I don’t leave many baseball games in the 7th inning, especially when the Orioles are ahead. But it’s not often that I’ve volunteered to give the prayer to open the session. This is what I wrote and said: “Wait ‘til next year,” they used to say at Ebbets Field, until the Brooklyn Dodgers finally won …more >

A new entrant in the Pimlico bankruptcy stakes. Except horse racing and the Preakness are not in Carl Versatandig’s plans for the race track site, according to Friday’s Sun. He wants to build a shopping center instead. That prompted me to ask the Attorney General’s office if the State or Baltimore City could take certain …more >

It isn’t glamorous, but it’s what I need to do. The green jobs bill should be on the voting list of the Economic Matters Committee (ECM) this afternoon. So for this morning’s floor session, I wrote the names of the seven ECM subcommittee chairs on a file card. I spoke with five of them – …more >

“I don’t care which bill gets signed.” I was talking to Senator Delores Kelley. The subject was green jobs. She is the sponsor of the Senate crossfile. “You shouldn’t wait for my bill to pass the House and then get out of the Senate Rules Committee,” I continued. “The sooner the Senate Finance Committee acts …more >

I was reminded today that we don’t act on a bill unless it is before us. Literally. “There is no more work at the desk,” the Speaker said at the conclusion of this morning’s session. Nothing unusual about that. For the full House to take action on a bill, a folder containing a hard copy …more >

Who knows eight? Eight lights of Hanukkah will be the answer at the Passover seder next week. On this Crossover Monday, eight bills of mine are alive and must be worked in the Senate to become law. When the Voter’s Rights Protection Act was on 2nd reader today, no questions were asked and no amendments …more >

It was late Friday night, but it felt like early Saturday morning. The second floor session of the day had lasted four hours. Bills on early voting and driver’s licenses for undocumented residents had prompted many amendments and much debate. But the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources had two bills to vote on. …more >

There is life after the death penalty – for several of my bills. Today, the following took place: The Lilly Ledbetter fair pay bill got a favorable report from the Health and Government Operations Committee. The Voter’s Rights Protection Act got a favorable vote from the Election Law Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee. …more >

I knew we had the votes. Today’s death penalty debate began with an amendment that would permit a death sentence for murdering a prison guard or officer, without having to meet the new standards for evidence in the Senate bill. It failed, 61-75, a closer margin than the vote on any of yesterday’s amendments. Our …more >

We’re only one step away. This morning, the Republicans offered seven amendments to the death penalty reform bill. Each one failed. The closest vote was 59-79. Additional amendments will be offered when the bill is before us on third reader and final passage tomorrow morning. There is no sure thing in Annapolis – or any …more >