Maryland Matters

Senators Grill Reappointed UMMS Board Members About Scandal

January 28, 2020 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

James C. DiPaula Jr., chair of the University of Maryland Medical System Board, addresses the Senate Executive Nominations Committee on Monday in Annapolis. DiPaula is up for reappointment to the panel. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines.

Senators had sharp questions Monday night for members of the beleaguered University of Maryland Medical System board seeking reappointment after a self-dealing scandal that led to the resignation of high-profile members and the federal indictment of former Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh.

Three members of the board ― including the current chair and vice-chair ― are seeking reappointment to the panel, which is nearly entirely overhauled after Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” dealings and other contracts with board members came to light last year.

The three renominated members pledged to the Senate Executive Nominations Committee on Monday night that they had no knowledge of the contracts with board members as they evolved and were committed to improving governance and transparency within the system.

“It was completely unknown to the board,” James C. DiPaula Jr., the board’s chairman, said in response to a question about the system’s $500,000 in contracts for copies of Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” children’s books.

Nine former members of the board had financial interests in companies doing business with the medical system.

DiPaula, who has been on the panel since 2017, said the system previously had written documents to address conflicts of interest, but they weren’t used in practice. They will be in the future, he said.

“We had written documents that said no board member was to be paid unless it was approved by the board. But management did not bring that to the board,” said DiPaula, who was nominated for reappointment by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) in December and has been serving as the board’s chair since June. “So it’s important not only to have the right governance instruments, but also to review them and to have continuous education for board members and senior management.”

Legislation passed in Annapolis last year subjected the medical system to tighter rules regarding financial deals and ended the terms of all board members, though they could apply for reappointment.

The Executive Nominations Committee on Monday asked no questions of a majority of the appointees, and minor questions of several others.

The most extensive questioning was reserved primarily for returning members of the board.

“We are far more vigilant now and we are certainly doing all that we can to cooperate with the state and all of the persons who are trying to make sure there’s a change of the culture,” said Alexander Williams Jr., a retired federal judge and former Prince George’s County state’s attorney, who is the board’s vice-chairman.

A member of the board since 2015, Williams told the Senate committee that he had no knowledge of the troubling contracts as deals were struck.

“I can give you unequivocal assurance that I was totally unaware of that activity. I read about it probably at the time you read about it in The Sun,” Williams said. “I can assure you that nothing like that will ever come back.”

Alan Butler, CEO of Erickson Living, another board member seeking reappointment, said he was “quite disappointed” when he learned about the contracts, which he called “wrong on all levels.”

Louis M. Pope, who is seeking senate confirmation as a returning representative from the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, told the committee that under his watch, such deals would never happen again.

“The incidents that happened … were basically backroom deals … that were done without the knowledge of other board members,” he said.

Pope faced other questions as well. Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard) questioned him about giving more than the state’s $6,000 contribution limit to Hogan during the last election cycle. According to a state database, Pope is listed as contributing $8,000 to Hogan’s campaign between December 2015 and September 2018.

Pope explained that he bought four pairs of $1,000 tickets to Hogan events over the years for himself and his wife. He told Lam that he’d reached out to the Hogan campaign to correctly identify that a portion of the donations should be made in his wife’s name.

One new appointee to the board, Kathleen A. Birrane, also faced tough questions.

Lam asked Birrane about a dozen postings on social media dating back to 2016 that questioned whether transgender individuals should be able to use the restroom of their gender identity and included anti-abortion messages.

Lam asked Birrane whether her personal views might conflict with Maryland’s anti-discrimination laws.

Birrane, an attorney, said she didn’t know which posts Lam was referring to, but that her personal views would never influence her work on the board.

“As a member of the Maryland bar, my personal views would never enter into any decision that I make either on behalf of any client or with respect to any appointment or any issue,” Birrane said.

The posts about transgender bathrooms included messages about empathy for people experiencing gender-identity issues, but focused on concerns from women sexual assault victims.

At the meeting, Birrane said she has very strong feelings about the transgender community, though not in the way Lam might expect.

“I respect the dignity of each and every human being, including those members of my family who may not always be seen in a very traditional way. And there would never be a circumstance in which I would personally tolerate any form of discrimination,” Birrane said.

Lam said the posts were troubling because they could interfere with official decisions. After the meeting, he said he wanted to further contemplate Birrane’s responses before pressing the issue with committee members.

“We have a responsibility to ensure that the values that we uphold and the provisions that are in statute to protect against discrimination are properly applied to a system like UMMS,” Lam said.

The committee also received a brief update on changes at UMMS from Aaron Rabinowitz, special counsel for governance at the medical system.

Rabinowitz noted that the board has adopted a new conflict of interest policy and that key positions ― including chairman of the board ― will no longer be held by anyone who has any financial interest in the system, including through family members.

Lam, who is also Senate chairman of the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee, asked Rabinowitz about allegations that system officials had hindered a legislative audit originally due in December.

An October letter from Maryland Legislative Auditor Gregory Hook to legislative leaders alleged that UMMS officials had failed to make documents and employees sought by auditors available in a timely fashion.

Rabinowitz and DiPaula said Monday they disagreed with that characterization and that the system worked to supply all relevant information, but the process was complicated due to mass departures of the highest-ranking officials and decentralized records-keeping.

“There was no intent to delay or hinder or obstruct,” Rabinowitz said.

Since the letter, he said, system leaders have met with Hook and come to an agreement about how information will be provided.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to make clear that Louis M. Pope was nominated to the UMMS panel as a member of the Board of Regents.

Lawmakers Seek Local Veto Power of Toll Road Projects in Md.

January 20, 2020 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

A growing group of Maryland lawmakers is rallying behind a measure that would effectively give local government leaders veto power over state-backed toll road projects.

Currently the state must obtain the approval of a majority of impacted counties before building a toll road, bridge or tunnel in the nine counties that comprise the Eastern Shore — Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester.

Senate Bill 229 and House Bill 292 would expand that power to all 23 counties and Baltimore City.

“It’s an equity issue,” said Del. Mary D. Lehman (D-Prince George’s). “The law has been on the books for 42 years. … There should be local review.”

The measure comes as the Hogan administration moves forward with plans to renovate and expand the American Legion Bridge and widen the western-most portion of the Capital Beltway and the southern portion of Interstate 270.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), an advocate of public-private partnerships, has won approval for a financing program in which the state contracts with a private firm to finance and build the projects. The company — or most likely, a mammoth consortium of firms — would gain the right to set toll rates on the new lanes and keep the revenue those lanes generate for five decades or more.

Commuters would retain the right to use lanes that are currently free at no cost. The state’s concessionaire would be required to maintain the rebuilt roadways for the length of the contract.

