Maryland Legislators

When John Stierhoff retired this month as top aide to the president of the Maryland Senate, legislators gave him a standing ovation. Two hours later, he left the State House with a double Rolodex the size of a toolbox -- filled with contacts he developed during his career in government.Then he walked two blocks to his new law firm, Dukes Evans Rozner Brown & Stierhoff, to begin his job as a lobbyist. Among his duties: trying to influence many of the legislators who had just given him such a rousing send-off.

Killing tobacco bill could cost state funds for drug treatment Taylor Branch eloquently wrote of the state's ineffectiveness in prohibiting merchants from selling tobacco to young people and the failure of the Maryland General Assembly to a proposal to correct this problem ("Tobacco wins, kids lose," Opinion Commentary, March 29). Along with being a disservice to our youth and our public health, the failure of the House Environmental Matters Committee to pass the bill that would have imposed stiff penalties on merchants who violate tobacco laws (House Bill 437)

Strengthen laws limiting costs doctors confront As the 2003 Assembly session begins, events in surrounding states ought to be a wake-up call for Maryland legislators ("W. Va. surgeons take leave to protest cost of malpractice insurance," Jan. 2). In West Virginia and Pennsylvania, doctors and hospitals are facing gigantic increases in their malpractice premiums. Some physicians in high-risk specialties are being asked to pay as much as $300,000 a year in premiums. No wonder doctors there are giving up the practice of medicine, moving to other states or protesting by taking leaves of absence.

He wants Maryland legislators to give him $273 million to build two football stadiums. He wants them to approve stricter controls on handguns. And he wants the first-ever collective bargaining rights for state employees.So, Gov. Parris N. Glendening might well have appeared for the start of the 1996 legislative season last week with a new pair of velvet gloves.Instead, he came out with bare knuckles, attacking the men and women whose votes he will need.He was not "one of the good old guys," he told a Washington Post reporter, and not "a buddy to a bunch of insiders."

School takeover an abuse of power The recent attempt by state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick to seize control of 11 Baltimore schools is unfortunate ("With state plans at bay, city acts to save schools," April 12). The threat by the U.S. Department of Education to withhold funds from our city's schools is regrettable. More than anything else, these actions reveal the disconnection between those who work in Baltimore's public schools and the state officials charged with administering those schools.

WEIRTON, W.Va. - To say there are video slot parlors on almost every corner of this economically depressed steel town of 21,000 people is probably an understatement. The city has 82 of them and counting. More are opening almost every day. The reason is simple: A business in a prime location can generate as much as $750,000 a year from just five of the electronic gambling devices, according to the West Virginia Lottery. Even after paying nearly half that sum in state and local taxes and fees, it's a handsome return.

To expand upon the discussion of lobbyists in the General Assembly ("Debate on dirty word: 'lobbyist,'" April 4), the most worrisome sentence described the "highest-paid lobbyists — those with the most access to lawmakers and whose voices are heard far more than average citizens." During this legislative session, The Baltimore Sun has published letters from average citizens who testifed before committees on proposed laws and were treated in a disrespectful, disinterested, dismissive and impolite manner.

WASHINGTON -- Although Maryland actually stands to gain jobs under the Clinton administration's plan to cut military bases, a group of Maryland senators and representatives pleaded with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission yesterday to spare two naval research sites in Annapolis and Southern Maryland from being closed.Democratic Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes, along with Democratic Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, and GOP Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest -- who represent the districts in which the two research sites are located -- appealed to the commission to reverse a recommendation to close the Naval Electronics Systems Engineering Activity at St. Inigoes and the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Annapolis detachment.

It happens every year. Monday is the day for the  state's hospitality and tourism professionals to break some serious bread with Maryland lawmakers at the 22nd at annual Taste of Maryland Legislative Reception. Organized by the Restaurant Association of Maryland , the reception gives RAM members the chance to press the flesh with the people who will be yaying and naying on the legislation that might impact their industry. Langermann's, Shapiro's Cafe and Miss Shirley's are among the two dozen restaurants participating in the event, which will also include wines donated by the Maryland Wineries Association.

Is "The Free State" of Maryland on its way to becoming the "Smoke Free State"?It's certainly being thrust into the national spotlight with sweeping proposals that would make it harder to light up and buy cigarettes.The state is on track to become the first to use occupational health and safety laws to ban smoking in virtually every workplace, including bars and restaurants.As if that weren't enough for one season, the Maryland General Assembly is considering 40 anti-smoking bills, double the number introduced a year ago."