What will the General Assembly do about police accountability? 

That’s the issue that’s receiving the most attention and justifiably so. 

Speaker Adrienne Jones has appointed a work group to study the issue and make recommendations for legislation. 

Senator Will Smith chairs the committee that will hear such legislation and has written a letter outlining the provisions in the bill that he will introduce. 

Both of these actions mean that a major overhaul of our laws will be enacted next session.

I serve on the Speaker’s work group and will be working to achieve that end. 

I’m also working on other issues where the pandemic and the death of George Floyd have heightened our awareness of inequities based on race and class. 

Attorney General Brian Frosh has created the COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force.

I’m serving on the Civil Legal Aid Funding Committee

This is an opportunity to provide an attorney for tenants in housing court and for the poor in other legal matters.

I’ve been working on this for quite some time.  The pandemic and the task force have brought attention to this issue. 

Over these past three months, I’ve frequently thought about how little work I’d be able to do if I didn’t have a laptop and Internet access. 

For far too many students learning at home, those are not givens. 

I’m working with people who have studied the issue to see how the state can provide these resources. 

   —-  

You can speak with Dr. Letitia Dzirasa,, Commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department on our 41st District Town Hall Thursday  evening from 5:30-6:30.  For details on this Zoom meeting, contact Dalya.Attar@house.state.md.us.