Maryland General Assembly

Police could pull you over for talking on a hand-held phone while driving. Some patients could legally use marijuana. And veterans would get a new assist in getting jobs under legislation approved by the Maryland General Assembly on its final day. As they worked toward a midnight deadline, lawmakers considered - and shelved - hundreds of bills Monday on issues as small as designating a state sandwich and as dramatic as halting new fees designed to...

Forest Hill resident Thomas Franklin Keller earned the rank of Eagle Scout on Nov. 6, 2012. A ceremony was held on May 4 in recognition of his accomplishment. "I'm honored to be an Eagle Scout," said Keller, who spent 201 hours collecting more than 2,000 food items that were donated to Centre United Methodist Church in Forest Hill. "It felt good giving back to the community that's helped me," said Keller, a member of Troop 809 out of Jarrettsville. Keller has received numerous certifications, including a letter from former President Bill Clinton, a Harford County proclamation and Maryland flag, a Maryland Senate Resolution and a Maryland General Assembly official citation.

Megan Novak had mixed emotions about her trip to Annapolis. She was assigned to work in the Senate chambers, but she didn't have any idea what to do or where to go. But things quickly changed for the C. Milton Wright High School senior. "At first it was nerve-wracking," said Novak, 17, one of 15 pages at the state capital two weeks ago. "But I knew that what I was doing was a privilege. I was able to get into any building that I wanted, and not many people can do that." Novak is one of 105 high school seniors throughout the state selected to work as pages for members of the Maryland General Assembly during the 2008 session.

Explicitly referring to it in the pejorative and reiterating previous statements that state officials bear all the blame, Harford County Executive David Craig signed Harford County's new "rain tax" into law this week. In doing so, Craig signed off on legislation passed last month that is significantly different than what he himself had proposed two months earlier. The net effect is Harford went from potentially having one of the highest residential stormwater remediation fees in the state to one of the lowest, or at least for the next year.

Explicitly referring to it in the pejorative and reiterating previous statements that state officials bear all the blame, Harford County Executive David Craig signed Harford County's new "rain tax" into law this week. In doing so, Craig signed off on legislation passed last month that is significantly different than what he himself had proposed two months earlier. The net effect is Harford went from potentially having one of the highest residential stormwater remediation fees in the state to one of the lowest, or at least for the next year.

The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval Friday to Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed gas tax increase, raising costs for motorists while providing an infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars a year for new roads and mass transit projects. The Senate voted 27-20 to approve the bill, sending it to O'Malley for his expected signature. The legislation will raise taxes on gasoline in stages over four years — with a roughly 4-cent increase coming July 1. By mid-2016, unless Congress allows states to tax Internet sales, motorists in Maryland are likely to be paying an estimated 20 cents a gallon more in taxes than the current 23.5-cents rate that has been in effect since 1992.

With epidemic rates of prescription opioid and heroin deaths in Maryland, families are demanding easier access to the antidote that could save the lives of their loved ones. Naloxone is used safely to reverse the effects of heroin and prescription opioid medications. Emergency medical technicians administer naloxone when they respond to an overdose emergency. All too often, however, these emergency responders do not arrive in time. State law bars family members and friends who may be in the best position to save the life of a person experiencing an overdose from obtaining a prescription for naloxone in their own name and administering this medication in an emergency.

Delegate Elizabeth S. Smith, R-Anne Arundel County, has been electedtreasurer of Women Legislators of the Maryland General Assembly for 1991-1992.

The Maryland Senate gave final approval to Gov. Martin O'Malley's sweeping gun control bill Thursday night, sending the legislation to the governor for his promised signature. O'Malley said in a statement that the bill strikes "a balance between protecting the safety of law enforcement and our children, and respecting the traditions of hunters and law-abiding citizens to purchase handguns for self-protection. " The legislation bans the sale of assault-style weapons, requires fingerprints and a license to buy a handgun, and limits magazines to 10 bullets, among other provisions, giving Maryland one of the strictest gun laws in the nation.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun incorrectly reported that state Sen. Clarence W. Blount was the first African-American to become chairman of a standing committee in the Maryland General Assembly. Blount was the first African-American to chair a standing committee in the state Senate.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 8/29/98

As we recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of the federal Fair Housing Act, it is significant to note that the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan regions are among the most segregated in America. Last month, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law recently reported on a study showing that Maryland's public school system is among the most segregated in the nation. The report, conducted by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, revealed that more than half of the state's black students attended schools with minority enrollments between 90 percent and 100 percent during the 2010-2011 school year, up from 33 percent in 1989.

