Dear Friends,

Today, I'm feeling the excitement as the Ravens gear up for the AFC Championship! I'm proud to show my #PurpleFriday spirit!

Let's go Ravens! Bring on the victory, and let's make it to the Super Bowl!

The 2024 Session is quickly ramping up, and Monday will make it 71 days remaining. Time is just flying by! Another first: I served as floor leader on four Departmental bills for the first time as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

I “dropped” 4 more bills this week:

• SB0441 Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Program - Nancy Grasmick Public School Professional Award - School Nurses expands the eligibility for this program to include school nurses. This gives another benefit to be a school nurse and allows local school systems and health departments to close the gap with shortages.
• SB0442 Street Racing and Exhibition Driving - Prohibited Acts, Enforcement, and Penalties seeks to prohibit exhibition driving on our highways and private roads; it also includes certain penalties associated with exhibition/street racing. This kind of behavior recklessly and puts lives at risk.
• SB0466 Wage and Hour Law - Minor League Baseball Players - Exemption exempts Minor League Baseball players from the minimum wage and hour law. Given the unique conditions the Minor League Baseball league, this bill allows the MLB to be compensated through a collective bargaining agreement.
• SB0559 Business Regulation - Household Goods Movers - Special Fund and Fees provides a dedicated fund for the Household Goods Movers Registration Unit. This allows the Maryland Department of Labor to have a dedicated source of revenue to ensure that the household movers are going through the registration process.

As always, you can view all of the legislation that we are working on the General Assembly website.

Press Conference

Also, this week, I attended a press conference with my Senate and House colleagues announcing legislation that would strengthen consumer protection. These bills range from data privacy to anti-scalping legislation with ticket sales.

MHA & MHSCRC Briefing

Yesterday, the Maryland Hospital Association and the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission briefed the Finance Committee on Emergency Room wait times. They believe the next steps are:

• Continued focus on creating inpatient capacity through reductions in length of stay;
• Ensure safe and timely follow-up when transitioning care to home;
• Continue with Emergency Department interventions to treat and discharge patients efficiently from the ED;
• Partner with post-acute care facilities to improve transitions of care and reduce potential readmissions to the hospital.

Local hospitals are implementing individual plans to reduce wait times. The University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center has implemented an expediting team and departure lounge program to address delays in discharging patients and initiated a rapid medical evaluation process in the Emergency Department. This has resulted in a 24% improvement in earlier discharges and a 51% reduction in the Emergency Department left without being seen.

Visits this Week

Yesterday, members of the Maryland Coalition of Families visited to discuss the importance of behavioral health services and their legislative priorities. I was unable to meet with them due to the Finance Committee briefing; however, my Chief of Staff, Nancy Crawford, met with them, and also Delegate Chang and Delegate Rogers. I appreciate the Coalition's advocacy and commitment to improving access to mental and behavioral health resources.

Senate Office Schedule

My office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm during the session to schedule appointments and provide constituent service.  We are scheduling virtual and in-person appointments with myself or staff. You can schedule by calling or emailing the office at pamela.beidle@senate.state.md.us or 410-841-3593. We are always happy to assist you.

I enjoy hearing all my constituent's thoughts and concerns. Please continue to stay in touch with me. I encourage everyone to be involved in government and have their voice heard.

Thank you to all of District 32 for allowing me to serve as your State Senator.