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Greetings!
Happy Valentine's Day!
I wanted to give you a brief update on my activities in
Annapolis.
My committee assignment
Wow, it is hard to believe that five weeks have
gone by
in the General Assembly.
I share an office with Delegate Karen Montgomery of
District 14. Our administrative aide is Ms. Pat Duvall. I
was fortunate to hire Ms. Jackie Abadir as my
legislative aide. She had previously worked for former
state Senator Leo Green of Prince Georges County
and has been a great help in bringing me up the
legislative learning curve.
I am told that I'll be spending most of my time as a
Delegate in committee. Speaker Busch
has assigned me to the Environmental Matters
Committee. This is one of the "policy"
committees - as opposed to the "money" committees.
Besides the obvious, it has jurisdiction over a number
of important areas including: housing and real
property, homeowner's associations, motor vehicles
and transportation, local government, land use, ethics,
open space, agriculture and natural resources. It
seems like a great fit for my background and interests.
I am already fond of my committee chair, Delegate
Maggie McIntosh of Baltimore City. She has been
welcoming and helpful to me as a new legislator. I can
tell she has high standards and exhibits an inclusive
style of leadership.
The committee will be working this year on important
legislative initiatives in the areas of Climate Change,
the Chesapeake Bay, Mortgage Lending and
Foreclosures and expanding Speed Cameras beyond
Montgomery County.
Chairwoman McIntosh has asked me to be the lead
sponsor on an affordable housing bill that Delegate Jane
Lawton had worked previously championed. The bill
would enable local governments to waive certain fees
for affordable housing construction projects.
This past week was a busy one. Thursday was the
deadline for Delegates to introduce bills and be
guaranteed a committee hearing. Bills submitted after
the deadline must go before the Rules Committee
before they can advance. It was a flurry of activity with
Delegates putting the final touches on their bills and
reaching out to their colleagues to request co-
sponsorship.
As a former municipal official, I greatly appreciate the
resources afforded to member of the General
Assembly. In small municipalities, legislators have to
do all their own legwork and research, so things take
time. In Annapolis, legislators have professional
assistance from the bill drafting department, the
attorney general and the legislative library. Moving
from idea to bill can happen incredibly quickly.
I am the lead sponsor on eight bills this year and co-
sponsor on another 73 bills. Here is the page where
you can track the status of legislation that I am
sponsoring or co-sponsoring:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2008RS/sponsors/carr.htm
For my own bills, I am focusing on the environment,
affordable housing, preserving open space,
strengthening our economy and giving local
governments better tools to be responsive to their
communities.
Watch for future e-mails I will be send with more
information about each of my bills.
You can reach my Annapolis office by calling 301 858-
3110 or by sending an e-mail message to
alfred.carr@house.state.md.us
Sincerely
Delegate Alfred Carr
phone:
301 858-3110
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