Now that the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session is in the rear-view mirror, few who travel the roads in our state can deny that one of the most important accomplishments this past session was putting in place a long-term solution to the state's enormous transportation funding challenges. With the funding package approved, at least one part of a looming crisis was solved - providing new revenue for much-needed state transportation projects. However, as the voice of Maryland's cities and towns, the Maryland Municipal League is concerned that what has not yet been resolved is the need for a lasting, more permanent solution on funding future municipal transportation projects.

The Maryland General Assembly has wisely reaffirmed the importance of maintaining Program Open Space, the state's premier program to conserve land and create recreation areas, as a dedicated fund based on revenues from the transfer of real estate ("Crunching numbers on Maryland's land," April 18). While the legislature cut Rural Legacy and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund by $9 million, we were pleased the assembly rejected a restructuring of land conservation programs proposed by the Department of Legislative Services.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller is right that Maryland isn't "the Southern state that [it] used to be" and has become more progressive ("Session ends in a flurry of votes," April 9). Yet, for all the progress that has been made, there remains one blemish on Maryland's progressive record that legislators should act to remove as soon as they reconvene: Maryland's sodomy laws. Maryland is one of only 18 states in the nation with sodomy laws still on the books. Of those states, half are in the South (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia)

New laws passed by the Maryland General Assembly late last week would put stricter penalties and an element of public shaming behind the state's open-meetings laws. State lawmakers said public officials have been able to flout the rules without significant consequences. "It has no enforcement whatsoever," said Del. Dan Morhaim, a Baltimore County Democrat who sponsored the bill to toughen open-meetings laws. "This is the first bill that actually creates some enforcement. " Maryland's public officials are barred from conducting public business behind closed doors, but the penalties for doing so in the past have been a rarely levied fine and a written notice that Morhaim said was often ignored.

A 2013 Maryland General Assembly bill bearing the name of a Howard County teenager who killed herself last year is expected to be signed into law, but it stands on shaky constitutional ground, an official of the Maryland ACLU said. The "Misuse of Interactive Computer Service" bill is also known simply as Grace's Law, named for Grace McComas, the 15-year-old Glenelg High School student who committed suicide on Easter Sunday last year after months of being harassed on social media sites.

The Howard County League of Women Voters hosts its annual luncheon with the county's delegation to the Maryland General Assembly at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Bethany United Methodist Church, 2875 Bethany Lane. Cost is $15. For reservations and information, call 410-730-0142.

The Sun is again offering a free fax broadcast of schedules for Maryland General Assembly committee hearings. To use this service, you must have a fax machine that can answer automatically. Hearing schedules will be transmitted over the weekend for the following week's hearings. To sign up for the service, call 410-783-1800 and enter code 7575.

Editor: Friends, it has been an honor serving you for the past 11 years. I can't say that the job has gotten easier, as the State marches farther and farther to the left. I really held back on sending out my Annapolis Updates this year, hoping for some positive news. Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good. It was a horrible year for Maryland taxpayers, but a great session for Martin O'Malley and his ambition to become the most left-wing presidential candidate in 2016. My office received over 7,700 emails on the gun issue. We responded to each, and kept everyone updated. Supporters of the Second Amendment overwhelmed the proponents of O'Malley's bill. But in the present Maryland General Assembly, that testimony fell on deaf ears. I voted against SB 281, offered amendments to change it, and will be strongly in favor of a referendum to place it on the ballot in 2014. Gun owners, you all must register to vote for your signature to count on a referendum petition.

Police could pull you over for talking on a hand-held phone while driving. Some patients could legally use marijuana. And veterans would get a new assist in getting jobs under legislation approved by the Maryland General Assembly on its final day. As they worked toward a midnight deadline, lawmakers considered - and shelved - hundreds of bills Monday on issues as small as designating a state sandwich and as dramatic as halting new fees designed to...