Lehman insisted that the bill is not a backdoor attempt to derail Hogan’s plans but rather is intended to guarantee that local impact is addressed.

A similar bill died last year without a vote. The revived measure, introduced on Friday, already has twice as many cosponsors as it had in 2019.

The Senate version, being sponsored by Susan C. Lee (D-Montgomery), has 15 cosponsors, while the House version, sponsored by Lehman and Del. Brooke E. Lierman (D-Baltimore City), has 52 cosponsors.

“The state’s top-down toll road planning has disregarded serious dialogue concerning financial risks,” Lee said. “This bill will restore Maryland’s half-century tradition of collaboration and consultation between the state and the counties.”

In a letter to a House committee last year, the Maryland Department of Transportation argued that the measure would give local leaders the ability to thwart efforts to ease regional traffic problems.

Doing so, the agency argued, would “sound the death knell for any kind of meaningful congestion relief” on the Washington, D.C., region’s most overtaxed roadways.

But Samuel Jordan, president of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, told the House Environment and Transportation Committee last year that the bill is needed to protect commuters who lack the ability to use “express lanes” whose tolls surge when there’s a spike in demand.

“When express toll lanes are added to highways, immediately a hierarchy emerges that stratifies motorists by income,” he told the panel. “Lexus lanes distribute a public good based on income. We call that system a plutocracy.”

Unlike last year, the Lehman-Lierman bill is bipartisan. Two Republicans gave signed on to the House version, including Del. Sid Saab (R-Anne Arundel), the deputy minority whip.

Gary V. Hodge, vice chairman of the Maryland Transit Opportunities Coalition, said the increase in support is due to the “mounting concerns” that legislators and local officials have about the “serious unanswered questions” that surround the financing scheme Hogan wants to use.

John Townsend II, head of media and government affairs for AAA of the Mid-Atlantic, said local governments “should have a say and inputs on express lanes and toll roads, but not veto power.”

By Bruce DePuyt

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Progressives Push Tax Reform Proposals to Fund Kirwan Plan

January 16, 2020 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

Progressive House Democrats rolled out a package of bills on Wednesday that they say will bring more equity to Maryland’s tax code and create more than $1 billion in annual revenues to fund education reforms.

The lawmakers, joined by education reform advocates from The Maryland Fair Funding Coalition, plan to introduce 10 bills that they say would close corporate loopholes, end policies that benefit special interests and establish a more equitable income tax system in the state.

“Right now our tax system is rife with corporate tax loopholes and with tax breaks for special interests,” Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery), a chief sponsor of the package, said. “Our tax code is upside down with the wealthiest 1% paying the smallest share of state and local taxes relative to the rest of us.”

The lawmakers said their plan, taken together, could generate about $1.4 billion in state revenue annually.

The package includes bills to:

Require combined reporting for multi-state corporations based on the amount of business they conduct in Maryland;
Eliminate some tax credit and subsidy programs;
Reset the state’s estate tax exemption limit at $1 million instead of the current $5 million; and
Restructure the state’s income tax brackets to lower rates on those earning less than the state median and increase the tax bracket for millionaires to 7%.

The goal of the proposals is to raise dedicated revenues to help the state cover the costs of Kirwan Commission education reform proposals. Current estimates for the education reforms proposed by the commission would require state funding to steadily increase over the next decade until an additional $2.8 billion in state aid would go to schools in 2030. County budgets would also increase during that time period, up to a cumulative $1.2 billion annually.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and General Assembly Republicans have expressed concern about the cost of the reforms and have vowed to oppose tax increases to pay for the plan. House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) have said they don’t intend to increase the state’s property, income or sales tax rates to fund the Kirwan proposal.

Advocates for the package released on Wednesday said it would generate sustainable revenue without causing financial strain on average Marylanders.

Del. Stephanie Smith (D-Baltimore City) is introducing the bill to restructure the state’s income tax code brackets. The bill is the largest component of the revenue package and could generate up to $689 million annually, according to estimates from the left-leaning Maryland Center on Economic Policy.

“We need this in Maryland. Because the wealthiest 1% of households pay a smaller share in income and state and local taxes than the rest of us, despite the fact that their slice of the economic pie has been increasing over the past 20 years,” Smith said Wednesday.

Some of the measures included in the package have been introduced and failed before, including the bill to require corporate combined tax reporting that’s sponsored by Del. Mary A. Lehman (D-Prince George’s). The measure has been regularly debated in the General Assembly since 2003.

Combined reporting requirements have been slowly implemented across the country and are now in place in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Lehman expressed optimism at seeing the bill’s success now — because of both increasing nationwide adoption and a local sense that now is the time to act on revenues.

She casts the bill as an equity issue “because small businesses have no choice” but to report all of their financial activity in the state.

Several of the bills have already been introduced in the House, while other measures are expected to be filed soon.

Coalition advocates said a poll they recently commissioned found that 53% of Marylanders think the current tax system is unfair and 55% believe that the wealthiest in the state don’t pay their fair share in taxes. The poll reached 800 likely voters throughout the state online and over the phone in late October. Seventy-four percent of those polled ranked education spending as a top priority.

“It is important to pass Kirwan; we definitely need to support a 21st century school system,” said Nikki Thompson, coordinator of the Maryland Fair Funding Coalition. “But we also have to have a 21st century modern economy and we need to make sure that we are tying sustainable funding to Kirwan so that we are able to sustain it and keep it and make sure that it is all that our students deserve.”

By Danielle Gaines

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Lawmakers in Pre-Session Dash for Cash

January 2, 2020 by Maryland Matters

Before many Marylanders have even rubbed the sleep out of their eyes Thursday morning, state lawmakers, lobbyists and other power brokers will start six grueling days on the fundraising circuit, moving in flocks from one political event to another.

It’s the annual dash for campaign cash that precedes the General Assembly session, which begins this year at noon on Jan. 8. From that day forward until the last night of the session, on April 6, state legislators and the four statewide officials — the governor, the lieutenant governor, the comptroller and the attorney general — are banned from raising money.

(There are a few exceptions to this rule: Legislators who are candidates for Congress can keep raising money for their federal campaign committees. And legislators who are candidates for office in the 2020 Baltimore City elections can continue raising money, even though their state campaign accounts are being used to advance their city campaigns.)

But this annual ritual isn’t just a dash for cash — it’s also a last-minute dash for influence, with special interests and their well-connected lobbyists digging deep to pay tribute one last time to the people who hold the fate of legislative initiatives in their hands.

It isn’t the prettiest element of democracy.

