of Delegates before that deadline, it will be …more >
Internships give people a big leg up in the profession they want to pursue as a career. However, students with academic debt can’t afford unpaid internships. Four years ago, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski proposed that the State of Maryland pay half the cost of internships with high tech start-ups. I introduced a bill, and it …more >
“Keep your friends close,” the Godfather said, “but keep your enemies closer.“ There is an Annapolis analogy. When you’re strategizing how to pass your bill, you want to organize your friends and meet with your opponents. They’re not enemies in Annapolis, because on another bill they may be your friends. (But there are some opponents …more >
You have no doubt heard of the public health crisis in Flint, Michigan. After the city government changed its water source, 12 people lost their lives from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, and as many as 12,000 children have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead. The city’s fetal death rate rose by an astounding …more >
“Democrats support the right to choose throughout the 40 weeks of pregnancy. But babies are now viable outside the womb at 22 weeks.” David Brooks wrote that in his New York Times op-ed column last week. That’s the argument made by the pro-life movement. It is misleading, if not incorrect. Roe v Wade limits a …more >
