Little things count.

            A staple, in this instance. 

            Late yesterday, I took my staff’s advice and decided to narrow the scope of my legislation exempting a professor’s research or other information of a proprietary nature from the Public Information Act. 

             Using the University System of Maryland’s definition of intellectual property, we drafted an amendment that exempts from public access a faculty member’s research that meets that definition. 

            All of the language in the original bill would be deleted.  The amendment would become the bill. 

            After I made the final edits to my testimony this morning, I left this note for my staff:

            Staple the amendment to my testimony. 

           The reason: When committee members read my testimony, they will also see the amendment.  When I speak before the committee and refer to the amendment, they won’t be searching for it among the many papers on their desks. 

           The hearing went well.  Committee members read my amendment. 

           It doesn’t guarantee they’ll vote for the bill, but every little thing helps.