At least 60 lawmaker fundraisers are taking place between the morning of Jan. 2 and the evening of Jan. 7, involving more than one-third of the General Assembly. The carousel begins at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday with a fundraiser for Sen. Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard), the incoming chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, and ends Tuesday evening with an event for the bipartisan Women Legislators of Maryland Inc., with House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) as the featured speaker.

In between, Jones and incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) are holding fundraisers. So are the Republican leaders of the House and Senate. So are the chairmen of three of the four standing Senate committees and the chairs of four of the six standing House committees. So are the House speaker pro tem, the House majority leader, the Senate president pro tem, and the chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus.

For this six-day period, it may seem as if Harry Browne’s, the multi-tiered restaurant and watering hole just across from the State House on State Circle, is the center of the political universe, but that wouldn’t be fair to the other Annapolis establishments that are regularly used as venues for fundraisers. Still, at least 18 of these events are taking place at Harry Browne’s.

Not everyone is doing a standard breakfast or happy hour at a watering hole close to the State House. Del. Regina T. Boyce (D-Baltimore City) is hosting a dance party in her district. Del. Johnny Mautz (R-Middle Shore) is using the historic Avalon Theater in Easton as a fundraising venue.

Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) is inviting donors to join her for a milkshake at Chick and Ruth’s Delly in downtown Annapolis — famous for naming menu items after Maryland politicians (including a thin mint milkshake named for Kagan). Sen. Christopher R. West (R-Baltimore County) is talking issues at the Annapolis office of the American Institute of Architects. There is no set ticket price; West is asking for a “modest donation.”

The four lawmakers from Montgomery County’s District 14 — Sen. Craig J. Zucker (D) and Dels. Anne R. Kaiser (D), Eric G. Luedtke (D) and Pamela Queen (D) — are hosting back-to-back-to-back-to-back fundraisers on a single evening in adjoining bars in Annapolis. Republicans from specific committees are teaming up to hold join fundraisers.

It would cost at least $9,236.20 to attend every one of these fundraisers, paying the minimum ticket price. The reality is, lawmakers will be collecting a whole lot more.

What follows is a list of all the fundraisers scheduled for the six days before the General Assembly session begins — or at least those Maryland Matters knows about. The roster has been put together from invitations that we have seen, lists compiled by lobbying firms, and political committee websites. It’s possible we have missed a few.

We publish these not to advertise the events themselves, but to highlight just how much money is going to change hands in the hours before the 90-day legislative session begins.

Thursday, Jan. 2

** 7:30-9:30 a.m. Senate Budget and Taxation Chairman Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard), featuring incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $75 and up

** 8-9:30 a.m. Del. Benjamin Brooks (D-Baltimore County), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 9-10:15 a.m. Incoming Senate President Pro Tem Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s), featuring incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $50 and up

** 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 4-6 p.m. House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (D-Anne Arundel) and House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County), Associated Builders and Contractors, Annapolis. Tickets: $150 and up

** 5:15-6:30 p.m. Sen. Craig J. Zucker (D-Montgomery), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 5:30-7:30 p.m. Del. Shaneka Henson (D-Anne Arundel), Reynolds Tavern – 1747 Pub, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 6-7:15 p.m. Del. Pamela Queen (D-Montgomery), DRY 85, Annapolis. Tickets: $75 and up

** 6-9 p.m. Del. Regina T. Boyce (D-Baltimore City), Melba’s, Baltimore. Tickets: $20.20 and up

** 6:45-8 p.m. House Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $50 and up

** 7:30-8:45 p.m. House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), DRY 85, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 8:15-9:30 p.m. Incoming Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

Friday, Jan. 3

** 8-9:30 a.m. House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), Latitude 38˚, Annapolis. Tickets: $500 and up

** 9:30-11 a.m. House Economic Matters Committee Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s) District 25, Chair House Economic Matters Committee, Calvert House, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 9:30-11 a.m. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 10 a.m.-noon Incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), Maryland Inn, Annapolis. Tickets: $500 and up

** 5-7 p.m. Del. Johnny Mautz (R-Middle Shore), Avalon Theater, Easton. Tickets: $50 and up

** 6-7:30 p.m. Sen. Antonio L. Hayes (D-Baltimore City), The Tilted Row, Baltimore. Tickets: $250 and up

Saturday, Jan. 4

** 9-11 a.m. Del. Bob Long (R-Baltimore County), The Boulevard Diner, Dundalk. Tickets: $25 and up

** 9-11 a.m. Sen. Jack Bailey (R-St. Mary’s), The Foxy Fish Seafood Restaurant, Mechanicsville. Tickets: $25 and up

Sunday, Jan. 5

** 6-8 p.m. Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore County), featuring House Ways and Means Chairwoman Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery) and House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery), District 42B, House Ways & Means Committee, U.S. Lacrosse Headquarters and Museum, Sparks. Tickets: $200 and up

Monday, Jan. 6

** 7:30-9 a.m. House Rules Committee Chairwoman Anne R. Healey (D-Prince George’s), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 7:30-9 a.m. Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 7:30-9:30 a.m. Sen. Robert Cassilly (R-Harford), Independent Brewing, Bel Air. Tickets: $100

** 8-9:30 a.m. Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s), with incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), Courtyard Marriott, New Carrollton. Tickets: $100 and up

** 8-9:30 a.m. Del. Trent Kittleman (R-Howard), Glory Days Grill, Ellicott City. Tickets: $65 and up

** 8:30-10 a.m. Del. Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s), chairman, Legislative Black Caucus, Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up.

** 9-10:30 a.m. Sen. Michael Hough (R-Frederick) and Sen. Justin Ready (R-Carroll), Calvert House, Annapolis. Tickets: $500 and up (to be split evenly between the two lawmakers’ campaign committees)

** 9-10:30 a.m. Del. Courtney B. Watson (D-Howard), with House Economic Matters Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), The Market House at City Dock, Annapolis. Tickets: $35 and up for residents of District 9B, $150 and up for all others

** 3-5 p.m. Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery), Chick & Ruth’s Delly, Annapolis. Tickets: $500 and up

** 4-5:30 p.m. Del. Andrea Fletcher Harrison (D-Prince George’s), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 4-6:30 p.m. Del. Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick), Galway Bay, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 5-7 p.m. Del. Wayne Hartman (R-Lower Shore), Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel, Ocean City. Tickets: $100 and up

** 5:15-6:30 p.m. Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $125

** 5:30-6:30 p.m. Del. Nick J. Mosby (D-Baltimore City), with House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), House Economic Matters Chairman Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), and former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 5:30-7 p.m. Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel), Market House, Annapolis. Tickets: $75 and up for residents of District 30, $125 and up for others

