general assembly

Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Sends State Legislative Map to General Assembly

January 11, 2022 by Maryland Matters

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission voted along party lines Friday to send their state legislative redistricting proposal to the General Assembly, with a new single-member district around Owings Mills in Baltimore County.

Baltimore County resident Linda Dorsey-Walker requested at a December public hearing that District 11 in Baltimore County, which is currently a multi-member district, be redrawn to include a single-member, majority Black district around Owings Mills.

“Owings Mills has 39,000 African Americans living in and around the area,” said Dorsey-Walker, who ran for the district in 2018 and finished fifth in a six-way primary. “That is almost enough for a single-member district by itself. Because of that, there is no particular reason why we should continue going on not having a minority elected.”

District 11 is currently represented by Democratic Dels. Lisa M. Belcastro, Jon S. Cardin and Dana M. Stein.

Commission Chair Karl Aro, a former head of the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, said at a virtual meeting Friday that the commission opted to include a single-member district around Owings Mills in response to that feedback and to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.

There were other “minor changes” and tweaks to the proposed legislative map based on public feedback at the December hearing, Aro said, such as keeping a small area near Aberdeen in District 34 rather than moving it to District 35.

“It is based really on the districts that have been in existence for a long time, making the necessary changes for population, Voting Rights Act concerns,” and complying with constitutional requirements, Aro said.

Other changes the map makes from the current legislative districts include:

Allocating just four full state Senate districts wholly within Baltimore City, while a fifth shared with Baltimore County. The city lost population over the last decade, and currently contains five full state Senate districts and a portion of another.
District 9A, which currently includes roughly the northwestern half of Howard County and part of southern Carroll County, would lose Carroll County and instead extend into northern Montgomery County. The county retains eight state Senate districts in addition to gaining part of District 9.
The city of Frederick would remain contained within District 3, which would become a strong Democratic multi-member district that would be completely encircled by the Republican-leaning multi-member District 4.
Anne Arundel County’s District 33, which is currently a purplish district represented by Republican Sen. Edward R. Reilly, would be chopped into three subdistricts and become more favorable to Democrats.
In Baltimore County, District 8, traditionally a competitive district, appears to have become more Democratic, while District 42, which leans Republican, appears to have become more conservative.

Commission members ultimately voted to send the proposal to the General Assembly, with the four Democratic lawmakers on the commission in favor of the plan and the two Republican lawmakers against it.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) said he felt that map was “still gerrymandered” in voting against the proposal, and House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) said he opposed the map because he supports more single-member House districts statewide.

“They best reflect the concept of one-person, one-vote,” Buckel said of single-member districts.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission was convened by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County). Jones and Ferguson were both members of the commission alongside House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) Senate President Pro Tem Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s), Buckel and Simonaire.

Ferguson said continuity of representation was key in drawing the map, and noted that in the proposal “the overwhelming majority of Marylanders are in their existing districts.”

Lawmakers will take up the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s proposal when they kick off the regular legislative session next week. Also up for consideration will be the legislative proposal from the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, a multi-partisan panel created by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) earlier this year to draw up congressional and legislative redistricting proposals that he would then submit to the General Assembly.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission’s congressional proposal did not advance out of committee during a special session in early December.

Maryland’s constitution requires the governor to submit a legislative redistricting proposal and allows the General Assembly 45 days to make their own changes. If lawmakers don’t agree on changes to the map, the governor’s proposal automatically becomes law. Constitutionally, Hogan can’t veto the General Assembly’s legislative maps.

By Bennett Leckrone

“We Know Nothing”: Lawmakers to Probe Attack That Took Down Agency’s Computers

December 15, 2021 by Maryland Matters

Two legislative committees that oversee the Maryland Department of Health plan to grill state officials about an attack that disabled the agency’s computers, top lawmakers said on Tuesday.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) has revealed little about the Dec. 4 attack, which has significantly hampered the agency’s operations.

Health department employees initially were told to stay off their computers as a precaution. Although some systems have come back online, the agency has not posted COVID-19 case rates, testing or mortality data since Dec. 3.

Hospitalization and vaccine data are available, as are congregate and school outbreak reports. Maryland is experiencing its biggest spike in hospitalizations since April.

“The governor has been incredibly quiet about this issue,” said Del. Shane Pendergrass (D-Howard), head of the House Health and Government Operations Committee. “The question of how it happened, why it happened, how bad is it — all of those things need to be answered.”

Senate Education, Environment and Health Affairs Committee Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) accused Hogan of being “absent.”

“He’s always out front when there’s good news — even it’s not because of his actions. But when there’s bad news, he’s not in front of the cameras,” the lawmaker said. “They shouldn’t duck this. They should say what the problem is [and] how long it’s going to take to fix it.”

“We know nothing” about the impacts the attack is having, Pinsky added, including whether hackers have sought a ransom payment, a common tactic.

Hogan’s office initially did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, and a Maryland Department of Health spokesman declined a request for an interview.

The agency also refused to answer written questions about whether the attack originated overseas, whether a ransom has been requested, whether employees are able to use their government-issued computers, how operations have been impacted, who is handling the investigation, or whether Health Secretary Dennis Schrader intends to testify at the legislature’s hearing.

The morning after this story was initially published, Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci sent a brief statement: “We fully briefed legislative leaders last week, and we will continue to provide information to legislators and constituents to the extent possible without compromising the ongoing investigation.”

At a press conference last Thursday, Hogan said, “Our system was compromised, but at this point it appears to be much, much less intrusive and with a much better outcome than we were afraid might be the case.”

“We don’t believe that any data was sacrificed, and I think they’re digging into it and getting into the problem,” he added.

On July 1, the state reported 97 COVID patients in Maryland hospitals. On Tuesday, there were 1,173, the most since April 22.

Anne Arundel officials reported Tuesday that there are 84 COVID patients in county hospitals, up from approximately 40 last week.

“It is concerning to have a doubling of our hospitalization in the last week and not know what our case rates look like right now,” County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) told reporters. “Not knowing what’s going on with the case rates means that [hospitals] can’t project what their hospitalization rates are going to be in two weeks.”

Most of Anne Arundel’s sickest COVID patients had not been vaccinated, Pittman said.

Anne Arundel Fire Chief Trisha L. Wolford said hospitals are “absolutely struggling” — as are her paramedics.

