Dear Friends,
On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal holiday, let us commit ourselves to remembering the words and deeds of this great leader who worked tirelessly to bridge breaches between communities. Dr. King saw the connectedness of humanity and sought, in a peaceful manner, to build a "beloved community" that would uplift the downtrodden and bring fairness and justice to all. It is fitting that many recognize Dr. King's birthday serving the community. As he said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." However you spend this holiday, I hope you take a few moments to honor the life of this remarkable leader and his dedication to making this nation a more perfect union.
In Annapolis, this first week was a whirlwind as the 445th session of the Maryland General Assembly was gavelled in. I was thrilled to have been joined by a number of family members for the swearing in of my first full 4 year term to the Senate.
After two years on the Judicial Proceedings Committee, I have joined the Budget & Taxation Committee (B&T) where I am thrilled to serve on the Health and Human Services Subcommittee and the Pensions Committee. I will continue to serve as Vice Chair of the Rules Committee and will be rejoining the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee (where I served as Chair in the House), the Joint Committee on Children, Youth & Families, and the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Areas.
I'm very excited to begin this new term with my own legislative agenda (more on that in future newsletters) and to work with the incoming Moore-Miller Administration on their legislative priorities. This week was mostly ceremonial, although we did have our first B&T meeting and were briefed by Moody's Analytics on the state of the economy - very important in our consideration of the 2024 budget! Our Baltimore County Senate delegation met for the first time and we selected new leadership for the next year.
Our bills are being drafted by the Department of Legislative Services and appear as "white backs" on our desks - the form they take prior to their introduction. I have prefiled a few bills that you can review here and I look forward to introducing more bills in the coming days.
This week, we'll attend the swearing in ceremonies of my good friend and new Comptroller Brooke Lierman on Monday and on Wednesday, Governor Wes Moore will be sworn in and we'll dance the night away at his inaugural ball on Wednesday evening.
Exciting things happening in Annapolis!!
As always, please feel free to reach out to me and my staff with any questions or concerns. Please don't hesitate to call us at 410-841-3131 or email shelly.hettleman@senate.state.md.us.
Stay safe & healthy,