** 5:30-7:30 p.m. Del. Neil C. Parrott (R-Washington), The Barn at The View, Hagerstown. Tickets: $40 and up

** 6-7:15 p.m. House Speaker Pro Tem Sharee Sample-Hughes (D-Middle Shore), DRY 85, Annapolis. Tickets: $75 and up

** 6-7:30 p.m. Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 6-8 p.m. Del. Ronald Watson (D-Prince George’s), with Prince George’s State’s Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy (D), state Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Prince George’s), Prince George’s County Council Chairman Todd Turner (D), retired federal judge Alexander Williams, Bowie City Councilmember Ingrid S. Harrison, attorney J. Wyndal Gordon, and comedian and radio personality Joe Clair, private home, Upper Marlboro. Tickets: $125 and up

** 6-8 p.m. Del. Shelly L. Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), Earth, Wood and Fire, Baltimore. Tickets: $111 and up

** 6-8:30 p.m. Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City), Gertrude’s at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. Tickets: $250 and up

** 6:30-7:30 p.m. Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), Harry Browne’s Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 6:30-8:30 p.m. Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince George’s), The National Harbor, Oxon Hill. Ticket prices: $100 and up

** 6:45-8 p.m. House Health and Government Operations Committee Chairwoman Shane M. Pendergrass (D-Howard), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $50 and up

** 7:30-8:45 p.m. Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s), DRY 85, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 8:15-9:30 p.m. Del. Kris Valderrama (D-Prince George’s), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

Tuesday, Jan. 7

** 7-9 a.m. House Economic Matters Committee Republicans, Calvert House, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up (donations can be made to any or all committee Republicans)

** 8-9 a.m. Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard), Miss Shirley’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $100 and up

** 8 a.m. Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), with House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel), House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County), and Sen. Michael R. Hough (R-Frederick), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $50 and up

** 8:30-9:30 a.m. Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Harford), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 8:30-9:30 a.m. Senate Finance Committee Republicans, Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up (to each of the three committee senators)

** 8:30-9:30 a.m. Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Republicans, Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up (to each of the four committee senators)

** 8:30-9:30 a.m. Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee Republicans, Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up (for each senator)

** 8:30-10 a.m. Del. Charlotte Crutchfield (D-Montgomery), with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) and Vice Chairwoman Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 8:30-10 a.m. Sen. Christopher R. West (R-Baltimore County), American Institute of Architects, Annapolis. Tickets: “Modest donation appreciated”

** 9-10:30 a.m. Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), with outgoing Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), incoming Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), and incoming Senate Budget and Taxation Chairman Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard), Maryland Inn, Annapolis. Tickets: $250 and up

** 5-6:30 p.m. Del. Alice Cain (D-Anne Arundel), Harry Browne’s, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

** 6 p.m. Del. Debra Davis (D-Charles), Red Red Wine Bar, Annapolis. Tickets: N/A

** 6:30-8 p.m. Women Legislators of Maryland Foundation Inc., with House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), Calvert House, Annapolis. Tickets: $125 and up

By Josh Kurtz
kurtz@marylandmatters.org

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Dirty Air and the Human Brain: Does Pollution Poison the Mind?

December 27, 2019 by Maryland Matters

Air pollution is known to be a serious health risk – a cause of asthma, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and a factor, according to the World Health Organization, in an estimated seven million deaths worldwide every year. A growing body of research suggests air pollution may also be harming our brains.

Chalk Point Generating Station, Eagle Harbor, Maryland

In recent years, new areas of study have opened up into how air pollution might affect our minds and the way we think and feel. Epidemiologists and neuroscientists have found evidence linking long-term exposure to air pollution with increased incidence of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other brain maladies. At the same time, behavioral and labor economists have published a series of papers about the effects of air pollution on cognitive performance.

Anthony Heyes, an economics professor at the University of Ottawa, has co-authored a number of such studies. One 2016 paper linked heavily polluted days in Los Angeles with upticks in violent crime; another from the same year found that on days with bad air quality in New York, returns on the S&P 500 stock market index were significantly lower. Heyes theorizes that pollution, like bad weather, “makes you blue, short sighted and risk-averse.”

“We’re gradually learning about the range of effects from air pollution on the human condition,” Heyes said. “We know there are physical effects. But your psyche is disturbed or influenced in many, many different ways.”

Prior research has shown that workers doing physical labor, such as picking fruit, are less productive on polluted days. Recent studies have found that air pollutants like ozone, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter affect the performance of highly skilled workers performing mostly cognitive tasks. One paper published this year and co-authored by Heyes showed that on polluted days, members of the Canadian Parliament spoke in less complex language, as measured by a formula that computes the length of sentences and syllables per word in speeches. Another study from 2018 found that on polluted days, Major League Baseball umpires make significantly more mistakes when calling balls and strikes, as measured by pitch-tracking technology used in major league ballparks.

James Archsmith, a co-author of that study, said its conclusions “make us think we should be concerned with other similar types of occupations, like air traffic controllers, where thinking and perceiving are much more important than physical activity.”

Studies in Israel and in China have shown both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to lower standardized test scores. And a paper published in September of this year found that chess players in Germany make more mistakes, as measured by a computer program’s suggested moves, when there is more fine particulate matter in the air.

More than 10 studies, meanwhile, have linked air pollution with a higher incidence of brain diseases, including dementia and Alzheimer’s.

The Environmental Protection Agency sets limits for fine particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide and other air pollutants. Millions of Americans live in areas that exceed those standards. But a growing chorus of scientists and advocates says that the standards aren’t strong enough. And some of the recent research suggests that levels currently considered “safe” by the EPA may still be harming our brains.

“The evidence is compelling, as far as I’m concerned, that there’s no safe level of air pollution, just as there is no safe level of cigarette smoking,” said Caleb Finch, a professor of the Neurobiology of Aging at the University of Southern California, though he cautions: “It’s a very young field. In comparison to [what we know about] cigarette smoke, we’re about one tenth of a percent of the way there.”

Not everyone is so convinced by the research – at least not yet. James Hendrix is the chief scientific officer for LuMind IDSC, a foundation that studies Down’s syndrome, and the former director of global science initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association. He said the recent studies, though intriguing, only show an association between air pollution and brain diseases, and do not prove causation.

“It’s really difficult to ascribe a cause and effect,” Hendrix said. “Often, exposure to pollution and environmental toxins can be a surrogate for low economic status, and we know that that’s a surrogate for poor access to health care. You may have untreated hypertension that can lead to dementia. Many of these things are so intertwined and mixed, it’s difficult to isolate one thing.”

He is similarly skeptical about the economics papers, like the umpire study.