“The waits are incredibly long,” she said. “When they’re at the hospital for multiple hours, it’s heartbreaking that they can’t be out in the community.”

Wolford urged unvaccinated residents to “do the right thing for your community and your neighbors” by getting their shots.

In a statement, state health department spokesman Andy Owen said the agency “took down certain systems out of an abundance of caution following the recent network security incident.”

The agency’s priorities are “gaining full visibility into the affected network infrastructure,” bringing systems back online, and restoring full COVID-19 data reporting capabilities, he said.

Pendergrass has scheduled a hearing into the computer attack for Thursday, Jan. 13, the first full day of the legislature’s 2022 session. She and Pinsky have agreed to hold one together but Pinsky wants to hold it in December.

Regardless of when lawmakers hold their hearing, “the governor will not likely take responsibility for this, nor will anyone else,” Pendergrass said. “The administration is not ever very forthcoming about anything, in particular the Health Department.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Hogan-Aligned Group Announces Plans for Lawsuit Against Just-Approved Congressional Redistricting Plan

December 9, 2021 by Maryland Matters

An organization with ties to Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. announced Wednesday that it will seek to overturn the congressional redistricting plan approved by the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly.

The announcement, from Fair Maps Maryland, came just moments after the state Senate followed the House of Delegates in voting to accept a map drawn by a legislative panel made up of four Democratic leaders, two Republican leaders and a non-voting former top staffer.

Under that map, crafted by Legislative Redistricting Advisory Committee (LRAC), Democrats would maintain electoral advantages in seven of the state’s eight congressional districts.

Many of those districts would be abstractly shaped, in keeping with the long practice of both parties to maximize the once-a-decade map-drawing process for maximum benefit.

The biggest changes from the state’s current congressional map involve the Eastern Shore-based 1st District, represented by Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R), a Trump-aligned conservative. It was refashioned by the Assembly to pull in portions of Anne Arundel County, giving it a roughly equal number of Republicans and Democratic voters.

The congressional map adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission. Screenshot from the Maryland General Assembly website.

In announcing its plan to sue, Fair Maps Maryland spokesman Doug Mayer said, “this level of gerrymandering is voter suppression.”

According to Maryland State Board of Elections voter registration statistics, about 55% of Maryland voters are Democrats and 24% are Republicans.

“It’s a sad day in Maryland,” said Mayer, a Hogan strategist and former communications director, in a statement. “The General Assembly has ignored the will of the overwhelming majority of Marylanders.”

He said the organization has hired attorneys to pursue “suits on both the state and federal levels that will prosecute the obvious Voting Rights Act and many other illegal partisan partisan gerrymandering violations.”

Many courts have been reluctant to wade into the politically charged districting process — and while Maryland’s districts may be ungainly, success in court is far from guaranteed.

“A lot depends on how willing courts are going to be to create new causes of action and how — I’ll be frank — how politicized the courts are,” said Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “Some courts are more willing to be honest brokers and some are very partisan.”

In January, Hogan created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission (MCRC), made up of three Republicans, three Democrats and three independents. Lawmakers held a hearing but didn’t vote on the panel’s proposal, and rejected GOP amendments to replace the legislature’s map with the MCRC proposal.

Because Democrats have long had lopsided advantages in both chambers of the legislature, it has been a forgone conclusion for years that they would have the votes to do as they please when the once-a-decade process of redrawing the state’s congressional districts rolled around.

Cognizant of that reality, Republicans in the General Assembly have been plotting their post-session strategy for some time. Their hope is to find something in the LRAC map that violates state or federal law.

In an interview on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) conceded that the Supreme Court’s refusal — in Benisek vs. Lamone — to strike down Maryland’s 2011 redistricting plan creates challenges.

“Under the Benisek decision, you don’t really have partisan gerrymandering claims in federal court that are cognizable under the Equal Protection Act or other clauses,” he said. “But I think it’s an open question whether you do under Maryland law — under our free and fair elections clause, which really has never been interpreted in this context.”

Sen. Michael Hough (R-Frederick) suggested attorneys will consider asking the Maryland Court of Appeals to apply the requirement that state legislative districts be compact to congressional districts, a strategy that gerrymandering foes have pursued successfully in other states.

“That happened in Pennsylvania and North Carolina,” he said. “They basically took the constitutions of those states and applied them to the federal maps. If they used the state standards of continuity and compactness, that would be your best case of getting in front of a state court.”

“The federal courts aren’t going to get involved,” he predicted.

Buckel also conceded that race-based challenges under the federal Voting Rights Act are unlikely to succeed. “It tends to neither unduly pack [voters of color] so you’re isolating them… and they’re also not cracking those communities,” he said of the map lawmakers approved.

At Monday’s public hearing on the dueling redistricting proposals, Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore and Harford counties) asked LRAC Chair Karl Aro and a legislative staffer to disclose who guided them through the map-drawing process.

“Someone had to put their finger on the mouse,” the former House minority whip said. “Who did that?”

“We have various staff,” senior legislative analyst Michelle Davis replied.

In an interview, Szeliga said Republicans will seek to determine, through litigation, the motives used to craft the legislature’s map.

“Everything that they said in that hearing, I’m sure there will be depositions that will further investigate what the people [in the Department of Legislative Services] did to create these maps,” she said.

“We will find out about the computer program they used,” Szeliga added. “We will find out who clicked the mouse.”

By Bruce DePuyt

House Democrats Advance Congressional District Map Opposed by Hogan, Republicans

December 8, 2021 by Maryland Matters

Maryland’s House of Delegates advanced a congressional district map drafted by a legislative advisory panel on Tuesday evening, over objections from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. and the Republican caucus.

The 97-42 vote came after nearly an hour of floor debate and just hours after Democrats in the chamber predictably rejected an amendment that would have replaced the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s map with one put forward by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission established by Hogan.

The legislative panel’s proposal would create seven districts likely to favor Democrats and would move the solidly Republican 1st District into tossup territory.

The congressional map adopted by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission. Screenshot from the Maryland General Assembly website.

House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Washington) introduced the amendment that would have switched the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s proposed congressional map in House Bill 1 with the map proposed by the multi-partisan panel Hogan created.

“It’s really very compact, and it’s really very contiguous, and it represents communities of interest,” Buckel said of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map.

