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March 30, 2023

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News Maryland News

At Public Hearing, Marylanders Request Changes to Commission’s Proposed Legislative Boundaries

December 23, 2021 by Maryland Matters

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The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission released its proposed state legislative map Monday evening — and by Wednesday afternoon, members of the public weighed in on how the proposal would affect their home districts.

Much of the testimony at Wednesday’s public hearing revolved around granular details of individual districts. Del. Christian J. Miele (R-Baltimore County) urged commission members to retain a small area near Aberdeen in District 34 rather than moving it to District 35; Baltimore County resident Linda Dorsey-Walker said commission members should draw a single-member delegate district around Owings Mills in District 11; Kevin Burke of Anne Arundel County criticized the way Severna Park is drawn in the proposed map and said the community is “carved up like a Christmas turkey.”

Reginald Benbow, a Baltimore resident who has launched a House campaign in District 43, said he was concerned that adding Towson in Baltimore County to the existing district, which currently includes parts of north-central Baltimore City, would dilute the voice of historically redlined and marginalized communities. He noted that the city lost population over the past decade, but said most of that population loss was in the eastern and western areas of the city.

“You just have the potential of a more affluent community in Towson mixed in with some of the affluent communities already from the 43rd district that could overwhelm the interest of some of the neighborhoods that have historically been marginalized,” Benbow said.

The commission released its legislative map Monday evening, and the deadline to sign up to testify at the public hearing was 10 a.m. Wednesday. Beth Hufnagel of the League of Women Voters said the amount of time the public had to analyze the map before the hearing was “woefully inadequate.”

Legislative redistricting in Maryland is subject to a slightly different set of rules compared to congressional redistricting, which was just handled in a special legislative session and is now subject of a legal challenge.

In writing legislative districts, the Maryland Constitution expressly requires respect for political and geographic boundaries, requires that delegate districts must be nested in senatorial districts, and allows for the use of both single- and multi-member delegate districts.

Additionally, lawmakers have more leeway over differences in population between legislative districts, compared to stringent margins required in congressional districting. Lawmakers are allowed to create population variances of plus or minus 5% in legislative districts — although Karl Aro, the chair of the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission and a former head of the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, said the new legislative maps keep that figure to plus or minus 4%.

Aro said this map keeps population variances smaller than previous legislative maps that he worked on while he worked for the Department of Legislative Services.

“In my previous four rounds of redistricting, this is the smallest maximum deviation that we’ve ever achieved,” Aro said.

Del. Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany), the House minority leader and a member of the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, questioned whether the new proposed District 4 would pass muster for compactness. The proposed District 4 would encompass much of Frederick County around the city of Frederick, which is contained within District 3, creating what Buckel described as a “donut effect.”

Aro said he didn’t think the proposed District 4 “is a compactness issue at all.”

By Bennett Leckrone

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: commission, delegates, districts, hearing, legislative, Maryland, redistricting, senate

Politico: Md. Dems Eyeing State’s Only Republican Congressman in Redistricting

November 9, 2021 by Spy Desk

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Democratic leaders in Maryland are considering a congressional redistricting that could result in eight Democrats representing the state in Congress, Politico reported Nov. 9.

The state’s current congressional delegation has seven Democrats and one Republican, First District Rep. Andy Harris. Prior to the 2010 redistricting, there were two Republicans representing Maryland, one in western Maryland and one in the First District, which includes the Eastern Shore.

The Maryland General Assembly, with solid Democratic majorities, will have the final say on the districts for Congress, Maryland Senate, and Maryland House of Delegates.

The legislature’s redistricting advisory commission has additional public hearings scheduled through mid-November, but is expected to release a draft congressional map this week, according to Politico.

A citizens redistricting commission appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan has completed its work and proposed a congressional map with six Democratic districts and two Republican districts.

The General Assembly will begin meeting Dec. 6 in a special session to map the congressional districts.

Filed Under: News Homepage Tagged With: andy harris, Congress, house of delegates, Maryland, redistricting, senate

Md. Senate President Emeritus Resigns After 50 Years in Office, 33 as Chamber’s Leader

December 24, 2020 by Maryland Matters

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Citing the increasing toll that metastatic prostate cancer has had on his body, Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) announced on Wednesday that he is retiring from the legislature, effective immediately.

In a letter to his successor, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), Miller said “my heart and my mind remain strong, but my body has grown too weak to meet the demands of another legislative session.”