“The umpire may be suffering from allergies caused by the pollution,” he said. “Their eyes may be watering. That’s not really about your brain functioning. It’s about your eyes.”

What’s needed, he said, are controlled, scientific experiments to discover whether pollutants actually damage the brain. That’s difficult to do with humans, since it would involve deliberately exposing them to harmful substances, although Finch points out that about 20 experimental studies have shown air pollution negatively affects animal brains.

“The great mystery,” Finch said, “is how does it cause damage that crosses into the brain. It’s likely that it causes an inflammatory response, but that’s a major unknown in the field.”

Researchers hope that the growing body of evidence will spur international action to reduce air pollution. Economists like Archsmith and Heyes, meanwhile, hope that their research will show the hidden toll air pollution takes on the economy, and thus the hidden benefits of eliminating it.

“If air pollution is negatively impacting worker performance, that’s basically a tax on every company,” Archsmith said.

“The assumption has always been that there’s this trade-off,” Heyes said, “that if you want cleaner air, you need more regulations, which hurts business. This is telling the opposite story.”

By Hillel Aron

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Md. Activists Vow to Enshrine Obamacare Provisions Now Threatened by Courts

December 23, 2019 by Maryland Matters

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act in Maryland said Thursday they were disappointed but not surprised by a federal appeals court’s ruling against the law a day earlier. They vowed to continue their efforts to enshrine as many of the ACA’s provisions into state law as they can, and to do so as quickly as they can, in the event the Supreme Court delivers the ultimate death blow.

The 2-1 ruling on Wednesday, by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, was a victory for the 18 state attorneys general — all from red states — who argued that “Obamacare” is unconstitutional.

The challengers argued successfully that — although the Supreme Court upheld the ACA in 2012 — circumstances changed in 2017 when Congress removed the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. (The “mandate” was actually a tax on uninsured persons who failed to purchase coverage.)

In an interview, Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), a leader in efforts to promote health care reform in Annapolis, noted that Maryland was the first state in the nation to create a Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission, out of “concern about the ultimate dismantling of the Affordable Care Act and how were we going to respond.”

Feldman said the ruling, which sends the case back to a lower court, means “continued uncertainty about the future and the fate of the Affordable Care Act,” with policymakers and consumers left to guess what the law’s ultimate fate will be, or when a final judgement will arrive.

“There’s uncertainty in the marketplace. There’s uncertainty with folks who want to know what it means for them in terms of their health insurance. There are several parts of this that are complicated,” he said.

Maryland lawmakers will again consider legislation that requires insurance policies to cover pre-existing conditions. Another 2020 bill would require that young adults be allowed to remain on their parents’ plans until they turn 26. Both provisions are popular features of “Obamacare.”

The state has already enacted an “Easy Enrollment” feature that has the potential to identify uninsured residents who are eligible for free or low-cost coverage, using state tax forms, another innovation that other states are studying. That provisions is kicking off in the new year.

But concern doesn’t end with the potential loss of Obama-era reforms.

Feldman also worries that billions of dollars in federal aid will be lost if the Supreme Court — which has a different makeup than it did when it upheld Obamacare seven years ago — strikes the entire law down.

“There’s the Medicaid expansion parts of the Affordable Care Act. There’s the premium tax subsidies that help lower-income people purchase health insurance. If the entire Affordable Care Act is ruled unconstitutional, then all those monies related to the ACA also go away,” he said.

Feldman said an estimated 300,000 Marylanders would lose coverage if that were to occur.

Texas vs. U.S. is not expected to reach the Supreme Court until 2021 at the earliest.

Vincent DeMarco, president of the pro-reform Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, called the ruling “extremely disappointing” and said it “puts at risk life-saving health care coverage to millions of Americans.”

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Finance Committee’s Health Care Subcommittee, suggested that Republicans are trying to dismantle the nation’s health care system.

“Republicans want to destroy our health care system rather than fix it,” he said. “Today they are closer to achieving their mission.”

Cardin predicted that the GOP could face political consequences.

“Republicans will be directly responsible for any coming spikes in costs for millions of middle income families and any loss of the many patient protections guaranteed by the ACA,” he said.

By Bruce DePuyt

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State, Local Officials at Odds Over Election Day Network

December 20, 2019 by Maryland Matters

As the Maryland State Board of Elections works to implement Election Day voter registration throughout the state, some local lawmakers and officials are raising concerns about potential security vulnerabilities and increased costs that counties will have to bear.

At issue is the massive expansion of wireless networks in the state’s six largest jurisdictions ― Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties ― that would be used to transmit real-time voter registration changes from electronic pollbooks at about 1,300 precincts to the state office in Annapolis on Election Day. Previously, wireless networks were only used at early voting sites.

County officials say that the wireless networks leave the state’s election system vulnerable because of the sheer number of additional wireless networks — Montgomery County, for example, would see an increase of more than 250 networks to account for all of its precincts. Each network is a new potential access point for a bad actor at a time of increased fears of election meddling and integrity, skeptics said. At least some of the counties are also worried about the increased cost for the expansion.

“I’m worried about election vulnerabilities as well as fiscal implications,” said Montgomery County Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D), who is considering emergency legislation for the upcoming General Assembly session that could curtail the system’s rollout.

State officials say the wireless networks will be masked and all transmissions encrypted as well as the data being sent. County election workers will still continue to manually upload data from pollbook log files overnight. In the event of data corruption, the log files would serve as a secure backup and auditing tool, Maryland Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone said.

Wrangling over the networking issue has increased in recent weeks, after a letter from the Montgomery County Board of Elections to the state board and discussions about the systems at state meetings.

The State Board of Elections said the new system is necessary in order to be able to start processing absentee ballots after Election Day, because officials need to ensure that no one who voted on Election Day also sent in an absentee ballot. The state’s six largest counties were chosen as locations for the sites because “these counties are also typically unable to upload log files in time,” Lamone wrote in a letter to Montgomery County Board of Elections Chairman James F. Shalleck last month.

Shalleck had written an earlier letter to the state board, presenting a series of concerns about a lack of transparency around the project, its cost, necessity and security — including whether there was a risk for interception of the wireless signals and whether voters’ check-in data could be blocked or altered during transmission to the state.

At least some of the counties that will have to install the networks have also expressed concern about increased costs, which are borne by counties even though state election employees made decisions about the necessity of and components for the system.

State elections officials have been putting together a plan for Election Day same-day registration since legislation passed the General Assembly in the spring. Soon after, counties began receiving notices to plan for about $1,000 per precinct for the network; the cost has since increased to $1,300 per precinct, said Nikki B. Charlson, the state board’s deputy director.