Buckel, one of two Republicans on the seven-member Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission (LRAC), said he opposes the maps that commission created because the districts aren’t compact.

Buckel’s amendment was ultimately voted down, largely along partisan lines, 93-43.

In a joint committee hearing Monday, lawmakers advanced the LRAC proposal and didn’t vote on the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission proposal.

The LRAC was created by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County). Jones and Ferguson are both members of that panel alongside two other Democratic legislative leaders, the two Republican legislative leaders and Karl Aro, the commission chair and former head of the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services.

Compactness of U.S. House districts has been a key aspect of the debate on the state’s next set of congressional maps. Republicans have highlighted the fact that the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission sought to minimize county splits in drawing their congressional proposal, but at the Monday committee hearing on both map proposals, Aro said compactness isn’t as important a factor in congressional maps compared to population equality and compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) defended the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission map during the Tuesday morning floor debate on Buckel’s amendment, and said panelists focused on preserving communities of interest, protecting the voting power of people of color and keeping as many people as possible in their current districts over compactness. Wilson added that the LRAC map still marks a “dramatic change” because it is more compact than current maps, but also said Maryland’s borders don’t lend themselves to neatly drawn districts.

“The shape of Maryland isn’t pleasing to the eye,” Wilson said. “It’s misshapen and out of proportion.”

House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) urged lawmakers to reject Buckel’s amendment, and said that if Hogan and Republicans in the General Assembly oppose gerrymandering they should support the federal For The People Act, which would require nonpartisan redistricting commissions across the country. That legislation, sponsored by Maryland Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D), passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year but has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

Luedtke noted that Hogan recently took credit for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that recently passed Congress and was signed into law by President Biden, and sarcastically wondered why Hogan wouldn’t do the same for the Sarbanes bill if he was so concerned about gerrymandering.

“If he’s that influential in the [U.S.] Senate, I would urge him to call for the passage of the For the People Act,” Luedtke said.

Other House Republicans took issue with the partisan breakdown of the proposed LRAC map and the state’s current congressional districts. Current maps create a 7-1 partisan breakdown favoring Democrats, and with the 1st Congressional District redrawn to be much more competitive, the LRAC’s proposal could result in an 8-0 partisan breakdown.

“There’s definitely more Democrats than Republicans in the state of Maryland, but it’s not 7-1,” said Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s). He noted that after the 1990 Census, Maryland had a 4-4 partisan split in its congressional delegation, which moved to 6-2 in favor of Democrats following the 2000 Census.

House Republicans renewed their criticism of the LRAC map at the Tuesday evening floor session: Del. Haven N. Shoemaker Jr. (R-Carroll) was particularly critical of the 1st District, which in the proposed map crosses the Bay Bridge to include parts of Anne Arundel County with the Eastern Shore, and the 8th District, which as in current maps runs from the state’s border with D.C. to the border with Pennsylvania, although it would include more of Carroll County in the LRAC proposal.

“Just because something is legal doesn’t necessarily make it right,” Shoemaker said.

Susan W. Krebs (R-Carroll County) pushed back on the idea that county boundaries aren’t important in congressional maps.

“We have county delegations,” Krebs said. “We have county school boards. We do everything by counties in Maryland.”

Luedtke said Tuesday evening it isn’t that counties don’t matter — but that there are a slew of different considerations that need to be considered in redistricting, including keeping voters in current congressional districts to the extent possible and complying with the Voting Rights Act.

“There should not be any single factor that governs everything we do on these maps,” Luedtke said.

Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery) noted that recent U.S. Census data showed that Maryland is among the most diverse states in the country, and said the LRAC proposal reflects that growing diversity.

“When I look at this map, something that I believe is absolutely critical is that we have a map that represents that diversity … and what I see here is a map that increases our diversity in several really critical congressional districts,” Wilkins said, adding that the proposed congressional map is more compact than the current one.

She noted that the number of Black residents increases in Districts 4, 5 and 7 in the LRAC map. Districts 4 and 7 would be majority Black in the LRAC proposal, and District 5 would include a Black plurality.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission map minimizes county splits and received an “A” from the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which evaluated the proposal based on geographical features, competitiveness and partisan fairness. The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s final proposed congressional map received an “F” based on those same criteria from analysts at Princeton. Luedtke on Tuesday morning questioned Princeton’s rating system during the floor debate because it doesn’t include Voting Rights Act compliance.

The LRAC proposal is now set to be taken up by the decennial Senate Standing Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting on Wednesday morning before heading to the Senate floor.

By Bennett Leckrone

Once-in-a-Decade Congressional Redistricting Effort Will Be the Focus at Special Session

December 6, 2021 by Maryland Matters

Lawmakers will take swift action on new congressional district boundaries when the General Assembly convenes today in Annapolis for a rare December special session.

Partisan tension is expected to run high, as legislators deliberate maps crafted by commissions convened by Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and Democratic legislative leaders — and consider whether to override the governor’s vetoes of more than 20 bills passed earlier this year.

Democrats hold wide majorities in the legislature, and are likely to have enough support to enact their preferred congressional map, even over a likely veto from Hogan — though an override of the redistricting plan may not happen until the 2022 regular legislative session begins in January.

Republican lawmakers have charged that the redistricting map released by the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission created by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), is a partisan gerrymander. Their complaints have been bolstered by Hogan, online ads from his political action committee, and Fair Maps Maryland, an advocacy group populated with Hogan allies.

The proposal from the legislative advisory committee — a Democratic-majority panel that included leaders from both parties in Annapolis — would smooth the edges of some of the state’s currently twisty and contorted district lines, and set districts with the possibility of electing only Democrats to Capitol Hill.

In the proposed map, the 1st Congressional District, home to the state’s sole Republican in Congress, Rep. Andrew P. Harris, would shift from solidly Republican to tossup territory by crossing the Chesapeake Bay at the Bay Bridge and incorporating part of Anne Arundel County.

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project — which graded the legislative panel’s proposal as an ‘F’ and Hogan’s as an ‘A’ — said the legislature’s congressional map would create a near-equal partisan split, with 50.9% Democrats and 49% Republican, for the 1st District.

The map created by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission and favored by Hogan would likely create a 6-2 Democratic partisan advantage.

