House Bill 812 is the bill in the reproductive health care package that I’m sponsoring. This morning, I began my study of the legislation – to review what the bill would do and why that’s needed. And to strategize about how to present the bill in the most appropriate and persuasive way. HB 812 would …more >
My Election Reform Act of 2022 has three provisions. “Two of the problems that House Bill 410 addresses are not hypothetical,” I testified today. “One addresses what will no doubt soon not be a hypothetical.” Before last year’s primary, the polling place for the Grove Park neighborhood was moved from the local school to the …more >
If you live near Loyola University, your neighborhood participates in the school’s strategic planning. That collaboration began with a bill of mine that was defeated – forty years ago. Loyola had purchased a nearby apartment building to convert it into a dormitory. My legislation would have required that the elderly tenants, whose leases were not …more >
After the General Assembly passed the bill that made Roe v. Wade’s legal standard the law of Maryland, a referendum followed. 62% voted Yes. This week, we announced a legislative agenda to protect the women who need reproductive health care, as well as the people who provide that care. The legislation I am sponsoring would …more >
At the outset of the Trump administration, legislation was introduced authorizing Maryland’s Attorney General to sue the federal government without obtaining the Governor’s approval. Speaker Mike Busch referred the bill to the subcommittee that I chaired. The day before the floor debate, my committee chair, Delegate Shane Pendergrass, asked me if I was prepared to …more >
“Give us amendments as soon as you can.” A chairman doesn’t say that often. But that was the case today on my bill requiring that people engaged in real estate wholesaling be licensed by the state. I was prompted to introduce Houde Bill 301 after reading about the negative effect these individuals were having on …more >
President Biden will give his State of the Union speech Tuesday night to a nationwide audience. By chance last night, I channel surfed to C-Span and came upon the President’s remarks at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Tunnel last week. As a Senator and as Vice President, his trip home to Delaware on Amtrak was …more >
Money from Maryland’s legal settlements with the tobacco industry and opioid distributors is being used to address the problems caused by cigarettes and fentanyl. Money from settlements with violators of the safe housing provisions of our consumer protection law is being used to provide legal counsel for tenants facing eviction. I was the lead sponsor …more >
As a bill sponsor, I try to describe what my bill would do in a straightforward (no legal terms) manner that is readily understandable to a fellow legislator or a constituent. “To support House Bill 259,” I told the Judiciary Committee members this afternoon, “You have to answer two questions.” Should the State of Maryland …more >
As I’ve discussed before, co-sponsorship is the biggest waste of time in Annapolis. Asking your colleagues to add their names to a bill does not help make the case that your legislation is sound public policy. But there are exceptions. When the Governor gives the General Assembly the opportunity to sign on to his bills …more >
