“Curious to hear your thoughts sometime on removing the Taney statue in Annapolis.” My rabbi, Daniel Burg, wrote me that this morning. We did not remove the Taney statue from the State House grounds when that was proposed 23 years ago. Instead we built a statue to Thurgood Marshall. That was Pete Rawlings’ brilliant idea: …more >
Saturday morning, I heard about the torch carrying white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched around a church, shouting a Nazi slogan. I thought of Nazi Germany and the American South during the civil rights protests. That afternoon, not yet aware of the loss of life in Charlottesville, I was campaigning and knocked on the door …more >
One of the assets I can rely upon as a legislator is our professional staff. Assistant Attorneys General, bill drafters, budget analysts, and research librarians. All of them are non-partisan. I once told another legislator that we should meet with Ronnie K (name changed) to get advice on an issue the two of us were …more >
Nicotine kills. It’s what makes cigarettes addictive. The federal Food and Drug Administration has announced a plan aimed at reducing the nicotine in cigarettes to a nonaddictive level. The likelihood of that being adopted by the Trump Administration is slim and none. Is there anything we can do in Maryland? Should we lower the tax …more >
As you know, keeping the Preakness where it belongs – at Pimlico Race Track, is one of my priorities. This summer, I’ve been broadening support for that effort and discussing how the track’s neighbors can benefit from a public-private investment in a modernized Pimlico. An op-ed in support of moving the Preakness to Laurel was …more >
I was honored again to read from the Declaration of Independence at the start of the Roland Park 4th of July parade. Unlike years past, there was no sound system this morning. Before I read from the Declaration, I said: Thomas Jefferson did not have a microphone in 1776. Neither did his colleagues who, in …more >
On November 16, I emailed this message to Robyn Elliot, Planned Parenthood’s lobbyist. “I’ve just started to think about what we could do in Md. if federal government defunds Planned Parenthood. We should talk.” Several of my colleagues joined that conversation. The result was House Bill 1083, requiring our state government to pay for those …more >
My colleagues and I attended two community meetings Saturday morning. The Forest Park Golf Course Neighbors met first in the Pratt Library branch on Garrison Avenue. Then we walked across the street to the Wayland Baptist Church. We met with the WWFF-BOC Neighborhood Association in the chapel in the church basement. …more >
I introduced House Bill 792 in 2011. I did so at the request of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program), a charter school in my neighborhood. Jason Botel was the school’s leader. He’s now in Washington, serving as the deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. In an article headlined Some Hires by Betsy DeVos …more >
140,327 people voted with their feet at this year’s Preakness. A record crowd demonstrated its support for keeping the race where it belongs – Pimlico Race Track. In the months ahead, I will continue to work with state and local government officials, the Maryland Jockey Club, and all of the neighborhoods that surround the track …more >