The map approved by lawmakers this week will guide congressional elections in the state for the next decade. And lawmakers will decide which map to approve against a backdrop of a slim Democratic majority in the U.S. House and an evenly divided U.S. Senate. Throughout the country, maps in Republican-controlled states have strengthened that party’s advantage. Republicans are in control of more than 180 districts nationwide, compared to about 75 districts controlled by Democrats, according to Nathan L. Gonzales, the editor and publisher of Inside Elections, which provides nonpartisan political analysis of state and national campaigns.

Maryland Democrats are under some pressure to add to the party’s congressional tally, while Hogan has vowed to veto the legislative commission’s “disgracefully gerrymandered” maps.

Dozens of residents signed up to testify during a brief 35-hour sign-up period last week.

A joint hearing on two congressional redistricting plans is set for 12:30 p.m.

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the public will be allowed to watch floor sessions in the State House galleries, though seating is limited. Committee hearings will remain virtual during the special session.

While redistricting is the marquee topic for the special session, the General Assembly’s days will be full. Lawmakers have been told to prepare for long days on the floor on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The session is expected to end by Friday, though extended deliberation could push the meeting into the weekend.

Among the vetoed bills under consideration are measures that would remove the governor from the state’s parole process, allowed tiered county-level income tax rates, expand collective bargaining rights for community college professors and employees.

Lawmakers are unlikely to pass emergency bills proposed by Hogan that he said are intended to curb violence in the city of Baltimore.

The brief session could also bring substantial change to the legislative chamber – Economic Matters Chair Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s) is favored to win a secret ballot election as the state’s new treasurer, following the retirement of Nancy K. Kopp, who has held the position for nearly two decades.

Davis was recommended for the position by a Special Joint Legislative Committee to Select the State Treasurer that met late last month.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Marylanders Urge Transparency at Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission Hearing

October 6, 2021 by Maryland Matters

Marylanders urged members of the General Assembly’s Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission at a Tuesday hearing to make draft maps available for public comment before the panel’s last public hearing in November, arguing that the public should have a chance to weigh in before the General Assembly takes them up for a vote.

“It seems rather difficult for people to comment on the basis of a blank map,” Jacqueline Coolidge of the League of Women Voters told the panel at the online hearing.

Edward Johnson, co-leader of the Maryland Legislative Coalition, a progressive advocacy group, said that meaningful hearings can happen only when the commission presents draft maps.

Legislative leaders are tentatively planning a special session in early December to handle congressional redistricting, and Johnson said maps should be produced for public comment before then.

Morgan Drayton, policy and engagement manager for Common Cause Maryland, also urged the commission to produce draft maps before it concludes its public hearings in November. And she said the commission should consider starting its next statewide virtual public hearing at 6 p.m., rather than 3 p.m., to allow Maryland residents who work during the day to participate.

Nicole Y. Drew of Delta Sigma Theta, a public service-focused sorority that advocates for black communities, said the commission needs to undertake a “fair and transparent” process. She also urged members of the commission to ensure that people of color don’t have their votes diluted in the state’s next set of maps.

Commission Chair Karl Aro, a former director of the Department of Legislative Services, said the commission “will have draft maps for comment” but is gathering information.

Commission member Sen. Bryan W. Simonaire (R) noted the commission is set to conclude its public hearings on Nov. 18, and pressed Aro on when draft maps will be available for public comment.

Aro said he hopes the commission will produce draft maps by Nov. 15, and said the pandemic-related delay in Census redistricting data is to blame for the panel’s time constraints.

Aro said the public will also be able to comment when proposed district maps come up for committee hearings in the General Assembly’s special and regular sessions.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission’s next in-person meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, a separate panel created by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to draw maps that he will propose to the General Assembly, has already drafted maps for state senate and congressional districts and is currently weighing single- vs. multi-member delegate districts. That panel is set to begin its final round of virtual public hearings Wednesday at 6 p.m.

On Tuesday, the legislative commission also heard from Brandon Russell, a St. Mary’s County resident, who urged them to keep his county whole in congressional and state legislative maps. He noted that members of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission included a portion of St. Mary’s County with Calvert County in their initial senate district maps, but that commission reversed course after backlash from county residents and made the county whole in a subsequent draft.

While both the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission and Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission are tasked with conducting public hearings and drafting maps for congressional and state legislative districts, the General Assembly will have the final say over the state’s coming redistricting. Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

By Bennett Leckrone

Legislative Redistricting Commission Promises Transparent Process at First Meeting

September 3, 2021 by Maryland Matters

Maryland’s General Assembly will have the final say over the state’s next set of congressional and legislative maps, and legislative leaders’ bipartisan redistricting commission held its first meeting Tuesday evening.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, convened by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), will conduct public hearings before proposing congressional and legislative maps. Karl Aro, former executive director of the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services, is the commission’s chair.

The Department of Legislative Services will be responsible for drawing maps based on the commission’s input, Aro said. He said the map drafts will be confidential until the commission is ready to release its proposal to the public.

Jodie Chilson of the Department of Legislative Services said that any member of the General Assembly will be able to request a map be drawn.

“Any request that comes to us for that would be confidential even with respect to the commission,” Chilson said. “Once the map is drawn and you get it, you can do with it what you want, but as we’re drawing it that would be confidential.”

The departments of Planning and Legislative Services finalized data to be used for redistricting on Tuesday, Legislative Services Senior Policy Analyst Michelle Davis told members of the panel. The U.S. Census data used for redistricting was released last month, but state officials needed to adjust that data to comply with Maryland law, which requires that incarcerated people are counted as residents of their known address. She said that data will be available to the public soon.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel), a member of the panel, pressed for a bipartisan map-drawing process, and said he hopes commission members work together when it comes to creating a single, cohesive map.

“We’re not in the majority and don’t pretend to be there, but I would like to be included as opposed to Republicans going off and doing their maps, Democrats going off and doing their maps,” he said.

Simonaire noted that after the 2010 Census, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) created a redistricting commission to conduct public hearings, but according to depositions from the Benisek v. Lamone case, most map-drawing during that process was done away from the public eye by political operatives and incumbents.

“We ended up with some of the worst maps in the nation … especially on the congressional side,” Simonaire said.

Aro said he hopes the legislative commission will produce a map that makes people feel that their communities are largely kept whole, but warned that some areas will likely have to be split due to how complex the process is. He likened redistricting to “doing brain surgery with a sledge hammer.”