The Montgomery County board was unanimous in its opposition to the system, which is expected to cost the county about $350,000, Shalleck said.

The system was conceived and implemented at the staff level in the state elections office, without a public airing of the potential issues at the state board, which typically deals in broader policy debates and not operational issues.

“It’s such a big issue, an expensive issue and an important issue,” Shalleck said. “…In my view, it should go to as many people as possible for input.”

The county board wrote a letter to the State Board of Elections in late October, asking for a reversal of the new networking plan.

Lamone responded that the network was needed to ensure the integrity and proper conduct of the upcoming elections.

At a September meeting, state board member Kelley Howells expressed concern about the complexity of the project and asked if options other than wireless networks were considered. Howells also raised questions about the system’s security and expressed concern about a lack of transparency surrounding the project. Citing security concerns, Lamone and Charlson said most of the questions at the meeting would have to be answered in a closed session.

“We are confident that this is the most secure network we can put together to ensure election integrity,” Charlson said Thursday.

Charlson said the state has used a similar networking process for early voting since 2010 without issue and that similar networks are used by other large jurisdictions like Los Angeles and New York City. She also stressed that the voter registration network is entirely separate from voting results, which would not be impacted in the event of a breach.

The state elections office has also been monitoring efforts to increase federal funding for election security, which may be passed to the six counties implementing the new network, Charlson said.

Kagan said Thursday that she is planning to introduce emergency legislation in the 2020 General Assembly session to delay the start of the state’s first absentee canvass. Doing so, Kagan said, would remove the urgency for data transmission and for the wireless networks that have caused so much concern.

“If we remove the need for the speedy turnaround, presumably we remove the need for these devices,” Kagan said. “…I think people would prefer accuracy and security as opposed to speed when it comes to elections.”

By Danielle E. Gaines

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House Impeaches Trump: Here’s What Maryland Leaders Said on the Floor

December 20, 2019 by Maryland Matters

Maryland’s congressional delegation voted along party lines as the U.S. House voted to impeach President Trump Wednesday night, making him the third president to be impeached in U.S. history.

Trump was impeached on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress. The charges surround allegations that Trump improperly pressured Ukraine’s president to investigate his political rival in an effort to interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

No House Republicans voted to adopt either impeachment article. Two House Democrats voted against both articles of impeachment — Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Van Drew is reportedly planning to switch parties to become a Republican.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) voted yes on the first article but against the obstruction of Congress article. Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voted “present” on both articles.

Maryland’s delegation voted entirely along party lines. Democratic Reps. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John P. Sarbanes, Anthony G. Brown, Steny H. Hoyer, David J. Trone and Jamie B. Raskin supported both impeachment articles. Republican Andrew P. Harris voted against both articles.

All but Trone spoke on the House floor Wednesday.

The vote came after a lengthy and heated debate on the House floor, as Democrats warned that Trump had trampled on the U.S. Constitution, while his GOP defenders accused the House majority of manufacturing a case for impeachment due to their disdain for Trump’s policies.

“The founders’ great fear of a rogue or corrupt president is the very reason why they enshrined impeachment in the Constitution,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.”

Only two other presidents had previously been impeached by the House: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both of those presidents were acquitted by the Senate.

Trump also appears to be headed for acquittal in the GOP-led Senate. A trial, in which House Democrats will argue their case before the upper chamber of Congress, is expected to begin next month.

Some senators have been cautious about stating whether they’ll vote to remove Trump from office, arguing that they’ll be jurors in the trial and don’t want to prejudge the outcome. But not Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

McConnell told reporters Tuesday that he is “not at all impartial” on impeachment and that it is a “political process.”

As lawmakers prepared to vote on Wednesday, Trump wrote on Twitter: “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!”

Trump held a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Mich., on Wednesday night. “By the way, it doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached, the country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong and we have tremendous support in the Republican Party like never before,” Trump said, according to The Washington Post.

Democrats, including some in districts won by Trump in 2016, streamed onto the House floor during the day-long debate on Wednesday to make their case for impeachment.

Hoyer, the House majority leader, said that in his nearly 40 years in Congress under six presidential administrations, he never expected to “encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the United States. Nor did I expect to witness such a craven rationalization of presidential actions which have put our national security at risk, undermined the integrity of our elections and defied the constitutional authority of the Congress to conduct oversight.”

Hoyer also paid tribute to one of his predecessors, the late Rep. Lawrence J. Hogan Sr. (R-Md.), one of the few Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee who supported impeaching President Nixon in 1974.

Republicans, meanwhile, spent the debate accusing their Democratic colleagues of pursuing a political vendetta against the president, pointing frequently to statements Democrats had made supporting impeachment before the Ukraine investigation was launched.

“The few Americans that are going to be watching this — because they know what the outcome is, we all know what the outcome is — they’re wondering why are we trying to negate the votes of 63 million Americans instead of talking about the things that Americans care about,” Harris said.

Democrats vehemently denied GOP attacks that they were pursuing impeachment because they hate Trump’s policies or dislike him personally.

“I resent those who say this is about reversing the election,” Ruppersberger asserted. “This isn’t about whether or not you like Trump; it’s about upholding our Constitution. Allowing this conduct to go unquestioned sets a dangerous precedent.”

One independent congressman, Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, sided with Democrats to vote for both articles of impeachment. Amash, who helped found the conservative House Freedom Caucus, left the GOP earlier this year after calling for Trump’s impeachment.

Trump’s “actions reflect precisely the type of conduct the framers of the Constitution intended to remedy through the power of impeachment, and it is our duty to impeach him,” Amash said Wednesday on the House floor.

Here are remarks of Maryland’s other members on the House floor:

Brown

“President Trump betrayed his oath. He abused his power, the immense power of the presidency. He threatened our elections by inviting foreign interference. He chose investigating a political rival over defending our national security. So today, we must use our power, the extraordinary power endowed by our Constitution and entrusted by the people, the power to impeach.”

Raskin

“American elections belong to the American people, not the American president and not foreign powers. No president may cheat the people by working with foreign governments to steal from us a free and fair election. And no president who attempts it may cover up that cheating by systematically obstructing Congress and our work. Article 2 of the Constitution does not authorize a president to do whatever he wants. The reason we have a Constitution is to keep government officials from doing whatever they want.”

Sarbanes

“Voting to impeach the president is a weighty decision. It is not something you reach for, it is something you’re brought to reluctantly, when the evidence presented can no longer be denied.”

“The president’s actions compromised the national security of the United States, undermined the integrity of our democratic process and betrayed the trust of the American people.”

