After dealing with Congress yesterday, I’m going to look at the influence our local legislators have in Annapolis. Similar to Congress, I’ll look at bills sponsored or co-sponsored by each of our local Delegates and Senators in Districts 37 and 38. This information can also be found on the Maryland General Assembly website. Since there haven’t been many votes to speak of involving the General Assembly, I won’t have much of a voting record to go on quite yet (oh, but just wait.)
Working in district order:
Delegate Rudy Cane (District 37A) is a co-sponsor of a whopping 104 bills. The majority of these (60) haven’t even had a hearing scheduled yet. 37 bills have a hearing scheduled, and seven have had a hearing. One bill co-sponsored by Cane (HB 61) has cleared its committee.
District 37B’s co-Delegate, Addie Eckardt, has her name lent as co-sponsor to 92 bills. 45 do not have a hearing scheduled, 38 bills are scheduled for a hearing, and 7 have been heard. Eckardt is also a co-sponsor of HB 61, which got through committee, and HB 89, which didn’t survive committee. Her counterpart, Delegate Jeannie Haddaway, has co-sponsored 82 bills – 51 with no hearing scheduled, 26 that have a hearing scheduled, 5 which have been heard, and the above-mentioned HB 61. She’s also the sole sponsor of HB 540, which would set up a laptop computer distribution program to the state’s 7th grade students. No hearing is slated for this measure at this time. As a tandem, Eckardt and Haddaway sponsor three bills, two of which are to establish a state debt for items in Talbot County.
Turning to District 38A, I note that Page Elmore has co-sponsored 96 bills. 50 of these have not had a hearing yet, 40 have one scheduled, and 6 have been heard. Page has also been a solo sponsor of 6 bills, all having to do with Somerset County affairs. Two bills he’s sponsored are already through committee – HB 54, a bill that assists the seafood industry in Somerset and Queen Anne’s counties; and HB 145, a bill that will give the next Somerset County Treasurer a 35% raise beginning with his or her term commencing in 2011.
One of my Delegates is Norm Conway. He has co-sponsored a relatively pedestrian 45 bills, 2 of which he shares with his 38B cohort Delegate Jim Mathias. These bills (HB 683 and HB 964) would extend the power of Worcester County fire investigators and prohibit oyster dredging in the Atlantic Coastal Bays, respectively. 32 of these bills (including the aforementioned two) have no hearing set, 12 have a hearing scheduled, and one hearing has occurred for a Conway-sponsored measure. Conway also has a solo bill (HB 1078) for “(a)ltering the purposes for which the Maryland State Firemen’s Association may use money appropriated in the State budget.” No hearing is set for that one. Similarly, Mathias is a co-sponsor of 48 bills – 31 with no hearing set and 16 with one slated. Like Conway, Mathias is among the sponsors of the one bill which has had its hearing.
Additionally, Wicomico County’s delegation as a group sponsored HB 102, which exempts training fires from any “burn ban”. This bill’s already had its hearing.
Now I’ll shift over to the Maryland Senate and see how our two local Senators are faring. Those of you roughly west of Salisbury are represented by Senator Rich Colburn, who’s co-sponsored 81 bills in all. The Senate’s a bit more efficient in hearing schedules, with 37 of these bills having a hearing date scheduled while just 33 do not yet. Nine bills have already had their hearings completed.
In addition, SB 54, which Colburn co-sponsored, has been withdrawn (as of last Wednesday.) This was an act that would’ve mandated young female students receive the controversial cervical cancer vaccine. On the other side, SB 203, a bill he co-sponsors with Senator Stoltzfus of my District 38, has passed committee. It’s an interesting bill that has to do with the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce and existing law.
Speaking of my Senator, J. Lowell Stoltzfus, he has the fewest co-sponsored bills of any local Assemblyman (29.) But he has the highest number of solo-sponsored bills, 12. While most of these bills have to do with local issues within the district, there’s a couple other interesting ones which have to do with the practice of health care (affecting dental hygenists and radiologists) plus a bill requiring a hotel to keep on reserve an accessible room on the lowest floor until either an individual requiring its use reserves it or it’s the final room available. (It’s sort of like codifying common sense to me.) 19 of the proposals he’s sponsoring or co-sponsoring have a hearing scheduled while 21 do not, plus the aforementioned SB 203 that’s through committee.
