Legislative Diary

What Telford Taylor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg taught me

The Speaker of the New York Assembly was indicted yesterday on corruption charges related to payments to his private law practice for which where he performed little or no legal work. It prompted this anecdote on the front page of the New York Times: Al Smith, the storied governor of New York in the 1920s …more >

From Selma to Annapolis

In the opening scene of “Selma,” Oprah Winfrey’s character seeks to register to vote. Asked to recite the preamble to the US Constitution, she knows it. How many trial judges in Alabama?  Without hesitation, the correct number. Name them, says the clerk.  Silence. Application denied. The end result of the civil disobedience and violence that follow is …more >

What planet does he live on?

President Obama had lunch at Charmington’s in Remington yesterday. It’s too hipster for my tastes.  The kind of place where you can order alfalfa sprouts on mashed yeast. The President wasn’t there for the cuisine, however.  He made the case for requiring paid sick leave for workers in companies with at least 15 employees.  The …more >

Whatever our theology, whatever our ideology

Speaker Busch asked me to give the opening prayer today to “set the tone” for the session. That prayer follows: On a special occasion, we say the Shehecheeyanu prayer. At the start of a holiday, When first seeing the Temple Mount or the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. Today is a special occasion. For the handful …more >

All the bills fit to print

I have been accused of introducing bills after reading an article in the New York Times. “Don’t Look to States for New Ideas” is the headline for an op-ed in today’s paper. Justice Brandeis called the states the laboratories of democracy.  The minimum wage and welfare reform are prominent examples. Ideas grown in the petri …more >

  • My Key Issues:

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