One of the most surprising aspects of democracy in America is the ready access ordinary citizens have to their accountable representatives. At least, this used to be the case before extreme measures were taken by those in power.
Legislators in Annapolis have taken steps to reduce the influence their constituents have in the halls of power.
First, our representatives have eliminated face-to-face lobbying and citizen access to legislative deliberations. Usually at this time of year, the halls and conference rooms of the Maryland state government are busy with citizens making their case to representatives and their staffs.
This year, as Governor Hogan quipped, Annapolis is a "ghost town." A few screens of video thumbnails is easy to ignore, but a room filled with dozens of Convention of States Maryland supporters is not.
Second, the House of Delegates has ended the practice of co-sponsoring legislation. Bills will now only be listed with one sponsor--the legislator who files the bill.
This bizarre rule change goes against the tradition of having legislators showing and sharing their support with colleagues and constituents. Gathering co-sponsors is a critically important process in which citizens and legislators work towards a bill or a resolution, such as the Convention of States Action application. It demonstrates the support needed for adoption.
Without co-sponsorship, a major step in the legislative process is now missing.
Third, the minority in the Maryland House of Delegates has gathered all of the voting power of its caucus to its top two leaders when a true quorum is not present.
That is, if there aren't enough bodies in the room, then two delegates will vote all 42 of the minority delegate votes, essentially robbing 40 seats of their legislative authority. In such cases, the influence of the constituents of those 40 delegates has been virtually locked out of the chamber.
In the words of former Maryland Delegate Warren Miller, the rule changes "have effectively eliminated representative democracy in Maryland."
Marylanders will not stand for this affront to their liberty and self-government. More than 22,000 Marylanders have signed the petition calling for Annapolis to call for a Convention of States. More than 5,000 Marylanders signed petition last year alone, and more are signing every day.
Delegate Mark Fisher of Calvert County is filing the Convention of States Application in the House of Delegates, and Convention of States Maryland is working with volunteers from across Maryland to build support in Annapolis for the resolution.
This is where you come in. Contact your legislators today. Let them know your concerns for our state and country and politely ask them to support Maryland's call for a Convention of States.
Then, get involved to help restore self-governance in Maryland! If you have some time and can make a few phone calls or help organize others in your community, head straight to our simple volunteer page to get started saving democracy in Maryland.