Miller recently told a reporter that he has gone “from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair.”

Speaking to reporters on a midday Zoom call, Miller said, “I thought I could continue on. … But the cancer is in all my bones.”

“My body is wracked with pain,” he added. “Physically I’m not able to do the job.”

The legislature is due to begin its 2021 session in three weeks.

“I Bid an Affectionate Farewell to You All”

A student of history who made history, and a voracious reader (the walls of his study are lined with the hundreds of books he has devoured over time), Miller said he steps down “with tremendous sadness.”

Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) tells a story to his colleagues on the first day of the 2020 legislative session. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters

“During my tenure in the Senate of Maryland and my time serving as President, it was the great honor of my life in large part because I have seen the Senate rise above partisan and other differences time and time again,” he wrote. “I have seen the Senate come together and unite to get the work of the people of Maryland done.”

The 78-year-old lawyer and lawmaker said he has seen many changes in Annapolis during his years in the State House. There is, he said, a “different breed of elected officials” that bring “new ideas.”

“Now, instead of people staying late at night in the bars or whatever, they’re drinking their water because they have to jog the next morning. It’s a younger group, with some very progressive ideas. It’s a good time for me to step down, quite frankly.”

Miller’s resignation brings to a close a 50-year tenure representing Southern Maryland and Prince George’s County in the state legislature — a single term in the House of Delegates, then 12 terms in the state Senate — highlighted by the 33 years he served as Senate president.

He remained a member of the chamber in 2020, representing the 27th legislative district and serving on several influential panels, including the Budget and Taxation Committee and the Legislative Policy Committee.

Although he relinquished the gavel in 2019, Miller retained the president’s spacious corner office in the Miller Senate Office Building, and he continued to have executive protection. A large portrait of him was hung on the walls of the historic Senate Chamber during last year’s session, just a few feet from his desk in the fourth row.

He told Maryland Matters in an interview earlier this month that he and his staff were staying abreast of constituent matters, and he pledged to participate in the 2021 session as his health allowed.

Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). Photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters

During a freewheeling discussion, Miller offered analysis of state and national politics, in his usual insightful, blunt and colorful fashion.

Those who have observed and worked with Miller routinely say his mark on Maryland will never be matched.

“I have known Mike since I was a kid,” said Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), “and it has been one of my greatest privileges as governor to serve alongside him.”

“He will go down in our state’s history as a lion of the Senate.”

Said former Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) in an interview: “Mike Miller has been there at the center of all of the great debates and all of the big challenges. He can rightly claim to have been a part of every positive thing that the people of our state accomplished for themselves and their grandkids over the last 40 years.”

Although he and Miller had an uneven relationship, marked by periods of both conflict and cooperation, former Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) also praised his fellow Prince Georgian.

“It’s a sad day,” said Glendening. “Whether you loved the guy or hated the guy, this is a sad day. He just contributed so much. At least he’s doing it his own way, which is good.”

Many of Miller’s colleagues in the Senate have moved up the political ladder, in part due to the lessons they learned in the chamber and the campaign support he facilitated.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) said Miller’s retirement “marks the end of an era.”

“Governors have come and gone, but Senator Miller, with unmatched political acumen, has steered Maryland on a progressive course and toward a more perfect union,” the lawmaker said in a statement. “…He is a dear friend and his mentorship and wisdom remain invaluable to me.”

Former Senate Minority Whip Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) described Miller as a friend and mentor.

“I felt he was very fair to the Republican Caucus,” Hershey said in an email to Maryland Matters. “He deeply respected bi-partisan process and appreciated the perspective we brought to the entire body of the Senate.”

Hershey said he would talk with Miller frequently about issues important to his district.

“I’d go to him on several issues, mostly those that affected the watermen or farmers and asked for his help. Most times he was non-committal but he would always say, ‘just do the best you can.’ And you know what, sometimes things worked out the way I wanted, and I knew it was because he found a way to help me out.”

Asked about the upcoming session, Miller urged his former colleagues to fund the Kirwan Commission’s educational reforms.

“I believe very strongly in education,” he said. “Everybody should have an equal opportunity for education. And we can make that happen if we find a way to pass the Kirwan proposal and fund it.”

In his letter to Ferguson, Miller expressed regret that national political leaders appear to have lost the ability to compromise or disagree without rancor.

