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Annapolis General Assembly

Written By Elinor Spokes Photographed By Justin Tsucalas

For most, January rolls around each year beg-inning with a bit of fanfare, perhaps some New Year’s resolutions and then a back-to-normal pace after the holidays and vacations. But for some Marylanders, the New Year brings with it much anticipation of hard work and persistence in the coming legislative session in Annapolis. 

This year’s session, which opens on Jan. 11, promises to be challenging for legislators who must grapple with issues ranging from a weak economy, funding for numerous state initiatives, and marriage equality, among others.

For those who work behind the scenes, the ones whose names are not on the campaign signs or bumper stickers, who prepare legislators with the critical information they require to intelligently craft laws and vote on behalf of their constituents, the three-month session means long hours away from home, an unrelenting pace, a dizzying schedule of meetings and, hopefully a gratifying experience, both personally and professionally.

Aaron Greenfield

Aaron Greenfield, 40, a lawyer for Duane Morris Government Affairs, has spent years working in the halls of power in Baltimore City, Howard County and Annapolis.  Representing clients in the realms of real estate, transportation, health care and telecommunications, Greenfield, a resident ofLutherville, says he predicts the predominant issues this year will be legislative redistricting, potential gas tax revenue, off-shore renewable energy, job creation and the economy. 

Yet, for all the important work he does in Annapolis, he is most passionate about the pro bono work he does on behalf of the approximately 650 Holocaust survivors, including 11 in Maryland, representing them in a class-action lawsuit against the French National Railroad which transported thousands of Jews to death camps during World War II.

“This effort is a constant in my workday, with meetings and calls, but with a hopeful outcome of passage of a bill on Capitol Hill which would hold the company accountable for their part in the Holocaust,” he remarks.

His interest was sparked by a news story in Virginia where Holocaust survivors were protesting the awarding of a contract to a subsidiary of the rail line. This same company owns a majority share of a company also bidding for a MARC contract here in Maryland.

Keeping Greenfield motivated during session is his enjoyment of his job. “As an advocate with a limited 90-day session, adrenaline kicks in and you realize that you must do everything in your power to make your case as the clock ticks. The process and environment is both exciting and exhilarating,” he adds.

“Once the session begins my time is not my own,” explains Greenfield. “As a citizen legislature, it can be a very intense 90 days, especially as the session progresses. My schedule is dictated by the availability of legislators and other stakeholders with whom I am working on behalf of clients. Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife and I do my best on the weekends to spend quality time with my family.”

Lauren Kallins

“All year long we gear up for session,” says Lauren Kallins, 45, an attorney and lobbyist for the Maryland Disabilities Law Center. “Once session begins, everything changes. It is a hectic, intense period of time.”

This Reisterstown resident, who commutes to the State Capitol, advocates for the rights of people living with physical, mental and developmental disabilities, which includes issues of housing, transportation and education among others. 

An example of the legislation that she and the Disabilities Law Center was instrumental in shepherding to passage is the IEP (Individualized Educational Program) bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in May of last year. It requires that IEP documents be provided to parents and guardians five days in advance of a meeting at which education decisions are to be made. 

Another issue addressed by Kallins and her colleagues during last year’s legislative session was rights for individuals who have experienced trauma. The bill pushed to improve the safety and care for all state psychiatric care facilities in Maryland, especially for female patients. The legislation included language for female-only units for women who felt they needed this single-sex option.

“There is lots of stigma and lack of exposure and understanding of people living with disabilities.  Without our support, many of them don’t have a voice and their problems would go unnoticed or unattended to. Our office received thousands of calls from individuals who need help. This is how we learn of their condition and issues,” she says.

According to Kallins, issues her office will be monitoring carefully this January include safety concerns at Perkins Hospital in the wake of two recent murders; and $35 million in unspent funds by the Developmental Disabilities Administration during a time when their budget was cut in ways that negatively impacted people with developmental disabilities in need of services. 

“Over 5,000 people remain on the waiting list for services and DDA returned most of the unspent funds to the State’s general fund. This occurred after a session in which the disability community urged the legislature to raise the alcohol tax as a way to create some additional revenue for DDA,” she adds.

“Every time I feel that there is a successful outcome for our constituents, I feel validated on a professional level and it confirms why I do what I do. It is empowering every day being able to help families who have received misinformation and are desperate for help,” she says.

Isaac Meyers

The 90-day legislative session for Isaac Meyers, 24, is truly exhilarating. “Work is non-stop,” he says with a smile. As a government relations coordinator for the law and lobbying firm Alexander & Cleaver, he says his busiest days during session can last up to 16 hours. 

Passionate about politics during his years as a student at Towson University, Meyers developed the government relations division of the Student Government Association and the first legislative agenda for the student body there. Despite the bleak economy of 2009, with diploma in hand, a determined Meyers networked, volunteered and interned until he landed a job with his current employer .

Now, three years after graduation, he continues to work behind the scenes in Annapolis on behalf of clients whose interests lie in the fields of energy, health care, non-profits, the environment and telecommunications. For his non-profit clients, he monitors the state budget process determining how it might impact them. He also keeps clients apprised of aspects that might also affect their industry. 

During the nine months of the year when the legislature is out of session, Meyers, who lives in Federal Hill, spends his time networking, attending conferences, and monitoring the conditions for his clients. But immediately following Labor Day, the pace of his work intensifies as he and his colleagues create strategies for their clients and prepare their agendas for the session.

He expects the “hot” topics for this year’s session will be taxes, state budgets and potential cuts, expanded gaming and issues of marriage equality.

“I love what I do, even on tough days, because there are opportunities to learn something new every day. One day I might be covering the health care industry and the next energy concerns.  The work I do on behalf of my non-profit clients and their missions, makes me feel like I am making a difference,” he explains.

Jen Brock-Cancellieri

Passionate about the environment since her college days, Jen Brock-Cancellieri, now deputy director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (MDLCV), has a new motivation:  her daughter and her heightened desire to make sure Maryland’s water is clean and safe for drinking and for recreation. 

“It is our job to ensure that the decision makers and lawmakers sitting around the table are informed to make the right decisions when it comes to the environment,” she says.  It is Brock-Cancellieri’s job to lobby for the MDLCV and help legislators recognize the value of voting for environmentally friendly legislation.

“The legislative session is short and intense, but I love it because I am not sitting behind a desk but I am on the go, talking to legislators, reporters and attending meetings. Annapolis is all about relationships,” she notes.

Commuting to Annapolis daily from January through the end of session, she works from 10- to 12-hour days; then checks her emails and messages in the evening when she gets home.

Issues which will come to the fore this session include garnering support for off-shore wind power which has the potential to produce clean, reliable, stable-priced energy for the state; gaining passage of the Clean Water Healthy Family bill which is job-creating legislation to restore streams, upgrade aging sewage treatment plants and retrofitting urban landscapes for safer storm water management and ensuring smart and sustainable growth and development. 

Another important issue which Brock-Cancellieri will tackle is creating incentives for stores and markets to provide alternatives to plastic bags. This may also be done by imposing fees for the use of plastic bags with the proceeds going towards environmental restoration programs.

Brock-Cancellieri notes that her passion for protecting the environment in Maryland comes from her desire to preserve the places like where she grew up in the western part of the state, which is quite rural.

“I don’t want to worry about clean water and whether my family can swim in the Chesapeake Bay. I can see a clear difference I am making when 89 percent of the elected officials MDLCV endorsed were elected last year. It means we are succeeding in educating Marylanders on the importance of protecting the environment and that is what keeps me focused and going.”