“In soliciting foreign interference, President Trump took direct aim at the heart of our democracy. The American people should decide our elections, not a foreign country. As long as the president continues to invite foreign interference into our democracy, the integrity of the 2020 election remains at risk. The question is: Will Congress allow the president to place his personal interests above those of his country? I urge my colleagues in the House to join me in answering that question with a resounding no.”

By Robin Bravender

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Miller: A Legislative Tactician Like No Other

October 24, 2019 by Maryland Matters

For the first time in more than three decades, the Maryland Senate will be led by someone other than Mike Miller.

The longest-serving Senate president in Maryland history — believed to hold the record for service of any state Senate president in U.S. history — Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) on Thursday announced he will not seek reelection in January, when the legislature reconvenes.

“My mind is still strong but my body is weak,” said Miller, 76, who has battled Stage 4 prostate cancer for nearly a year. “I suffer from fatigue and this is a full-time job. It’s a statewide job and we need somebody younger.”

Miller will continue to represent District 27 — which covers portions of his native Prince George’s County and his adopted home of Calvert County, as well as a sliver of Charles County — as a member of the Senate.

Sen. Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) is poised to replace him as Senate president.

Miller’s announcement was not completely unexpected. In January, he announced that he was being treated for cancer, which had spread through his system.

Standing for long periods of time was painful, and staff brought in a special chair so he could half-sit, half-stand during Senate sessions this year. He missed several days as he took chemotherapy treatments, and at other times would pass the gavel to President Pro Tem Katherine A. Klausmeier (D-Baltimore County).

Despite his health struggles, Miller’s statement jolted Annapolis.

His cocksure personality, his use of raw power to sway legislation and budgetary priorities, and the length of his tenure combined to make him the dominant force in State House politics for 33 years. His time as Senate president began when Ronald Reagan was president of the United States and overlapped with five governors.

“President Miller has been a strong, unifying leader for the legislature and the state,” Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) said in a statement Thursday. “His steady presence and trademark humor will be deeply missed as President, but we are pleased to know that Mike will continue to represent the people of District 27 in the Senate.”

Miller and Hogan have known each other since the 1960’s.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D), who served under Miller for eight years in Annapolis, said that Miller had insisted he be let out of the hospital Wednesday so he could speak at a memorial service at Morgan State University for the late U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), who died last week.

“That’s Mike,” Van Hollen observed. “Always there for friends; always there for Maryland.”

Mike and Mike

In April, another long-serving, highly-regarded “Mike” — House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) — died at the age of 72 on the eve of Sine Day, bringing to an end an unprecedented hold on power in that chamber.

A beloved “coach” who nurtured an entire generation of leaders, and who was less prone to bombast and casual profanity than Miller, Busch served from 2002 until his death, a run half as long as Miller’s but remarkable nonetheless.

For nearly two decades, governors would come and go, but “the Mikes” used their outsized influence to set the course of state government policy. Without their approval, not much happened in Annapolis.

That Miller held power for so long is testimony to many factors, colleagues say.

A history buff, Miller used the experience of past leaders — political, military and otherwise — to thwart potential plots to take him down.

A shy man who willed himself to become a gregarious backslapper, he had the ability to connect with — and read — colleagues of both parties, governors and cabinet members, politicians from outside the Senate, activists, lobbyists, constituents and journalists.

A prolific fundraiser who showered money on favored incumbents and chosen challengers, Miller traveled the state and worked the back rooms to his advantage — and to the benefit of his beloved Democratic Party.

An ardent political junkie, Miller kept abreast of trends and evolving mores, a skill he used to meet changes before they arrived, and to pivot on policy as needed.

He appointed women and people of color to leadership posts and — in another bid to stay current with the times — he strategically would allow the chamber to vote on an issue he (or his Southern Maryland constituents) opposed, such as same-sex marriage or abortion rights.

And when a younger, more progressive batch of senators was elected, in some cases taking out Miller loyalists, he set out to court each one individually before they took office. In those sessions, usually in his ornate, history-filled corner office off the Senate floor, Miller would turn on the charm, listening for clues as to what made the new arrival tick.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), who came up through Prince George’s politics alongside Miller and also served as state Senate president, described him as “very smart, very tough, very candid.”

The oldest of 10 children, Miller got many of his core values from his mother, Hoyer said in an interview.

“His mom was outspoken. That’s a lot of where Mike gets his outspokenness,” the congressman said. “But he also gets great values. A deep sense of duty and an empathy for people. … a deep sense of fairness and of wanting to make sure that people have a shot in life and have help in life.”

‘A man of his word’

Former Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) had an up-and-down relationship with Miller that lasted decades. Though they were both from Prince George’s County, the men had very different styles and clashed frequently – especially when Glendening was county executive.

Nevertheless, Glendening said in a recent interview, Miller is “a man of his word and he is effective.”

“I appreciated the fact that when you cut a deal with Mike, when he said he will help on something or he will kill something, it happened,” the former governor said. “It happened.”

When the two men served alongside one another during Glendening’s eight years in the State House, pundits and colleagues expected the gregarious, more politically conservative Senate President (a practicing Catholic) and the wonky, more liberal governor (a less religious Catholic) to be at each other’s throats. Instead, they agreed to make the new arrangement work to their mutual advantage.

Glendening said he had a “secret weapon” — a mutual colleague — who schooled him on how to deal with the powerful, headstrong presiding officer.

“The key to working with Mike is to remember that — outside of his family — he has three loves: one is the state of Maryland, two is the State Senate, and the third one is the Maryland Democratic Party,” Glendening said.

“(I was told) anything that you have that is really important, that you want to get done, wrap it around one of these three things, and you’ll appeal to him…”

A man of the middle

Former state Sen. Laurence Levitan (D-Montgomery) said the key to Miller’s longevity was his ability to adapt politically.

“The Senate kept moving — as the House did — to the left. And Mike was able, and is still able, to hold the Senate to more of the middle.”

Levitan chaired the influential Budget and Taxation Committee before becoming a lobbyist. In Miller’s early years as president, “he didn’t get involved in the budget, except when it involved the University of Maryland, College Park, and then he was always involved.”

“But as time went on,” Levitan said, “Mike became involved in everything. He ran the Senate. It was second-nature to him.”

Progressive groups were furious with Miller when he bottled up legislation to increase the minimum wage in 2018. They held a noisy protest outside the State House, waving signs that said, “Take a Hike, Mike,” promising to support primary challengers to key Miller allies.

A number of Miller lieutenants lost their reelection bids or retired that year, and Miller allowed a reworked minimum wage bill to come up during the 2019 session.

Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) attended the rally and pledged to help a candidate running against Miller in the primary. Miller romped to victory.

The two men criticized each other frequently, and Miller was instrumental in advancing measures to strip the comptroller of large portions of his portfolio.