With over 1800 bills already introduced, the pace will slow down as effective last Friday new bills are automatically sent to the Rules Committee first. So the last 2/3 of the session is set up for hearings and votes on things already introduced. In fact, a number of these bills bear watching as they embark on a path to become law. With over 100 bills co-sponsored and being in the majority party (not to mention an almost certain safe seat for as long as he wants to hold it), note that District 37A Delegate Rudy Cane is a co-sponsor of all of the following House bills (unless noted otherwise.)
HB 44/SB 51 is the “Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2007”. The bill has had its hearings already and awaits committee votes.
HB 148/SB 634 is the bill D.D. Crabb posted on a few days ago, a measure to change over Maryland’s Presidential electoral votes to reflect the winner of the national popular vote rather than Maryland’s results. This had a hearing in the House last week, no Senate hearing is yet scheduled. While Maryland has been a reliably Democrat state (thus sort of defeating their purpose if, as in 2004, a Republican wins the national popular vote), this is part of a nationwide effort to subvert the Founders’ idea of an Electoral College, a body that gives smaller states more power in determining national leaders. Rudy Cane is not a co-sponsor of this bill, surprisingly enough.
HB 225/SB 211 repeals Maryland’s seldom-used death penalty once and for all. A Senate hearing on this proposal is slated for February 21.
HB 273 eliminates the waiting period and other conditions already extant for felons to regain their voting rights upon release from prison. No hearing has yet been scheduled.
HB 288/SB 207 is the “Healthy Maryland Initiative”. It should be titled the “Extra Dollar a Pack Cigarette Tax” because that’s the true purpose of this legislation. Saying that, there’s a LOT more to it and it deserves a careful reading. The House hearing is set for February 16 and the Senate does its hearing February 21.
HB 289 is a local interest “bond bill” – it establishes a $2.5 million grant to Wicomico County to fix up the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center if county matching funds are provided by mid-2009. This bill’s sponsored by local Delegates Cane, Conway, Elmore, and Mathias. No hearing is scheduled.
Similarly, HB 312/SB 373 is a “bond bill” granting $500,000 to the Salisbury Zoo for an Animal Health Facility with the same timeframe for matching funds. The same four sponsors are on the House bill; on the Senate side both local Senators are the sponsors for this measure.
HB 359/SB 91 is the “Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007”, which essentially bans smoking in any building open to the public. Along with Delegate Cane, District 38A Delegate Page Elmore is also a co-sponsor. (Uh, Page, how about leaving these things up to the business owner? Very disappointing.)
HB 365 codifies a date certain that absentee ballots must be received by, taking discretion away from the state Board of Elections. A hearing on that is set for February 28.
HB 400 is known as the “Maryland Universal Health Care Plan”. One of its purposes is to, “(p)rovide public financing of health care services for all residents of the state.” That hearing is slated for February 28.
HB 430 mandates state contractors and subcontractors to pay a “living wage” (set in the bill at $11.95 per hour less any health benefits) to their employees. They do exempt non-profit companies from this law, though. Does this mean a business that will lose big money by following this law? February 20 is the hearing date on this proposal.
HB 537 is a Republican bill (which our three local GOP Delegates are co-sponsoring) mandating compliance with the federal Real ID Act and preventing the issuing of drivers’ licenses to those who cannot document legally being in the United States. Not surprisingly, no hearing for this has been scheduled.
HB 620/SB 494 is a bipartisan (all local Delegates except Rudy Cane are co-sponsors) bill that mandates insurers cover property in “coastal areas” within 50 feet of certain bodies of water. No hearing has been set for that item yet.
HB 754 is the “Children and Working Families Health Care Act of 2007”. Along with Delegate Cane, Delegates Conway and Elmore also serve among the co-sponsors. The hearing on this bill is set for February 16. HB 754 is a long, involved bill that bears reading as well.
HB 890/SB 409 is entitled “Global Warming Solutions – Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Geez, like more regulations in Maryland will solve the problem. One nice part of this request:
“MARKET-BASED COMPLIANCE MECHANISM” INCLUDES:
(1) A CAP AND TRADE SYSTEM THAT SETS DECLINING ANNUAL EMISSIONS LIMITS AND ALLOWS EMISSIONS TRADING WITHIN A SYSTEM THAT IS GOVERNED BY RULES AND PROTOCOLS ESTABLISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT; OR NONTRADING POLICIES AND MEASURES, INCLUDING
(I) TAXES ON EMISSIONS;
(II) LABELING REQUIREMENTS;
(III) LIABILITY MEASURES;
(IV) PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS;
(V) PROGRAMS COMMONLY KNOWN AS FEEBATES. (Emphasis mine.)
Anyway, that hearing is February 20 for the Senate bill.
