Sandy’s 2017 Legislative Diary – Page 8

How we treat those 34-year olds

January 11, 2017 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2017 Legislative Diary | No Comments

It was my honor to again be asked by Speaker Mike Busch to offer the prayer at the Opening Day session of the House of Delegates.

This is what I said.

34 years ago, a newly elected delegate from Northwest Baltimore took the oath of office for the first time.

Today, a 34-year old in Baltimore County is without a college degree or a well-paying job. The Beth Steel plant where his father had a union job is closed.

A 34-year old single parent in West Baltimore confronts a neighborhood and a school that still lack the resources for her family to succeed.

A 34-year old immigrant in Montgomery County worries if she can remain here and provide for her children.

For the next 90 days, all of us must focus on Hubert Humphrey’s moral test of government:

How we treat those 34-year olds: the underemployed, the single parent, and the immigrant.

January 10 – We all benefit

January 10, 2017 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2017 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Fighting for our civil rights in Annapolis for over 30 years.

My reelection mailer with that slogan hangs above my desk.

Two of the civil rights bills I introduced and helped enact were heard by the Government Operations and Long Term Care Subcommittee.

One protects workers who are denied equal pay, and the other resulted in the French national railroad company making public its records of transporting Jews and others to Nazi concentration camps.

I will be the new chair of that subcommittee.

If the Trump Administration is lax in its administration of civil rights laws, my subcommittee would hear legislation to strengthen Maryland’s laws.

My guiding principle on civil rights issues: In a society that respects differences, that welcomes the minority, we all benefit.

When I first ran for the House of Delegates, my endorsement by Jacob Edelman was featured in my campaign literature.

He was the chair of the Maryland Human Relations Commission.

I’m following in his footsteps.

January 9 – The moral test

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2017 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I did not see Meryl Streep on the Golden Globes last night.

I was watching Annie Hall on Turner Classic Movies.

But after listening to her stirring remarks today, I’m prompted to quote Hubert Humphrey (not from memory or Google, this is on my office wall):

The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children: those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.

And we must now add, “The moral test of those who seek to run our government.”