Speaking on the floor of the House was important and something I enjoyed.
Here, I'm testifying on my Civics bill. It required students to have passed, by graduation, the civics portion of the Immigration and Naturalization Service test that anyone applying for citizenship here has to pass.
On the first day, newly elected delegates must sign in. This is the Official Register. This was the first time signing my name gave me a thrill.
Delegatex can sign up to give the morning prayer. Here I am introducing the occasion on which Abraham Lincoln gave this prayer.
Members of the Minority are always seated in the back of the House. I'm sitting with Bob Flanagan and Warren Miller. The Carroll Delegation is right behind us, with Western Maryland delegates behind them.
You can see the back of my computer, as I speak. All Delegates use our legislative computers on the floor to follow the bills and other actions that are posted simultaneously.
Ah, yes. COVID. The Speaker divided the House into two sections: half were in the regular chamber. The rest of us were seated in the Annex" and wore masks!
From the Annex, we had to go into the speaking booth to talk. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes our requests to speak were ignored.
Back in the Chamber. . . . Actually, I have no idea why I am raising my hand . . . I think it was a group response to something . . .
When a Bill is assigned to two committees, we sometimes meet in the large, impressive Joint Meeting Room. You're only seeing one side of it in this picture. (NOTE: We can CHOOSE our seats in the JHR; I chose the front row!)
ZOOM comes to the General Assembly! This is my Appropriations committee holding a hearing or getting a briefing. Fortunately, the House was wise enought to allow hybrid hearings once the COVID emergency was over. This is a great help to Marylanders who live in Western Maryland or down along the Southern Shore who would like to testify.
Once a Term, the House arranges for a progessional photographer to take a picture of the entire Floor. It is quite a production. This picture will be a classic! You might be able to see that some of the members are wearing masks and some are not. Given the choice, try to guess who chose to wear the masks and who chose not to. You wouldn't think mask-wearing was a partisan issue!
