Ben Cardin – Sandy Rosenberg

US Senator Ben Cardin began his legislative career as a member of the House of Delegates.

He was our guest during Friday’s floor session.

I was honored to speak to my colleagues about his career in Annapolis.

I felt as if I was also speaking directly to Ben.

My first speaker is with us today, Ben Cardin.

What we take for granted in terms of the way this house runs and how it operates were reforms when Ben Cardin instituted courtesy deadlines, legislative ethics, open meetings, recorded committee votes.

That was the exception, I believe, prior to Ben becoming speaker and the work he did with his predecessor.

Ben was elected in the historic redistricting class of 1966, the first class after the lines were redrawn after one person, one vote. The man he would succeed in the United States Senate, Paul Sarbanes, was also a member of that class.

Ben was the first speaker to appoint a woman, Helen Koss, and a Black, Larry Young, as chair of one of one of the standing committees.

He established the Spending Affordability Committee as a compromise. He was instrumental in the creation of the all-payer system, and I know that right now he’s standing up there and saying he’s going to correct any mistake that I make in what I say, because that’s the nature of our relationship.

One of Ben’s leaders, when I asked for his or her, two people, asked, for their thoughts, said: “Ben governed by consensus when that was possible, and when that was not possible without ranker.”

I would only add to that by saying that we were in the same district, then the 42nd district, Ben, Jim Campbell, and myself. And when we appeared at a community meeting Jim and I never worried that there would be no one among us who would know the answer to any question that constituent might raise, because Ben would always know the answer, and what he has done for this house, lives on through every subsequent Speaker.

Ben, thank you.

The video of my remarks and Ben’s is at https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/FloorActions/Media/house-13-?year=2024RS.

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 renewed, be assisted in finding a new apartment.

After my bill was defeated, Speaker Ben Cardin and Mayor William Donald Schaefer urged Loyola to begin a planning process with its neighbors to avoid conflicts like this.

That cooperative effort continues today.

However, before my bills are defeated, I now ask the affected parties if they can take steps to address a problem that do not require a change in the law.

With that commitment, I can withdraw my bill.

I did that twice today.

To assist entry-level workers in gaining the skills needed to advance to higher paying jobs, the Department of Labor will modify an existing program.

Employees at Sinai and Levindale, many of whom live nearby, will benefit.

Two weeks ago, I wrote you about discussions with Herman Berlin, an auto parts distributor, and state procurement officials.

Herman wrote me today, “The memo from [a state procurement official] is exactly what I need.”