“My hope too is that the geography will look, for lack of a better word, prettier,” Aro said. “It should. I imagine we’ll just have to work our way through it.”

Ferguson said public input will be “absolutely essential” to the commission’s work and pledged a transparent process.

“We will have a fair and transparent process, and in order for that to happen we need to hear from the public,” Ferguson said.

Jones likewise underscored the importance of public input.

“For those Marylanders watching this online, we are asking you to show up at our hearings, write us letters, and send us your ideas,” Jones said. “We are listening.”

Jones also acknowledged that the redistricting debate likely won’t end when the General Assembly adopts maps.

“There’s a good chance that these maps will end up in court,” she said. “That is the nature of redistricting. We will follow the advice of counsel at every step, making sure that the rights of all Marylanders are protected.”

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission will conduct region-based and statewide public hearings in the coming months, and will kick off with a public hearing in Prince George’s County on Monday, Sept. 20. The location of that meeting wasn’t immediately available, but the meeting will be live streamed.

Other lawmakers on the commission are Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s), House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) and House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany).

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission is one of two panels tasked with conducting public hearings and drawing up a proposed set of congressional and legislative maps in the coming months: Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission earlier this year to create maps that he will propose to the General Assembly.

That commission includes three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters, and completed one round of public hearings before the release of U.S. Census data in August.

Hogan plans to introduce both the congressional and legislative maps that are drawn by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission. The governor is required to introduce legislative maps, but statutes are silent on who is responsible for introducing congressional maps. The General Assembly is allowed to make changes to those maps and draw their own.

While both commissions are tasked with drawing up maps, the ultimate authority for mapmaking in Maryland rests with the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Hogan can veto only congressional maps, although lawmakers easily overrode his vetoes on such measures as police and education reform during the 2021 legislative session. He can’t veto the General Assembly’s legislative maps, but his proposed maps would become law if the General Assembly doesn’t pass a redistricting plan within the first half of the 2022 legislative session.

At a media briefing ahead of the legislative panel’s first meeting Tuesday, Simonaire and Buckel reiterated their support for Hogan’s Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

“The best way to do redistricting is in a bipartisan or nonpartisan fashion, letting the citizens drive the redistricting process rather than the politicians in the back room,” Buckel said.

Simonaire previously predicted that the legislative commission’s final vote would come down to a party-line split. He said Tuesday that he remains “skeptical” of the legislative redistricting commission.

Congressional maps could be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, with legislative leaders considering a special session in December to tackle congressional redistricting.

By Bennett Leckrone

General Assembly Leaders Announce Legislative Redistricting Commission

July 9, 2021 by Maryland Matters

The Maryland General Assembly has launched its own commission to draw new congressional and legislative district maps.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) announced the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission and its members in a Thursday press release.

The bipartisan commission will be chaired by Karl Aro, the former executive director of the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services. Ferguson and Jones will also sit on the commission, alongside four other lawmakers:

Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s County);
House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery County);
Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel County); and
House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany County).

Commission members will “focus on developing new map configurations to best account for Maryland’s seven percent population growth,” according to the release.

Jones and Ferguson pledged a bipartisan and transparent redistricting process in Thursday’s release. The commission will hold 10 in-person town hall meetings across the state and two virtual meetings beginning in August. Those meetings will be live-streamed, according to the release.

Jones said in the release that the commission’s goal will be to “ensure that Maryland’s representation reflects its citizens.”

“The General Assembly will pass fair maps based on the robust public engagement and feedback of this Commission,” Jones said.

Ferguson said public input will be a virtual part of the commission’s work.

“We believe it is critical to hear from those we represent, and the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission serves as the General Assembly’s vehicle to hear from Marylanders across the State in a bipartisan and transparent manner before proposing maps for the Legislature to consider,” Ferguson said in a written statement. “The Commission is an essential step in the redistricting process to ensure fair representation for Maryland’s democracy.”

The commission’s formation comes as the multi-partisan Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission — formed by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan (R) earlier this year to draw up maps he will propose to the General Assembly — is already conducting a round of public hearings ahead of the release of Census redistricting data.

That nine-member commission, made up of three Republicans, three Democrats and three non-affiliated voters, has held hearings for the Baltimore City and Harford and Anne Arundel Counties, the Eastern Shore and the western, northern and southern regions of the state. During those hearings, residents have repeatedly urged commission members to keep communities whole in proposed maps.

“Governor Hogan has handed over his power to a citizens advisory commission to ensure it’s the people of Maryland who are drawing the maps — not politicians or party bosses in back rooms. The citizens commission has already held several public meetings across the state, gaining direct input from Marylanders,” Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said Thursday evening.

Former Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman (R) and former state Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) – who recently formed the group Fair Maps Maryland alongside former Hogan communications strategist Doug Mayer to urge the General Assembly to adopt maps from the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, criticized the formation of the legislative commission in a Thursday statement.

“This is real simple – politicians shouldn’t be drawing their own districts and picking their own voters, and unfortunately this new commission does exactly that,” the pair said.

Joanne Antoine, the executive director of the fair elections group Common Cause Maryland, said she would’ve liked to see members of the public on the legislative commission, but added that she was encouraged by the General Assembly’s move to hold public hearings.

“I think this is a great opportunity for Marylanders to not only provide input on their communities, but more importantly highlight how the General Assembly has failed them to some extent,” Antoine said.

Antoine had hosted a virtual Tame the Gerrymander event to promote public participation in the redistricting process just before the legislative commission was announced. Tame the Gerrymander — a coalition of advocacy organizations pushing for fair maps in Maryland — is currently mounting a campaign to get the public involved in the process.

At that event, advocates stressed that public input will be key in the state’s redistricting process, and urged Marylanders to participate. Fred McBride, a redistricting and voting rights policy specialist for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, encouraged residents to use free mapping tools like Districr to draw up their own maps and come up with concrete suggestions.

“It’s no longer something we have to sit back and watch and wait for,” McBride said, “It’s something we should be participating in.”

Antoine said in an interview that the dueling commissions may confuse residents, and said she thinks the work of both commissions will be important in the coming months.

“Ultimately the decision is in the hands of the lawmakers,” Antoine said. “The work of the (Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission) is important, and the feedback they’re collecting is just as important too, but I think the members of the General Assembly need to hear from the public.”

