With the 2015 legislative session just over a third completed, the East County Times reached out to several local Delegates to find out what they have been able to achieve so far.
District 6
With all three of its delegates freshman, and all three Republicans for the first time in memory, the District 6 contingent had to “hit the ground running,” according to Del. Ric Metzgar.
He is the primary sponsor of three bills and co-sponsor of dozens of others. Among them is a proposal for a toll plan for the Francis Scott Key Bridge, calling for commuters to be able to pay a flat $20 for a two-axle vehicle to make unlimited trips over the bridge.
“It’s exactly the same toll plan as they have at the Hatem Bridge in Harford and Cecil counties,” he explained. “I feel our residents deserve the same benefits. We want to save them money however we can.”
Metzgar is also the driving force behind the Welcome Home, Stay at Home Act, HB0644. The bill calls for a property tax credit of 20 percent to be granted by counties, cities and other municipalities to seniors over 65 who have lived in their home for 40 years, retired military personnel and people who lived in Maryland within the last ten years, then left the state and have now returned.
“We want to bring people back home where they belong and have them spend their money here,” Metzgar declared.
The credit would be granted for five years as the legislation is currently written, but Metzgar hopes that the committee will amend the proposal to extend that time frame. The process began on Feb. 25 when the bill had its first reading.
Metzgar noted that he had bipartisan support for all of the bills he submitted. He also said he feels there is bipartisan support and momentum for a repeal of the stormwater management fee, known as the “rain tax,” which was a campaign promise for many of the Republicans elected last November.
Robin Grammer, Metzgar’s colleague, is also advocating for a “rain tax” repeal. His other main focus this session is on gun rights; specifically, he has a bill in that would repeal parts of SB231 of 2013, Gov. O’Malley’s gun control bill.
“That bill basically criminalized the ownership and sale of certain firearms in this state,” Grammer explained. “It’s a big issue we ran on; I am very much in favor of gun rights and a lot of people here are, too.”
The bill has been titled the Firearm Decriminalization Act of 2015.
Grammer is also the primary sponsor of the Junior Advancement via Association Act, which is a complicated name for a relatively simple problem: the closure of the student-run coffee shop at Patapsco High School last year. Grammer explained that federal laws prohibited the sale of caffeinated beverages but that the coffee house was a valuable way for the students, many of them with special needs, to gain work and social skills. The bill would apply to any similar program at any Maryland school, not just Patapsco.
“It’s like a one sentence bill, but just that required about 10 to 15 manhours,” he revealed. “We had to consult with the Attorney General’s office and just do a lot of legwork. There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background that people don’t see.”
In spite of the demanding nature of the job, Grammer is enjoying it and looking forward to casting votes as that process ramps up.
“This year will be primarily consumed by budget, taxes and jobs,” he explained. “We’ve gotta be realistic about what we’re gonna be able to do down here, so we wanted to keep it relatively simple for the first year.”
District 8
As one of only a few veteran legislators to make it through the election, and the only remaining Democrat from eastern Baltimore County on the House side, Eric Bromwell is finding the biggest adjustments to be working with other members of his own party.
“It hasn’t really changed anything about the way I work,” he explained. “District 8 has always been a split district. But the biggest challenge, unfortunately, is that a lot of the Democrats who lost are from moderate areas, like me. So I went from having a group of people to count on to stick up for a more moderate approach to taxes and fees to losing some of that with the more tax-and-spend people here.”
He is instead working to build coalitions with Republicans in the chamber, mindful of some of the Republicans who served as mentors to him when he was just starting out in Annapolis. “I am very supportive of all my colleagues and try to be helpful to them. It helps get work done, but I also think it’s important that people have someone to go to to help slow it down a bit when things get hectic.”
On the policy side, Bromwell has sponsored 12 bills and co-sponsored many others. A few of these bills attempt to address the growing heroin epidemic in the state, calling for a Opioid Use Disorder Consortium and an overdose response program.
There is also HB0898, which is a follow-up to legislation passed last year to allow first responders to carry naloxene, a medication that can reverse a heroin or other opioid overdose.
“That bill, which I put in with the help of the state police, would give [additional] legal protection to police officers carrying the naloxene. The police didn’t feel the protection was enough,” he said.
Bromwell is also the primary sponsor on a measure to allow slots at BWI airport. He has introduced this measure before, he said, but it fell short of passage.
“I don’t know if the new administration will be opposed,” Bromwell said. “The new governor might recognize that he has a new form of revenue in front of him.”
The slots would be located inside the terminal itself, “so you couldn’t drive to the airport just to play them,” Bromwell noted. “It’s designed to capture money from people flying into and out of Baltimore.” The funds would be used to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund.
Maryland law means that even if the bill passes both chambers, it would still go before the voters as a referendum. Bromwell said he has this session and the next to get it passed in time for the 2016 ballot. “I’m very, very confident that the voters would uphold this,” he declared.
While Bromwell has focused on heroin crisis, fellow District 8 delegate Christian Miele has been studying another issue in the news: redistricting reform. He has submitted a bill to address the flaws in Maryland’s current system, which results in highly gerrymandered districts.
“I call it a good government plan because I don’t think there should be partisanship or gamesmanship involved in popular representation,” he asserted.
Miele’s plan would call for districts to be drawn starting from the lower eastern shore and to be as compact and concise as possible, using natural boundaries like major roads, rivers and municipal lines to help form the district boundaries. It would also call for only two-member districts, because the current system means that citizens in three-member districts are, on paper at least, receiving closer representation because each member represents fewer citizens. The districts would be drawn by a committee featuring Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate as well as registered voters affiliated with each party and those unaffiliated.
“We have a great opportunity in Maryland to be the national leader in showing that any partisan drawing of district lines is antithetical to democracy,” Miele declared.
However, he does not believe that his bill will advance, he admitted. “I think the governor is positioned to issue an executive order to create a commission to study this issue, and I think the legislature will give him the leeway to do that.
“I am hopeful to be appointed to that commission,” he added. “I’ve made it known around here that I would love to serve to at least bring all of my research to the table.”
Miele is also the primary sponsor of the Animal Shelter Standards Act of 2015, which is adapted from the CAPA ( Companion Animal Protection Act) model legislation specifically to meet Maryland’s needs.
“This is probably one I’m most proud of,” he admitted. “A lot of taxpayers assume that county shelters are more rescue-oriented, but that’s not the case.” Instead, county shelters, including Baltimore County’s, have very high euthanasia rates.
“This was an issue I began hearing about on the campaign trail when I was door-knocking,” he explained. “And then I found out it’s not just a Baltimore County issue, that concerns were raised in other jurisdictions as well. People want the shelters to do more to avoid euthanizing.”
The Animal Shelter Standards Act will receive its first hearing on March 4.
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