John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, father of Rose Kennedy and grandfather of Edward M. Kennedy, was twice elected Mayor of Boston. He began his political career voting the cemetery. Turnout – among the living, will be crucial tomorrow in the election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat and to retain a filibuster-proof majority in the United …more >

People like to be asked and people like to be thanked. They also like it when you show up. The Women Legislators of Maryland Foundation held “The Reunion of the Sisterhood! 2010” last night. Unlike all other Annapolis receptions at the dinner hour, you had to purchase a ticket. However, there were no competing affairs. …more >

There is no spring training before the regular session/season in Annapolis. This afternoon, we were fifteen minutes into the discussion of a bill I’ll be introducing before the thought hit me. As drafted, this bill would not be heard by my committee. There’s certainly no guarantee that it will pass if it’s considered by the …more >

My first day in Annapolis began with the gotcha quote of the day. Senator Harry Reid’s remark about then Senator Barack Obamna’s skin color and dialect – or lack thereof, prompted an endless and mindless discussion on “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. Of course, there was the canard that the liberal press had a double standard: …more >

You don’t get your bills passed if you wait until January to start working on them. If your bills are enacted, you have to keep working to make sure they’re implemented. So ninety days into our nine-month interim, I write to discuss with you some of the issues I’m working on. The Congress has passed …more >

Jim McKay died last June on the day that the Belmont Stakes was run. Not long after that (I don’t remember exactly when), I thought of renaming the Maryland Million in his memory. Earlier today, after the Rules Committee took favorable action on my resolution to accomplish that, I said to myself, “It’s finally coming …more >

Newly offered amendments won’t jeopardize my bill to allow wrongly convicted prisoners to present newly discovered evidence. At this late hour, prosecutors are proposing changes to my bill creating a writ of innocence. They would be offered in a conference committee, except the conferees won’t be meeting. The Senate crossfile of this legislation has already …more >

Lots of little things can go wrong with your bills in the final week. But not this session. Not so far, at least. In fact, little things have been going right. A hurdle was removed for my writ of innocence legislation when the Senate committee acted favorably on my bill and did not adopt the …more >

If Susette Kelo had won her case in the Supreme Court four years ago, Governor O’Malley’s bill to save the Preakness could not have been introduced today. Ms. Kelo challenged the constitutionality of the City of New London’s using the power of eminent domain to buy her home against her will. The public purpose that …more >

Who would oppose providing training in green jobs for current and former welfare clients? 23 members of the House did this morning, all but one of them Republicans. And I thought the Gingrich revolution was about moving people from a welfare line to the work place. Giving people an opportunity to enter a growing sector …more >