The maps the Citizens Redistricting Commission draws up and Hogan proposes will ultimately be subject to approval from the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Exactly what the maps drawn up by either commission will look like remains to be seen, although Hogan laid out several requirements for maps in his executive order creating the commission, including incorporating single-member districts into their proposed maps to the extent possible.

By Bennett Leckrone

General Assembly 2021: Winners and Losers

April 19, 2021 by Maryland Matters

During the 90 days the General Assembly was in session, we ran out of ways to say what an unusual, challenging and hard session it was. We overused the word “surreal” to describe the feel of the State House and the legislative campus as lawmakers attempted to do their work with the specter of a COVID-19 hanging over their heads.

But that really was the best way to describe it. We missed all the rhythms and serendipity of a normal legislative session. We missed seeing everybody.

Yet here we are, on the other side, and everyone survived it — and in many ways thrived. It may not have been especially enjoyable for the legislators and other regular State House denizens. But this was one of the most consequential sessions in memory — as lawmakers moved to address the many challenges brought on and exacerbated by the pandemic.

Lots of people did great work this legislative session — and we’re sorry we can’t acknowledge them all. But here’s our attempt to assess the good, the bad and the in-between.

Winners

The health protocols: The regular COVID-19 testing. The social distancing. The mandatory masking. The maze-like set-up on the Senate floor. The House “chamber annex.” The virtual committee hearings. Banning the public from legislative buildings. Against all odds, these protocols, designed by public health experts, the General Assembly’s presiding officers and their top staffers, kept 188 lawmakers, dozens of legislative staffers, the buildings’ essential workers, police officers and a small core of journalists healthy and safe over a period of 90 days. Kudos to one and all.

The IT folks: See above. Sure, there was an occasional glitch. But without the smooth live-streaming of House and Senate floor sessions and committee hearings, as well as near-seamless, real-time communication between the House chamber and the chamber annex, the session wouldn’t have gone as well as it did. Kudos to them as well.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County): Not only did she keep her occasionally unruly chamber together under the most trying of circumstances, but she saw almost all of her very consequential legislative initiatives — from police reform to HBCU funding to greater minority participation in sports gaming, and more — sail through.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City): He’s proving to be a high-energy and collaborative presiding officer who is slowly steering his chamber to the left and relying on a talented array of lieutenants to move it there, sharing the credit for the Senate’s accomplishments with as many members as he can. He may not have as much control of the Senate chamber as the speaker does of hers — but then, he doesn’t have to.

Alexandra M. Hughes and Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann: For all the reasons listed above, the chiefs of staff to Jones and Ferguson, respectively, organized and led their respective chambers through all the changes. It wasn’t always pretty. But disasters never materialized, and they deserve a shout-out.

Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City): This session, you might say, was the culmination of her life’s work (though she’s only 56). After years as an outsider, she was given a seat at the table to help craft police reform legislation. While she pushed for policies more radical than what ended up on the governor’s desk, some of her priorities will become law without his signature, including the creation of a statewide use of force policy and more transparency regarding officer misconduct. Both of these measures were outlined in a previous version of Anton’s Law, which she and Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) co-sponsored during the 2019 and 2020 legislative sessions. Anton’s Law, named after Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died in police custody on the Eastern Shore in 2018, passed this session under their sponsorship.

Del. Vanessa E. Atterbeary (D-Howard): As the leader of the House workgroup on police reform, Atterbeary did the hard work, kept her colleagues on task, grew in stature, and basked in the spotlight.

Voting rights: As other states restrict voting rights, Maryland expanded voting by mail, drop boxes, student accessibility and military accessibility. And the House approved a bill, which the Senate did not move, that would have made elections in five rural counties more democratic.

Public health: Bills passed for health equity resource communities, young person health care subsidies, health enrollment on unemployment forms, telehealth, and more behavioral and mental health services.

Public transit: Lawmakers passed a broad transit bill that prioritizes safety and future investment, especially in the Baltimore area. And they passed a measure providing funding for the Maryland Department of Transportation to complete the design, engineering and environmental studies necessary to prepare the Southern Maryland Rapid Transit project for future construction.

Sens. Justin D. Ready (R-Carroll), Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick), Robert G. Cassilly (R-Harford) and Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore): Whether you agree with them or not, nobody makes more cogent arguments on the Senate floor, and you want to listen to them every time they get up (which in Cassilly’s case is on just about every bill).

House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery): The closer. Sometimes majority leaders simply move to adjourn. Luedtke was an architect of key legislation, managed several bills on the House floor, often made the closing arguments on top leadership initiatives, and attempted to diffuse tensions on the House floor when they arose. He filled in the gaps in the speaker’s leadership style and has really come into his own this session. He’s probably the most powerful House majority leader since the late John S. Arnick (D-Baltimore County).

State coffers: In the months immediately after the COVID-19 outbreak, lawmakers were faced with dire predictions of multi-billion-dollar budget shortfalls. From the start to the end of the legislative session, the state’s 2021 budget grew by more than $3 billion thanks to federal stimulus funding. But the question remains: can the state’s good fortune continue if federal funds dry up?

Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chairman Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard) and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City): They worked to ensure that the legislature would have its fingerprints all over the $3 billion in federal aid and they succeeded. And with little fuss, Guzzone’s committee also added half a billion dollars to Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s (R) RELIEF Act proposal.

Del. Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany): Started the session as that guy in the back row who often helps fellow House Republicans out of legal jams. Ended it as the new House minority leader.

HBCUs: With a guarantee of an additional $577 million in extra funding over the next decade, putting an end to a 15-year legal dispute, they’re about to enter a new golden age.

Broadband: The state is finally putting its money where its mouth is by allocating a record $300 million to broadband, and potentially, if all goes right, finally getting this vital service to the communities that need it.

Out-of-state corporations: Once again, legislation to close a major corporate tax loophole — and generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the state treasury — by implementing combined reporting was not even given consideration. Until this proposal gets a serious airing, no one can rightly say that the General Assembly has become captive to the left.

Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery): A star is born. Between her roles as House parliamentarian and chair of the Ways and Means Election Law Subcommittee, she spoke on the House floor early and often, rebutting Republican attempts to derail voting rights legislation with skill and patience. As the House point person on the Census and the Legislative Black Caucus point person on redistricting, she will remain prominent in the months ahead. And steeping yourself in election law is never a bad career move.