HB 909/SB 674 is called the “Maryland Energy Efficiency Standards Act of 2007”. Once again, Delegate Elmore joins with the predominantly Democrat co-sponsors of this bill. This bill was just introduced Friday so all I have on it is essentially the title and a short synopsis. Thus, no hearing’s been scheduled yet.
The GOP is once again trying to enact “Jessica’s Law”, in this term it’s known as HB 930/SB 413. Our two local Senators, along with GOP Delegates Elmore and Haddaway, are among the co-sponsors. No local Democrats are on that list.
HB 994/SB 475 wishes to establish a “Task Force on the Policy and Funding Implications of Requiring Passage of the High School Assessment for Graduation.” So the poor souls who couldn’t pass the state graduation test (and most likely the teachers’ unions, who are held somewhat accountable by these tests) must have whined to the right people. Just introduced in the House Friday, no hearings are set yet.
SB 564 would submit a proposed Constitutional Amendment to voters in 2008 establishing that in Maryland, a legally recognized marriage is only that one between a man and a woman. Both local Senators are co-sponsors, as they should be. Look for a lot of gay activists in Annapolis on March 1st, the date the hearing on this Senate bill is slated.
Senator Stoltzfus is a co-sponsor of SB 597, which would require election judges to verify a voter’s identity and address. Like that has a chance in Annapolis? It’s not shocking to me that no hearing on this has been scheduled.
He’s also a co-sponsor of SB 598, a measure that would put telephones already on the federal “do-not-call” list off limits to politically related calls as well. No hearing is set on that, which is surprising given the number of people I heard complaining about this very subject last fall.
******************************
It looks like I’ll be doing a LOT of tracking in the weeks to come, just to see how these bills fare in Annapolis. Those are far from the only bills of importance out there, but these 21 I picked out give a pretty good rundown on some of the most important issues.
I’m quite disappointed in Delegate Elmore’s support of the smoking ban bill as well as the bill to expand eligibility for Medicaid services. Both are horrible ideas and it’s hard for me to see how anyone from a party ostensibly concerned with limited government could support them. For example, the proposal to expand government funding for children’s health care to families that make up to 400% of the federal poverty level will mean that a family of four could make almost $83,000 and still be eligible. Ridiculous. And this when we are facing a huge structural deficit.
I’m quite disappointed in Delegate Elmore’s support of both as well, as was probably plain to read in my rendition of these bills. While I don’t live in 38A, he’s still part of our county’s delegation.
Now, as far as the Medicaid bill goes, I can see a little bit why he may support this. A good part of Somerset County (which is geographically the bulk of his district although he lives here in Wicomico) compares to inner-city Baltimore as far as poverty goes. It’s also a county where registered Democrats outnumber the GOP voters almost 2-1. Elmore only won his initial election in 2002 because he carried the Wicomico part of the district by a 2 to 1 margin – he lost in Somerset County. So by co-sponsoring some of these measures (which are essentially lost causes for the GOP; let’s face it, these things will almost certainly pass) he can look “bipartisan.”
That’s not saying I like the politics and I certainly don’t speak for the man, it’s just how I see it. Perhaps Delegate Elmore may comment someplace along the line and explain in his own words why he’s sponsored these bills.
You missed the one bill:
SB 378 / HB 445 *State Board of Nursing – Advanced Nurse Practitioners – Membership and Qualifications*.
This bill would add one certified advanced practice nurse to the Board of Nursing.
Over the last few years, the number of certified advanced practice nurses in Maryland has grown to approximately 3,000.
The practice of an advanced practice nurse differs from that of an RN or LPN. In addition to being an RN, these experienced nurses complete graduate level specialty training and pass rigorous national certification examinations. They are then allowed to provide health care services beyond those of a RN or LPN (e.g. perform physical examinations, order and interpret diagnostic tests, prescribe medications). To better protect the public, and to support the board of nursing’s decision making related to advanced practice nursing, it is important that a certified advanced practice nurse be added to the board.
I slightly edited Georgia’s comment because of the way it translated over to my site…left some funny paragraphs and line spacings (the wording is unchanged.)
I didn’t MISS the bill, I was just trying to hit some of the highlights I saw. It is intriguing that I find a local GOP delegate (Addie Eckardt) on the same co-sponsor list as Delegate James Hubbard, the idea guy behind the Wal-Mart (Fair Share Health Care) bill, among others. But this bill seems relatively innocent, just adding another board member for the State Board of Nursing.
Will you be at either hearing (House on Wednesday, Senate on Thursday)?