Miller often said that his “legacy” issues would be education, the environment and the legalization of casino gambling.

Though he was perceived to be conservative on fiscal matters, Miller frequently backed tax increases that boosted spending on education, transportation or other priorities, particularly during Martin O’Malley’s tenure as governor.

Reporters flocked to the steps of the Senate rostrum after floor sessions because Miller was usually willing to hold court on a wide range of issues. His comments combined political analysis, the likely fate of pending legislation and blunt characterizations of political allies and adversaries.

When Hogan won the 2014 gubernatorial race in an upset, Miller told a reporter during a live TV interview that Hogan’s win was no fluke — and that he would serve eight years, despite the lopsided voter registration edge held by Democrats.

Though he tended to have close relationships with Republican leaders in the state Senate, Miller frequently bashed national members of the GOP for their viewpoints and tactics.

The gaffe that lasted

Miller’s candor occasionally got him in trouble — most notably in 1989, when he spoke critically of Baltimore in a taped interview with a Washington, D.C., television station.

“Baltimore is a goddamn ghetto,” he said, when he thought the interview was over, but the camera was still rolling. “It’s worse than inner-city Washington, D.C. It is shit … I hope you’re not going to play this on tape,” he said with a hearty laugh.

Baltimore leaders didn’t find the remark amusing, and Miller apologized. Any thought he had of running for governor in 1994 (or after) appeared to evaporate, a victim of his reluctance to keep controversial views to himself.

Miller survived at least one coup attempt, in 2000, when then-Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell (D-Baltimore County) sought to rally support for a leadership change. It fizzled.

Many Democratic senators who might have harbored ambitions to lead the chamber – including Van Hollen, Brian E. Frosh and Richard S. Madaleno Jr. – opted to seek another office, rather than wait perhaps many years for their shot at the top spot.

As testimony to the good feelings most of his colleagues had for him, they voted to name the new Senate office building in Miller’s honor in the early 2000s.

Miller served one term in the House of Delegates, from 1971 to 1975.

Soon after reaching the Senate in 1975, Miller became chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

A native of Clinton who graduated from the University of Maryland and the University of Maryland Law School, Miller and his wife of 54 years, Patti, have five children and 14 grandchildren.

Miller, who has also had a robust law practice, said he was happy to be returning to his original role as a rank-and-file member of the legislature.

“I look forward to being a state senator,” he said.

Bruce DePuyt
bruce@marylandmatters.org

Maryland Republicans Once Helped Pass Landmark Gun Control Law

September 1, 2019 by Maryland Matters

Former Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R)

When Congress passed landmark gun violence prevention legislation known as the Brady Bill back in 1993, two of Maryland’s four U.S. House Republicans were among the 54 GOP lawmakers who voted to send the bill to President Clinton’s desk.

Maryland Republican Reps. Wayne T. Gilchrest and Constance A. Morella joined all four Maryland House Democrats at the time to endorse the bill, which passed after a long opposition campaign by the National Rifle Association.

Gun control politics have shifted dramatically in Maryland and across the country over the past 26 years. Democratic lawmakers have become increasingly willing to support tougher federal gun control laws. And congressional Republicans have repeatedly blockedcongressional efforts to restrict access to firearms after recent mass shootings.

In February of this year, when the U.S. House approved an even tougher background check bill for firearm sales, Maryland’s lone Republican congressman, Andrew P. Harris of the 1st District, voted against it, as did most of his caucus. Only eight House Republicans voted for the bill.

“Shallow political posturing does nothing to address the actual causes of gun violence or prevent crime,” Harris said of the bill.

Maryland lawmakers will likely vote again soon on several other high-profile gun bills. House and Senate leaders have vowed to address gun violence following the back-to-back massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month.

In the wake of those recent shootings (where 31 people were killed and another 53 were injured), gun control advocates demanded that the Senate return immediately to vote on H.R. 8.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to call lawmakers back early, saying that senators would address the issue after members of Congress are slated to reconvene on Sept. 9.

House lawmakers, however, are returning to Washington, D.C., ahead of schedule to vote on even more gun control bills. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced his panel will meet next Wednesday to vote on several more bills aimed at restricting access to firearms.

The committee plans to vote on bills that would ban high capacity ammunition magazines, incentivize state “red flag” laws that allow courts to seize firearms from people deemed threats to themselves or others and prohibit people convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from possessing firearms.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who serves on the Judiciary Committee, will be central to the debate.

After past efforts to advance stricter background checks have failed due to GOP opposition, Raskin said it’s unclear whether the outcome will be different this time around.

“The Republicans are definitely counting on public outrage dissipating every day as we move further away from the massacres,” he told Maryland Matters this week in an interview. “That’s the general pattern, usually within a day or two, the president says something about the importance of doing a background check, then he gets a call from the NRA and he withdraws that.”

President Trump suggested a willingness to support stricter background checks after the El Paso and Dayton shootings, but he appeared to reverse course after meeting with the head of the NRA, multiple news outlets reported.

Largely, the public supports more gun control. An NBC/Wall Street Journal surveyconducted this month showed that 89% of Americans wanted Congress to expand background checks to all firearm sales and 76% back “red flag” laws.

“It seems clear that popular protest and pressure are going to be the key force here and there’s no telling whether it’s going to work,” Raskin said.

GOP reluctance

Despite increased pressure from Democrats and gun safety advocates, it’s far from certain that lawmakers will enact significant legislation.

Even as some congressional Republicans say they’re eager to pass gun control bills, others appear reluctant to back sweeping reforms.

Harris suggested in February that he doesn’t think universal background checks are what’s needed to curb gun violence.

“We already have universal background checks in Maryland — and it has done nothing at all to stop the out-of-control number of murders in Baltimore committed by using handguns,” he said.

And efforts to find bipartisan compromise on background checks have failed in recent years. Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) authored background check legislation that the Senate voted down in 2013 and again in 2015. Toomey has said he’s looking to revive the effort when lawmakers return next month and he thinks he’s got a better chance at getting it passed this time.

Christian Heyne, vice president of policy at Brady United, a gun control group, expects Republican politicians to suffer at the polls if they don’t engage on meaningful gun violence reforms.

“The political tide is dramatically shifting and I think for the better,” Heyne said.

Trump and congressional Republicans have indicated a willingness to pass a federal law to incentivize state “red flag” laws, although Democrats suggest that’s not enough.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called such legislation an “ineffective cop out.” He said Democrats “are not going to settle for half-measures so Republicans can feel better and try to push the issue of gun violence off to the side,” The Hill reported.

by Robin Bravender
Maryland Matters

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