Del. Lauren C. Arikan (R-Baltimore and Harford): Protégé and district-mate of departing House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) displayed her mentor’s talent for asking barbed questions delivered in a good-natured way on the House floor. She also told folksy stories about the people back home, and made self-references to her upbringing and farming life that were by turns funny and moving. Maryland Republican leaders are looking to boost the profile of several women in the years ahead, and she will be one of them.

Workforce development: $10 million in the RELIEF Act and $75 million in the supplemental budget for workforce training, plus the unemployment legislation that passed this year allows for access to unemployment claims by local workforce boards.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D): Most leaders of the “Big Eight” — Scott and the executives of Maryland’s seven biggest counties — walked away from the session with something they wanted. But Pittman and Scott were probably the most successful. Scott saw passage of the transit bill and legislation returning control of the Baltimore Police Department to the city. Pittman passed his top three priorities: a progressive local taxation bill, a bill providing oversight of organizations that receive funding from the county hotel tax, and a housing trust bill. But will the taxation legislation come back to bite him in the 2022 election? Republicans are already itching to brand him a tax-and-spend radical out of step with the county’s voters.

Sens. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) and Cory V. McCray (D-Baltimore City): Just by sheer volume and breadth of bills they passed this year, it’s clear these stars of the Senate freshman class are fulfilling their promise.

Del. Brooke E. Lierman (D-Baltimore City): When you’re running for statewide office it sure doesn’t hurt to amass a big list of legislative accomplishments. In Lierman’s case, those include more transit funding, housing and ethics bills, more protections for student athletes, energy assistance for low-income residents, government operations measures, and more.

Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City): She still sometimes appears flummoxed and disorganized on the Senate floor, but she made one parliamentary maneuver that was extremely consequential: moving to recommit her bill to provide extra energy assistance for low-income households back to the Finance Committee after the panel had added industry-friendly amendments. Afterwards, she and her allies shaped the bill back to its original form — a rare win for consumers.

Del. Patrick G. Young Jr. (D-Baltimore County): His fireside chat videos are one of the best things to ever come out of Annapolis, entertaining and informative, a needed tonic to all the drudgery of this COVID session.

Restaurants and craft brewers: Emergency regulations allowing them to sell take-out booze (including mixed drinks) and make deliveries are extended beyond the pandemic, though not indefinitely.

Maryland Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader: After a long slog, he finally got through!

Losers

Del. Daniel L. Cox (R-Frederick): You start the session with everyone talking about how you bused constituents to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and called the vice president of the United States a traitor that day. You finish with everyone talking about how you compared a mental health bill to the Holocaust. Not good. But you may have escaped without any disciplinary proceedings for the former.

Bipartisanship: Everyone in Annapolis likes to tout this, but it’s becoming more and more elusive. A number of marquee bills passed by lopsided margins, on party-line votes. At least one that got a fancy off-site signing ceremony — funding for HBCUs — only happened after years of acrimony. Hogan vetoed or allowed a large number bills to become law without his signature — including a bill that, if he’d signed might not have endangered federal stimulus funding.

Recreational marijuana advocates: Foiled again. Maryland is falling behind other states. And you still need to get a doctor’s note to buy medical cannabis.

Grocery stores: Still won’t be able to sell beer and wine. Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) just said the demise of this legislation is impeding her county’s ability to attract high-quality grocery stores. Maybe next year?

Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee Chairman Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) and House Environment and Transportation Committee Chairman Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery): Boys, boys! While they both have accomplishments to boast of this session, their inability to lay aside personal or policy differences sunk the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2021, leaving their allies in the environmental community fretting on the sidelines. The differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill can probably be reconciled; the bruised egos, not so easily. The Senate committee worked painstakingly over a period of days to craft the bill and then shared the work-product with two other committees; the House panel seemed to start late. That remains one of the mysteries of the 2021 session.

Fraternal Order of Police: The police union did itself no favors by failing to engage in the legislative process as police reform was making its way through the legislature, erasing years of accumulated power and influence in the bargain. Bad, misguided or lazy cops are also the losers. If you’re a good cop who doesn’t get high on power and whose first instinct isn’t to reach for your weapon, your life will not change much with the police reform legislation. For the rest, you might want to consider a career change.

Hospitals: Lost on medical debt and essential workers bills, did not see one cent of reduction in Medicaid assessment, and lost a dedicated funding source during a debate on the health equity resource bill.

Del. Terri L. Hill (D-Howard and Baltimore): Even with the bills she passed, the lingering image this legislative session will be of Hill, a cosmetic surgeon by trade, in the operating room while participating in a Zoom committee hearing and a Zoom committee voting session. Hill insists that she was able to tend to her patients safely and successfully while keeping up with her legislative duties, but it was just plain weird and ill-advised. Just weeks earlier, a judge in California had chastised a doctor for performing surgery while a court proceeding was about to take place.

NRG Energy: The energy supply giant, which already has a talented corps of lobbyists, brought in extra firepower this year to begin a dialogue about bringing more “competition” — read deregulation — to the state’s energy supply market. Instead, the company found itself squarely in the middle of the electric power grid meltdown in its home state of Texas this winter. This wasn’t the year a big deregulation bill was going to pass anyway. But now the company has some explaining to do, and if you’re explaining, you’re losing.

Corporate bad actors: Legislation immunizing them from COVID liability suits, which seems to have been culled from the Koch brothers playbook, was never given serious consideration.

Working parents: Legislation for paid family leave stalled again. Another example of how the legislature isn’t as progressive as some people say it is.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Pulled out all the stops for its legislation to ban flavored tobacco, working closely with the Legislative Black Caucus, and it never got a vote.

The Annapolis economy: With lobbyists and their credit cards working 9-5 and from afar, with committee dinners and legislative receptions canceled, with no one eating restaurant lunches except during the session’s last few warm days, with no advocates coming to town to fill garages or pay parking tickets, the city’s hospitality industry and its overall economy are sure to take a big hit.