Miller’s resignation came 237 years to the day that George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the Maryland State House. Coincidentally or not, Miller quoted Washington’s address to the Continental Congress, which was meeting in Annapolis:

“Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire from the great theatre of Action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this August body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.”

Miller closed his letter with a prayer for the state:

“I must now retire from august body of the Senate of Maryland and take my leave of public life. I bid an affectionate farewell to you all and it is my greatest hope that our Almighty God bless and protect you, your families, our Nation, and our State. I pray that future generations in the Maryland General Assembly will continue to come together in the spirit of public service and unity to once again get to work on behalf of the citizens of the great State of Maryland.”

201223-Miller-Letter-to-President-Ferguson

 

By Bruce DePuyt and Danielle E. Gaines

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: chris van hollen, larry hogan, martin o'malley, Maryland, mike miller, president emeritus, senate, steve hershey, thomas v. mike miller jr.

U.S. House Passes Police Reform Mandate, GOP Balks at Democrat Led Bill

June 26, 2020 by Maryland Matters

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The U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping police reform package Thursday night in response to massive civil unrest over police brutality.

The package cleared the chamber largely along partisan lines, with 236 lawmakers (mostly Democrats) voting for it and 181 lawmakers (180 Republicans and one Independent) voting against it. Three Republicans sided with Democrats in backing the bill — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan and Will Hurd of Texas.

“There is justifiable anger in this country because justice is not being upheld,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said on the House floor.

“That does not mean it’s never being upheld, but it ought to be always upheld. There is a deep frustration because some of those charged with enforcing our laws are doing so without tolerance, in a way that disregards the rights and welfare of victims without just cause. That does not damn all members of the police. In fact, not the majority. But it does damn actions that are inconsistent with justice and peace and tolerance and liberty,” Hoyer said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hailed the package on the House floor Thursday, saying it would “fundamentally transform the culture of policing to address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives.”

But the bill — passed one month after George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed while in police custody — is unlikely to become law.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried and failed to advance a modest GOP bill Wednesday and is not expected to take up the Democrats’ more comprehensive measure.

The bill backed by Democrats and passed in the House is “a crucial first step to rooting out racial injustice in our police system,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a statement, urging “Senate Republicans to listen to Americans, heed their calls for change, and allow immediate consideration of this legislation.”

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened on Wednesday to veto the Democratic bill, arguing it would deter people from pursuing law enforcement careers, erode public safety and weaken relationships between police departments and communities.

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) urged Democrats to instead “get on board” with the GOP bill, which he said “has a real shot at becoming law.”

The Democratic legislation would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants at the federal level, bar racial profiling, limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement officials and make it easier to prosecute police misconduct in the courts by eliminating the “qualified immunity” doctrine that shields law enforcement officials from lawsuits, among other things.

The bill drew objections from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which called increased funding for law enforcement a non-starter. “The role of policing has to be smaller, more circumscribed and less funded with taxpayer dollars,” ACLU legislative counsel Kanya Bennett  said in a statement when the bill was introduced this month.

House passage comes a day after Senate Democrats blocked a GOP bill authored by Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate GOP conference.

Scott’s bill would incentivize departments to increase the use of body cameras, improve training in de-escalation tactics and require that performance records be taken into greater account when making hiring decisions. It would also increase data collection on the use of force, weapon discharge and no-knock warrants, among other provisions.

Unlike the Democratic bill, it would not ban chokeholds or no-knock warrants at the federal level or make it easier for victims of police brutality to sue officers and seek damages. Nor would it bar racial and religious profiling or limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement officials.

McConnell tried to bring the bill to the floor Wednesday, but he fell five votes short of the 60 votes he needed to advance it.

Democrats and leading civil rights advocates called the Senate GOP bill “weak” and said it failed to live up to an historic moment in which diverse coalitions of protesters are taking to the streets to demand racial justice and equality in the wake of Floyd’s death. Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, was fired and has been charged with second-degree murder.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the GOP bill “weak tea” on the Senate floor Wednesday. He cited a letter from civil rights groups who said the bill “falls woefully short of the comprehensive reform needed to address the current policing crisis and achieve meaningful law enforcement accountability.”

On the other side of the Capitol, Pelosi said the GOP bill is “inconsistent with a genuine belief that Black lives matter” and said she hopes passage of the Democratic bill will force the Senate to act. The Senate, she said, has the choice to either honor Floyd’s life or do nothing.

