delsandy – Page 94 – Sandy Rosenberg

Who’s copying whom?

February 28, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Who’s copied on an email can be as important as the content of the message.

A House staffer sent me his evaluation of the amendments to a bill that I’m very interested in.

A Senate staffer was also copied on the message.

I asked the House staffer the significance. As I thought, the Senate staffer’s boss was interested in seeing the bill pass.

Welcome aboard.

—

Speaking of being cc:’d…

A tough letter can contain an olive branch.

Over the years, I have been copied on such letters. Respond to the positive offer, I always advise the person to whom it was addressed.

There is historical precedent for this.

During the Cuban missile crisis, Khrushchev sent two cables to President Kennedy. One was belligerent, the other was conciliatory. JFK responded to the latter, and a deal was struck.

February 28

I'm sticking with the union

February 27, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

“Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play. Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided,” declared Justice Brandeis.

Organized labor does need to adjust to changed circumstances. The auto industry bailouts, for example, forced changes that were clearly overdue.

However, when labor unions set decent working conditions and benefit levels for their members, there is a ripple effect for non-unionized workers

Consequently, eliminating or weakening collective bargaining rights for state employees in Wisconsin will have a deleterious effect for many other working men and women.

“’Middle class’ is more than an income category,” Prof. Jacob Hacker writes. “It’s an image of a certain kind of society–a nation in which the gains of prosperity are broadly shared and those who work hard have a good shot at upward mobility and the security of a basic safety net. “

Brandeis also said, “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”

February 27

Letting the delegate know that I know

February 26, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I did not expect this delegate would be flattered by my attention.

During the House floor session, a colleague told me that a member of his committee had raised concerns about my bill to allow used car dealers to be open on Sunday if Saturday was their Sabbath.

I walked over to that delegate, discussed why the bill was needed, and asked if I could answer any questions.

My colleague was not a freshman – far from it. So unlike the instance where a new member was flattered that I had personally responded to his concerns, my goal here was to let this veteran delegate know that I knew who might be causing problems for my bill.

It received a favorable report from the Economic Matters Committee this afternoon.

I also had a friendlier lobbying moment on the floor.

I spoke with the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the budget staff’s proposed funding cut for loan repayment program for people who take lower paying government or public service jobs.

“We don’t put enough money in that program,” responded Delegate Bohannon.

No further lobbying needed on this in the House.

February 25

Touching lives

February 24, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

You can touch the lives of many people in this job.

Twenty three years ago, Maryland became the first state to help students enter public service by providing loan repayments to assist them in repaying their academic debt. That was my bill.

We heard testimony today on legislation to allow people with lower paying government or non-profit jobs to claim a deduction on their state income tax for their educational loan repayments. I introduced House Bill 623 because less than half of the people who are eligible for assistance under my 1988 bill are receiving this aid.

During the hearing, I learned that our budget staff is proposing that this program not be funded in the next fiscal year. Another issue to add to my bill list.

At the Democratic caucus meeting this week, the House sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill compared this issue to the 1991 law that made the Roe v. Wade standard on abortion Maryland law.

He then called on me to speak as the floor leader for the abortion bill. My message: we had to oppose all Senate amendments then and we have to do the same now, since the Senate will not take up the bill a second time to consider any House changes.

Afterwards, I called my niece, Rachel, to let her know that when the abortion law was petitioned to referendum 20 years ago, I wanted her to pull the lever for me for the bill on Election Day, but her father took her and her brother to dinner instead.

Next year, if the marriage bill is petitioned to the ballot, Rachel will be 27 and able to vote for the law herself.

February 24

The delegate has a question and a vote

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

He has a vote, and I want it.

One of my bills has been referred to a subcommittee. A freshman delegate asked a question about the legislation at a meeting last week.

The General Assembly research staff found a relevant court case. I gave the delegate a copy of the decision before the subcommittee met again this morning and explained why I thought it addressed his concern.

He was very flattered. No doubt it’s the first time it’s happened to him.

This afternoon, he told me had started reading the case but hadn’t finished it yet.

. He has a vote, and I want it.

—-

Pimlico has some land, and the community cares about its use.

Officials from the race track informed me and other legislators that Frank Stronach would soon be the sole owner, buying out Penn National.

My first questions were about the implications this would have for slots and horse racing.

Then I made sure to remind these officials of the concerns Pimlico’s neighbors had about its future use.

At the track, all ponies are local.

February 23

Sticking with the union

February 22, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I wasn’t sure if people would understand the reference.

