Preakness – Page 4 – Sandy Rosenberg

August 12 – Summer Priorities

August 12, 2016 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

The Preakness, pre-kindergarten, lead poisoning, and Enoch Pratt top my priority list this summer.

Pimlico Race Course should remain the long-term home of the Preakness. The study of that issue is underway, under the auspices of the Maryland Stadium Authority. If the report recommends building a new facility at Pimlico, my job will be to help make those recommendations a reality in Governor Hogan’s capital budget.

Attending kindergarten was not mandatory in Maryland until 2002. Now we must decide whether to do the same for pre-kindergarten. The benefits to 4-year olds are clear. They begin kindergarten with important skills and are less likely to fall behind their peers. How do we pay for this? How does the need compare with other education objectives?

None of my lead poisoning bills passed last session. My efforts this summer should lead to a different outcome next year. People on all sides of the issue have been meeting under the auspices of the state judiciary. Our recommendations, including compromises, will carry the weight of our diversity.

Libraries have become our window to both the printed word and the Internet. That’s the case in Roland Park, Edmondson Village, and the Bronx. House Bill 1401 provides additional funding for Pratt branches that increase their operating hours. Public and philanthropic dollars are needed to make this happen.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/opinion/too-poor-to-afford-the-internet.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

To read more about these issues, go to the newly redesigned delsandy.com.

May 23 – 141 Preaknesses and counting

May 23, 2016 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

If you rebuild it, they will continue to come.

135,256 people came to Pimlico two rainy days ago.

Now it’s our job to get the seating facility rebuilt so that the Preakness can be run there in the decades ahead.

A public-private partnership is necessary for that to happen, and there were positive developments this weekend

Governor Hogan said, “It’s got a great tradition, great history here, and hopefully we’re going to continue for many more years here. We’ve been here for 141, maybe we’ll be here for another 141.”

Pimlico’s General Manager Sal Sinatra stated, “Once you come here and look through one Preakness, you feel the history, you feel the energy and you see what the kids are doing out there and you’re going to try every which way to keep it here.”

The next step in this process is a study evaluating Pimlico Race Course’s ability to serve as the permanent home of the Preakness. That review will include an estimate of the economic and fiscal benefits associated with running the Preakness at Pimlico, as well as facility needs that would make the track more marketable.

This study is being conducted by the Maryland Stadium Authority. It is funded by the Authority; the owners of Pimlico, the Maryland Jockey Club; the Maryland Racing Commission; and the City of Baltimore.

I was instrumental in convening this group for the first meeting of the Third Saturday in May Committee. (That’s when the Preakness is run.)

I expect there will be other meetings in the months ahead.

The race and the track are too important for the economy of the neighborhood, the City, and the region for it to be run elsewhere.

March 9 – Down the stretch they will still come

March 10, 2016 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2016 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I write to you today as the chair of the Third Saturday in May committee.

That’s when the Preakness is run at Pimlico Race Course.

We took a major step this week to decide if that will be the case for decades to come.

The Maryland Stadium Authority approved a study to evaluate Pimlico’s ability to serve as the permanent home for the Preakness Stakes.

The Authority built Oriole Park and M&T Bank Stadium. Consequently, its work is highly regarded.

If this report recommends that the Preakness remain at Pimlico, it will create the justification and the momentum to do so.

To get this report on the Authority’s agenda, I brought together representatives of the Maryland Jockey Club, the Racing Commission, the City of Baltimore, and the Stadium Authority. We called ourselves the Third Saturday in May Committee.

There hasn’t been a World Series game in Baltimore since 1983. The Preakness is run every year. Almost without exception, the Kentucky Derby winner is here.

The Park Heights community, Baltimore City, and the metropolitan region all benefit from the Preakness.

Save the track, save the Preakness, help Park Heights.

Nearing 3rd base and in the infield

March 23, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

When you’re nearing third base, assume the coach will wave you home. If you slow down, the catcher may be waiting to tag you out.

BJ Surhoff taught us that at a Ripken Fantasy Camp.

In Annapolis (and elsewhere), that means plan ahead and be prepared.

We must have a special session this fall to redraw the lines for the state’s eight Congressional districts. We could consider other issues at that time – if the Governor and the presiding officers agree to do so.

Today was not the first time that a lobbyist asked me whether an issue of interest to him would be on the agenda this fall. Better to be running at full speed than to be caught unawares.

The budget bill was debated by the House this afternoon. Earlier in the day, I was asked to be ready to speak on abortion, stem cell research, and horse racing.

“It’s a matter of conscience – for those of us in this body, for the voters who approved abortion when it was on referendum in 1992, and for the women on Medicaid who would be affected if the state no longer paid part of the cost if they choose to have one,” I declared.

The floor was as quiet as it has ever been during the many times I have spoken over the last 29 years. The amendment to eliminate state funding for abortions failed, 52-82.

Other members effectively made the argument to preserve state funding of research with both adult and embryonic stem cells. The amendment to eliminate this program failed, 44-90.

“If we cut funding for purses and the operating expenses of the race tracks, you won’t have 100,000 people in the infield at Pimlico on the third Saturday in May. The Preakness will be run in another state,” I said. This amendment failed, 11-121.

March 23