In Annapolis, reconciliation takes place in conference committees. For a bill to become law, it must pass both houses of the legislature in identical form. If one of my bills passes the House of Delegates and the Senate adopts substantive amendments to it, the House can accept those changes or request a conference committee “to …more >

“I am here only by chance. I could have been the one walking down the street and killed by the drunk driver. Miriam Frankl’s friends here today don’t want to lose any more of their friends.” Miriam Frankl was the Johns Hopkins student who died last fall at the hands of a driver with a …more >

So this delegate walks into the Chairman’s office – in Annapolis speak, the back room. I was about to make an impassioned 1st Amendment argument for my libel tourism bill. But discussion of legislation was put on hold. The delegate wanted my chairman’s advice on how to handle a theft charge against one of his …more >

Today was the 45th day of the session. We’re halfway there, day-wise. There were brownies to mark the occasion, by chance available outside the Joint Hearing Room where we heard the medical marijuana bills. So a quick rundown of where some of my bills are on the chessboard. My bill clarifying licensing requirements for morticians …more >

Publicity is nice, but it doesn’t get your bill passed. USA Today had a story about legislation regulating corporate contributions to political campaigns in response to the controversial Supreme Court decision on this issue. I was quoted, discussing my bill to require shareholder approval before a corporation can make an independent political expenditure. (“Delegate Rosenberg …more >

“My testimony wrote itself Saturday night.” “I attended a fundraiser for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill,” I told the Health and Government Operations Committee, before relating the following from the notes I had scribbled that evening. “Doug Duncan, the former Montgomery County Executive, was the honoree. He told the group that the Mental …more >

PC, in this instance, did not mean politically correct. We were discussing my bill requiring the police to get a judge’s approval before getting the records of where someone was when he or she made cell phone calls. There were nearly a dozen prosecutors and police officers in the room, plus the lobbyists for the …more >

There were lots of questions from my committee members for the bills heard before mine. They dealt with vehicular homicide and drag racing. Ditto for the one afterwards, where the subject was traffic citations. But very few for my two bills, where the issue was freedom of speech and the press. Wealthy public figures are …more >

It’s an unusual position for me to be in. I’m a liberal. I think government is a force for good. I try to pass bills. Not this time. I want to kill any legislation that would make it easier for the state to execute someone. Last year, when we wanted to pass a bill repealing …more >

5:00 pm was the bewitching hour. Get your bills to the Clerk’s Office by that deadline and you avoid the delay of having them referred to the Rules Committee. Most bills eventually emerge from Rules, but your public hearing date will be later rather than sooner. With two days of hearing already lost to snow, …more >