I was about to speak to a labor rally protesting the attempted union busting by Wisconsin’s governor.

Yesterday, I had been reminded of a major event in labor history – the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

In 1911, 146 workers – most of them immigrant women in their teens and twenties, died in a fire because the exits were locked – to make sure no employees left their workplace.

Six of those bodies remained unidentified until recently. Yesterday’s New York Times story put the fire in its historical context:

The fire was a wrenching event in New York’s history, one that had a profound influence on building codes, labor laws, politics and the beginning of the New Deal two decades later.

One hundred years later, I wondered if anyone in today’s crowd would understand if I mentioned that fire.

Plenty of them did.

“The Triangle fire is beaten into us when we start in the labor movement,” one of the rally organizers said to me afterwards.

One of my political mentors was Jake Edelman, a Russian Jewish immigrant, labor organizer in the garment trades, and member of the Baltimore City Council.

He endorsed me when I first ran for office in 1982.

I’m sure he would have appreciated my historical reference.

February 22

Avoiding double secret probation

February 21, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I had visions of John Belushi.

We were trying to find a professor who had taught a certain freshman delegate, thinking that relationship would be very effective for lobbying.

We knew where the legislator had gone to school but not who had taught him.

I thought of Belushi rummaging through the trash to find last year’s exam.

“However you can legally find out who the delegate’s professor was, do it,” I advised the group around the table.

I know who taught me constitutional law. It was Telford Taylor, Chief Counsel for 12 cases during the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis.

One of the legal principles established by that tribunal: coercion – acting pursuant to an order of the government or of a superior, does not relieve you of responsibility for your actions.

That’s one of the arguments we’ll be making regarding the legal responsibility of the French railroad company for transporting Jews and others to the concentration camps under direction of the Germans.

“In my testimony, I want to quote Telford Taylor on this point,” I told one of the lawyers we’re working with.

February 21

A better deal than I expected

February 20, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get more than what you need.

It’s the exception when your bill passes without amendments the first time it’s introduced, but sometimes developments exceed your expectations.

Since my bill allowing used car dealers to remain open on Sunday and close on Saturday affects only Baltimore City, it must be approved by both the City delegation and the Economic Matters Committee.

Before the hearing began today, one City delegate asked me whether this legislation would give an advantage to dealers open on Sunday when their competition was closed. We’ll have to talk to him again after the hearing, I said to myself.

After Delegate Oaks and I testified for House Bill 520, several delegates asked questions, and I again made mental notes as to which ones would need further discussion before the delegation voted on the bill next week.

Then Delegate Haynes asked a question that favorably summarized the bill. A motion immediately followed for a favorable report.

The vote was unanimous. And one week before I expected it.

“Do we still need to testify next Tuesday before the other committee?” asked Mr. Sher, who had asked me to introduce the bill because he observes the Sabbath on Saturday and cannot open his dealership on that day, in addition to the Sunday closure required by state law.

“That we still need to do,” I replied.

February 18

Stacking the deck, Ignoring the truth

February 17, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

Witnesses are not under oath in Annapolis.

Perhaps they should be.

“The deck is stacked against many consumers,” I began my remarks to the committee on House Bill 442, the Transparency in Consumer Arbitration Act.

The nursing home industry was the only opponent.

Its witness alleged that I had introduced the bill at the request of the trial lawyers – the plaintiffs bar.

I assume this was designed to gain support from the more conservative members of the committee.

It’s not true. The trial lawyers have never talked to me about HB 442. They didn’t testify for it today.

I may have grown accustomed to some things that would have offended me when I first got to Annapolis.

A claim with no basis in fact is not one of them.

February 17

Close but not quite an MVP

February 16, 2011 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary | No Comments

It’s not often that a witness begins his testimony at a bill hearing by congratulating the vice chairman for winning a Most Valuable Player award.

The witness was Billy Ripken. The bill would encourage physical fitness by providing a tax credit for the cost of qualified physical activity programs.

The award was a Gold Glove for defensive performance, close but not quite an MVP. And I’m the Vice Chairman. Before and after that accolade from Billy, my staff and I worked on amendments to several of my bills.

Subcommittees are considering House Bill 32, which would provide health care for homeless youth, and House Bill 101, which would protect participants in the petition gathering process for a referendum from harassment.

House Bill 442, which would protect consumers in arbitration, has a public hearing tomorrow.

By the way, I forgot to mention that the Gold Glove trophy is in my Annapolis office…

February 16

My Key Issues:

Author: delsandy