Getting to Work in Annapolis
It’s worth your while to follow the action
Who do you follow? The Redskins? The Terps? The Maryland General Assembly?
I bet I know the answer.
Yet between now and April 11, the Maryland General Assembly will decide how to spend billions of your money.
They’ll also be making decisions that shape your life. The air we breathe, the earth that supports us, the waters that flow around us, the food we eat, the schools that teach our kids, our mental and physical healthcare — all those daily issues and more are shaped by laws made by the General Assembly.
All that happens beneath the radar for most of us. We throng to FedEx Field or XFinity Center but not to the Statehouse to watch our lawmakers at work.
For the next three months, the Assembly, where Democrats dominate, will wrestle with how much our Republican governor wants to spend and cut and where. Everybody brings their own ideas to the division, making for plenty of strategizing and scrimmaging. Team loyalty — known as party politics on this field of play — will direct much of the action, with diversions, blocking and power plays.
We aren’t riveted to the television to watch that play by play — though you can catch it live at mgaleg.maryland.gov/pubs-current/current-about.pdf.
There’s plenty of political commentary on television, newspapers and every other medium of news and opinion. But sports pages have more readers.
Creating a fan base has not been a big priority for the legislators of the Maryland General Assembly. Maybe they don’t want you to know what’s going on?
Here’s how you can find out.
How Much Money?
$40 billion-plus in all probability. Last year, the General Assembly approved a $40.4 billion budget. Many years, the budget goes up by about six percent. Will Gov. Larry Hogan change that?
“Our administration has said repeatedly that we would bring fiscal restraint back to Annapolis, hold the line on spending, and increase funding for top priorities like education and infrastructure,” Hogan said previewing a $17.1 billion operating budget. “This year’s budget accomplishes all those things.”
He delivers the full proposed operating and capital budgets on January 20.
More than 40 percent of those billions will come from your state income taxes. Billions more come from sales tax, special fund fees like the Flush Tax and federal income taxes passed on to the state.
Who are These People?
We ought to know, as we hired the 47 senators and 141 delegates who convene for the annual 90-day session of the Maryland General Assembly, begun this year on January 13.
Elected for four-year terms in general elections two years off sync with the presidential election, they are accountants, actors, chauffeurs, cigar store owners, lawyers, mayors, ministers, pilots, restaurateurs, retirees, teachers: 188 of your fellow citizens. Each delegate represents an average 37,564 of us, each senator about three times as many.
Who Represents You?
Check out mdelect.net to find your delegate and senator. Type in your address, and click on a name to find contact information, a photo and biography.
Webpages and social media are catching on in the General Assembly. Check by name. Webpages typically present the candidate running for election rather than the working delegate or senator. Facebook and Twitter are more up to date.
How Can You Talk to Them?
By letter, email, phone and in person. During session, legislators are on the go. Letters and emails get their attention without breaking their strides. Expect phone calls to be answered by a legislative aid. By mail or phone, opinions — especially on controversial issues — are logged and reported for the legislator. If you want a personal response, ask, persistently and politely.
Don’t plan a personal visit without calling ahead to schedule a time. Come prepared to wait, as much of their day is spent in committee meetings and legislative hearings and votes.
However you choose to have your say, follow the advice of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters:
• Take up one issue per communication
• Be brief and to the point
• Illustrate your point with personal experience
• Avoid rude and profane language.
Find contact info at mdelect.net.
Where are They?
Offices are in the House Office Building and the James and Miller Senate Office Buildings, plus the Statehouse, where Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller — who represents Calvert County — and House Speaker Michael Busch — who represents the Annapolis area — have their offices.
You’ll go through security screening to enter each building. All are overheated, and there are no coat checks. Leaving your coat in the car is chilly as no parking places are set aside for citizens calling on their representatives. Given the crush the legislative season puts on historic Annapolis, your best bet is parking at Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium for $5 and catching a shuttle from there. The free State House Shuttle leaves the lot every 15 minutes and, during rush hours, every five minutes.
Who Hired Them?
We did. Eighty-five percent of all Marylanders 18 years and older and otherwise eligible are registered to vote. Only 44.7 percent — 3.7 million — voted in 2014’s general election. Anne Arundel County did better with 49.15 percent and Calvert better still with 53.07 percent.
If more people were registered, would more vote?
Maryland Democrats may well put that question to the test, with House and Senate bills for automatic voter registration for anyone who comes in contact with most any state agency.
Strength in Numbers
Want to take a group to see the action? Informative tours and briefings are organized by the Library and Information Services of the Department of Legislative Services: bit.ly/BayWeekly_Capital
Interest groups also organize legislative meetings and briefings.
Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Legislative Breakfast January 20: Learn about key budget, tax, transportation, land-use economic development, education and regulatory issues with state, county and city elected officials. 7:30-9:30am, Crowne Plaza Annapolis. $75 w/member discounts after Jan 15: 410-266-3960; aaaccc.org.
United Seniors of Maryland Legislative Forum February 3: Learn what Maryland legislators are doing that will affect this age group. 8am-1:30pm, Miller Senate Building. 11 Bladen St., Annapolis. $15: unitedseniorsmd.com.
Environmental Legislative Summit February 3: Join activists, legislators, environmental organizations and leaders for a discussion of the top 2016 environmental issues for this legislative session. 4pm Miller Senate Building, 11 Bladen St. Annapolis: #MDEnviroSummit.
Maryland Arts Day February 17: Hear the latest news and influence lawmakers who control funding for the arts (online briefing 11:30am January 22: mdarts.org/news_events/calendar/#1253). 9am-2pm, Key Auditorium, St. John’s College, Annapolis: $50: mdarts.org/news_events/maryland-arts-day-2016.
What State Our State Is In
To fill the legislators in, annual Issue Papers are compiled by the Department of Legislative Services. The most recent, dated December 2015, summarizes Maryland’s state of the state in 300 surprisingly readable pages. Use the Table of Contents to find your way from topics ranging from state income sources — including Daily Fantasy Sports, Sports Betting and Online Gaming — to automatic voter registration to drones to oyster restoration: mgaleg.maryland.gov/Pubs/legislegal/2016rs-Issue-Papers.pdf.
What’s On the Agenda?
Early-bird legislators filed close to 200 bills before the opening day of the General Assembly. Bills are very precise things, tooled to fit into the workings of the vast machinery of the Code of Maryland Statues.
Early bills range from transporting bee colonies … to replacing secessionist “Maryland! My Maryland!” as our state song … to allowing therapy dogs to accompany child witnesses testifying in court … to begin studying a third Bay Bridge crossing.
On the environmental front, there will be bills on energy use, environmental justice, pesticides and cleaning up litter. To keep up on those bills, email Sign me up for the Hotlist! to [email protected].
Follow any bill at legiscan.com/MD/legislation.
Learn about and follow the General Assembly at Your User Guide to the 2016 General Assembly: mgaleg.maryland.gov/pubs-current/current-about.pdf.