McConnell, meanwhile, painted Democrats with the do-nothing label. “Our Democratic colleagues tried to say with straight faces that they want the Senate to discuss police reform — while they blocked the Senate from discussing police reform,” he said Thursday.

By Allison Stevens

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: George Floyd, police, reform, senate, U.S. House

Md. Senate Quickly, and Unanimously, Confirms Shore Native as State Police Superintendent

March 15, 2020 by Maryland Matters

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In a whirlwind series of events on Friday, Maryland’s newest superintendent of state police was confirmed by the Maryland Senate at what is likely a record-setting pace.

In an extraordinary move, the Senate recessed around 6 p.m. to allow members of the Senate Executive Nominations Committee to meet in the chamber to hold a hearing on Republican Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s nominee for superintendent of state police, Woodrow W. “Jerry” Jones III.

Sen. Adelaide C. Eckardt, R-37-Mid-Shore, whose sons went to pre-kindergarten with Jones, called the nominee “an outstanding role model for all of us” and praised his decision-making, organizational skills and professionalism.

Col. Woodrow W. “Jerry” Jones III, the new superintendent of the State Police. State government photo

Jones, a career state trooper, became chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, the seventh-largest law enforcement agency in the state, in November 2015. The 600-person agency polices Maryland’s toll roads, tunnels, and bridges, as well as BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and the Port of Baltimore.

Jones began his law enforcement career in 1988 as a Maryland State Police cadet. During his 27-year tenure with the Maryland State Police, he spent equal time in both patrol and investigative roles, and served in every command position within the Field Operations Bureau. He retired as Lieutenant Colonel/Field Operations Bureau Chief, a key member of the command staff responsible for leading a patrol force of nearly 1,000 sworn and civilian personnel assigned to 22 barracks.

Jones holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management from Johns Hopkins University and is a graduate of its Police Executive Leadership Program. He chairs the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association’s Traffic Safety Committee and serves on the Executive Committee for Maryland’s Strategic Highway Safety.

The Senate committee had planned to hold a hearing on Monday for Jones, who was nominated in mid-February.

But that changed with a tweet and a press release from Hogan around 5 p.m., when he called for the General Assembly to curtail its workload to focus on a narrow band of priorities ― including passing a budget and confirming the superintendent by Tuesday.

Governor Larry Hogan

✔@GovLarryHogan

 · 15h

With Maryland in a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislature’s sole focus should be those measures immediately necessary to protect the public health and safety of Marylanders. The General Assembly must take these three actions no later than Tuesday:

Governor Larry Hogan

✔@GovLarryHogan

1) Approve the FY21 budget to assure the government remains open and functioning.
2) Confirm Colonel Woodrow J. Jones as Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
3) Pass the emergency legislation to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in our state.

5:01 PM – Mar 13, 2020

“Unfortunately, the governor put out a news release. Certainly would have preferred a call,” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said from the rostrum. “In this time of heightened anxiety, it’s really easy for miscommunication to happen. And I think this is one of those moments where tempers can be high. Now more than ever, we have to find ways to work together.”

For that reason, Ferguson said, the chamber would undergo a swift change, from sitting as the Senate to sitting in the Senate as spectators while the Executive Nominations Committee met on the floor, their staff now at the rostrum.

Sen. Ronald N. Young (D-Frederick), chairman of Executive Nominations, convened the meeting and read a short biography of Jones.

Ferguson then spoke to “strongly endorse” Jones’ nomination and move for his approval.

“Given this moment of uncertainty in Maryland, it’s important that we have acting officials who have the experience they need to keep this state safe,” Ferguson said. “The Senate has a responsibility to move forward at this time.”

Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings (R-Harford) said the state needed a leader in uncertain times and someone who could “bring about a feeling of calmness.”

“And I think he without a doubt would be the guy to do it,” Jennings said.

With that, the committee voted unanimously in favor of Jones’ nomination, and the full Senate was being gaveled back into session.

Moments later, the committee’s “Report No. 8,” clearly preprinted pending the outcome, was being distributed to the Senators’ desks.

In a matter of moments, the vote was called. As the electronic voting board lit up green on the sides of the chamber, Ferguson took a moment to explain his vote.

“Now, more than ever, Maryland must be united, must be united and work together,” he said.

Jones was confirmed by a 45-0 vote at 6:18 p.m.

By Danielle E. Gaines and Josh Kurtz

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: jerry jones, Maryland, senate, state police, superintendent

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