The big tent just got a lot smaller. Ronald Reagan spoke of the Republican Party’s big tent, which allowed for members of differing views. More recently, that tent has been contrasted with political correctness on the left. Last week, the Republican leader in the State Senate, Alan Kittleman, announced that he would …more >
If you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, don’t. I brought the draft legislation to our power breakfast. It would encourage the hiring of low-income individuals for certain construction projects. Every word in the bill was new because it would add a section to the law. And then the light …more >
Some people plan ahead. Some people don’t. I spoke with one person today who suggested that I should meet with other interested legislators and advocates to draft legislation on one of the issues before the Ways and Means Committee. At another meeting on a different issue, I asked if such a group …more >
I introduced my first two bills of the session. Both are repeats from last year that took quite different paths short of passage. Here are two not so hypotheticals that could have been addressed if the Voters Rights Protection Act had been enacted. Robo calls are made at noontime on Election …more >
It was 28 years ago today that I took the oath of office for the first time. Fair to say I’m as excited today about what I can accomplish down here as I was at the beginning, I wrote a friend this morning. Unlike Washington, we get things done in Annapolis. Because …more >
“You read all of those lengthy reports,” another delegate said to me. “It’s good that you think I do,” I responded with a smile. I tell my staff and my students to keep my testimony and letters to one page. As Thomas Jefferson said, “I would have written you a shorter letter, …more >
In the past, all I could do was reduce spending. For my first 20 years in Annapolis, I served on the Appropriations Committee, where we cut the Governor’s budget. We could increase spending for a certain program only if we enacted a new source of revenue. Those bills were considered by the Ways and Means …more >
December 23 “Next year in Jerusalem,” Jews throughout the ages have declared at the end of the seder meal. In June of last year, my older brother Stewart told me that he and his wife Bonnie would be going to Israel this December – his first trip, her second. My immediate response: “I’m …more >
December 24 Several compelling moments at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial, this morning and at the Western Wall this Sabbath Eve. Jews watching their synagogue burn on Kristallnacht. When the dome falls, the reaction reminds me of the towers falling on 9/11. Archives of the Warsaw ghetto were saved in milk jars. The Dead Sea …more >
December 25 The outer walls of the Old City of Jerusalem are from “only the 1500’s,” our guide told us at the start of today’s tour. By contrast, the site of the City of David is just outside those walls and now a disputed neighborhood among Israelis and Palestinians. Archaeological evidence from King …more >