Push

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R): He got to put the spin on this session that he wanted — that there were some legitimate bipartisan accomplishments, that some real problems were addressed, and that he and lawmakers even delivered some tax cuts. But all of his vetoes, from last session and this one, were overridden. He got harsh scrutiny for the chaotic early rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the Korean test kit fiasco (though vaccine distribution is going a lot better now). And other than the one or two issues he cared about, he wasn’t particularly engaged in the legislative process, yet again. Lawmakers for the most part operated as if he didn’t exist.

Del. Brian M. Crosby (D-St. Mary’s): He deserves enormous credit for introducing the bill that would have changed how county commission elections are held in five rural counties, which Speaker Jones built up by labeling it civil rights legislation. But the bill carried enormous political risk in Crosby’s conservative district and the fact that it stalled in the Senate, while not his fault, could be held against him in 2022.

Candidates for governor: The session was an opportunity for them to weigh in on important issues and become associated with certain causes, and most of them whiffed or stayed under the radar. Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), who has essentially had the field to himself for over a year, tried to influence the early debate on state relief efforts, but was otherwise not very vocal — he first addressed the police reform legislation on social media the day before session ended. Now other candidates are finally getting into the race.

Another potential Democratic candidate, former U.S. Education secretary John B. King Jr., stayed in touch with progressive activists on several issues through his new advocacy group Strong Future Maryland and testified a few times, but did anyone realize it or give him any credit? Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D) was broadly associated with Kirwan 2.0 and other funding measures, but didn’t have a particularly high profile. Other potential candidates for governor were invisible.

Del. Mark N. Fisher (R-Calvert): He’s a sharp, fierce and clever debater. But he’s never going to win a popularity contest among his colleagues — and you could sense Speaker Jones’ sense of dread every time he got up to speak. Of course, from Fisher’s perspective, that’s probably the point.

Lobbyists: Most years we are able to declare some lobbying firms winners and others losers, but not this year. While it’s easy enough to tally lobbyists’ legislative wins and losses, without the ability to see them in action, plying their trade in committee rooms, the State House lobby, legislative building hallways and Annapolis watering holes, it’s hard to judge how they really did. Broadly speaking, we got the impression that some of the more traditional firms struggled with the COVID-19 protocols, while firms with younger, tech-savvy folks did a little bit better. But it wasn’t easy for anybody.

Transparency and public information: The legislature’s move to open some things, like committee voting sessions, to public scrutiny was welcome — even if some feeds were more or less reliable than others. Live-streaming of House and Senate floor sessions was generally a success. And it was nice for some advocates to be able to Zoom in to hearings from home when they might not have been able to invest a whole day in a trip to Annapolis. But the number of witnesses who could speak and the lack of in-person meetings and rallies stifled advocacy. And other seemingly arbitrary limits on public information persist — for example the public release of written testimony on bills, something even lawmakers openly grumbled about. What’s more, when a committee can walk off camera for over an hour to talk, there is still a problem. Nevertheless, here’s hoping that many of the reforms that were put in place — especially on listing online the bills that committees are planning to vote on — will become a permanent fixture of legislative procedure.

Gone but never forgotten

Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr.

By Josh Kurtz, Danielle E. Gaines and Hannah Gaskill

Census Data Delay Likely Means No Redistricting Session This Fall in Md.

February 18, 2021 by Maryland Matters

The U.S. Census Bureau’s decision to delay releasing population data until fall almost certainly guarantees that Maryland lawmakers won’t redraw the state’s political boundaries before next year, political analysts said on Tuesday.

The bureau originally planned to get results of the 2020 Census to states by March 31. But officials announced on Friday that they will provide it by Sept. 30 instead.

They blamed the delay on the COVID-19 crisis, which made surveying every household in the country, a labor-intensive process that involves millions of face-to-face interactions, more difficult.

Maryland and other states will use the data — once they get it — to craft congressional and legislative boundaries that will be used for the next five election cycles, beginning with U.S. House and General Assembly contests in 2022.

The delay in receiving population data makes it highly unlikely the legislature will meet in special session this fall, according to three people knowledgeable about the process.

Instead, lawmakers will have to tackle congressional and legislative redistricting when they convene in January for the 2021 session.

There is no way to replicate the more generous timeline that lawmakers had in 2011, said Patrick H. Murray, a former chief of staff for the late Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., now the top aide to Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D).

For that redistricting, then Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) announced a redistricting committee in the summer, the committee drafted a congressional map in early October and the legislature convened a special session to consider it later that month, Murray recalled.

Given advances in computer software since the 2011 redistricting, lawmakers and their staffs won’t necessarily need a lot of time to draw new lines, said Daniel M. Clements, a retired lawyer and longtime Democratic activist who has been involved in past redistricting efforts.

But pitched battles that often occur internally — among incumbent members of Congress and the General Assembly over various precincts — can take time to resolve.

The 2022 primary election is set for June 28. And the deadline for candidates to file is Feb. 22.

Assuming it does not get pushed back, legislators will have less than six weeks to conclude a process that is fraught with political intrigue and where emotions can run hot.

“You will have that piece, but the shorter time means they just have to resolve it quicker,” Clements said.

In January, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created a nine-person redistricting commission to study Maryland’s population changes, take public input and draw a set of boundaries that he can submit to the legislature.

The panel will have three Democrats, three Republicans and three voters who aren’t registered with any political party.

Cato Institute senior fellow Walter Olson, a Republican; retired federal judge Alex Williams, a Democrat; and Howard Community College President Kathleen Hetherington, an independent, will serve as co-chairs.

The other six slots will be filled by a group of applicants who put their names forward prior to the Feb. 12 deadline.

Olson would not disclose the number of people that applied, but he described them as “an impressive and diverse group of applicants.”

The governor’s commission will hold statewide hearings once it is empaneled.

Olson said the delay in Census data compresses the amount of time the panel will have to do their work.

“Our work has to be done later and with somewhat more time pressure than would have been predicted,” he said. “We have our assignment, which is to propose maps for U.S. House [districts] and for the General Assembly. Whether a special session occurs or not is not part of our to-do list.”

Speaking on WBAL Radio, Hogan again slammed Democratic leaders in the General Assembly for how they have drawn lines in the past and for rebuffing his efforts to take line-drawing out of the hands of legislators.

He pledged to submit the commission’s maps as his own, “without any influence or tampering.”

“I have the power as governor to draw districts,” he added. After that, he conceded, “it’s a battle between the executive branch and the legislative branch.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Sections

More