Sine Die

Sine Die

           

Welcome back to the third and final installment of the 2017 Legislative Session

This session has been one of the best experiences of my life. I have learned about so many different issues and have seen the passion that people bring to the table on each of these issues. I have learned the significance of strategy and the ways to go about getting legislation passed. For this post, I will show some of the stomping grounds during session and also provide some end of session results.

First, this is an image of the mural that is located in the House of Delegates Building. It is in the “circle” which is the middle area that is between the committees. If you are in this area during session you will see it filled with lobbyists, concerned citizens, delegates, and legislative staff. I must say that this area becomes loud and intense during bill hearings. Some of the staff found this area to be intimidating due to the limited space and loudness. I just channeled my days as a football player and found it a walk in the park. It was much more pleasant than someone trying to hit me on the field.

As you can see, there is a phrase that is in Latin. I took two years of Latin when I attended private school and it was my favorite subject. I had someone walk by and tell me that it meant “Friends and Family.” I knew that was incorrect before they said it as I guessed its translation from my prior knowledge. It actually means “Increase and Multiply.”

Is anybody a baseball fan? Specifically, an orioles fan? Well, yes that is me and yes that is superstar first baseman Chris Davis to my right. The Baltimore Orioles do an annual visit to Annapolis to tour the grounds and meet with state representatives. I was able to attend because I was staff and meet each of the players. Davis is hands down my favorite because I like his style of play. I played first base a lot in my career and also we have similar hitting technique. Plus, I can now say that in person he is just as cool off the field as he is on the field. This was an awesome experience for an avid baseball fan like myself.

This next image best represents our legislation from this session. HB 1325- Hydraulic Fracturing Ban. This was a ban that I could fully support. Maryland is important to me and fracking would tear it apart and ruin wonderful places such as Garrett County and Allegheny County. Here we have the official bill signing in the State House on April 4^th. I am in the far left side of the room. I was able to be in this photo because I was a staff member of the primary sponsor on the bill, my delegate, David Fraser-Hidalgo. I was also able to meet Governor Hogan and receive an official pen from this signing. It was a great experience and ending to such an exciting legislative session. For those who are wondering, my delegate is in silver, standing directly behind Governor Hogan. This bill and now law was one of historical significance. We are the third state to legislate a full ban on fracking. Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo and the office did a wonderful job working to get this legislation passed.

I have posted this picture to represent the feeling of the end of session. It is a crazy looking person on top of an eighteen wheeler. It is meant to demonstrate our mindset through the final portion of session. We knew that we would go crazy and we were driving full force into it. These little stress toys brought some much needed relief to the office at the right times. The crazy looking person says to Relax when you squeeze it. Overall, it was crazy and I felt that this image best depicted the feeling of the end of session.

  

I wanted to conclude with a picture of my desk. This is where I did a good portion of my work during my internship. I did a significant amount of research sitting at this desk. I also spoke with constituents over the phone about their top concerns. This was also the area where I coalated testimony for the daily committee meeting. It was a nice little area that I had to work to help the office. I enjoyed working alongside everyone else in the office and as you can see Kelly and I worked directly next to each other. She was a great person to work alongside as she was always in a good mood. I do want to mention that my chair was broken when I first arrived and it had been broken for a couple years. I fixed that chair on my first day and that set the tone that it was going to be a good year to get things done. We were successful and were able to legislate progress for Maryland.

All in all, I loved my experience working in Annapolis. I can sincerely say that I have found my passion. I intend on continuing to work in the political department of public service. I feel that there are many issues and challenges that need to be addressed. I want to gain experience and learn more tricks of the trade before one day making a run at politics myself. I will say that my momentum will continue as I have accepted a Fellowship/ Internship in Governor Hogan’s office for the summer. I am looking forward to that and to doing my best to make a positive impact by listening to the people. Thank you for reading these posts and following along my journey in the Maryland General Assembly.