The Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Maryland (UULM-MD) is a statewide advocacy network that is composed of individual UUs. It works to mobilize and coordinate the advocacy and education of UUs on specific issues. The primary focus of UULM-MD is on the Maryland General Assembly and the executive branch. Federal issues that coincide with our major state issues may be addressed. Partnered with national UU organizations and other like-minded coalitions, UULM-MD provides a voice for UU principles and traditions in the discussions of environmental responsibility and human rights issues.
Our thanks to all who made calls and recruited others to oppose Senator Murkowski's (R-Alaska) resolution to strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases. The resolution was narrowly defeated, 47-53. The vote has importance in its own right, protecting the mileage standards the Obama Administration has already put into place, and preserving the EPA's right to cap carbon if we don't get a climate bill. Just as important, it opens some political space for us to get a climate bill this year. It was the first hurdle we'll have to cross in the next couple of months, but it was an important step in the right direction. Thanks for your part!
Politics in Washington are making the future of a comprehensive energy and climate bill this year more uncertain, just at the time when the importance of weaning ourselves off fossil fuels is becoming more apparent with every additional thousand barrels of oil that spews into the Gulf of Mexico . We need to contact President Barack Obama at the White House and our Maryland senators , Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, now to urge them to make passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill this year a top priority.
For the first time in our history, lawmakers have made a national legislative commitment to health care. We rejoice that the Congress has passed and the President has signed a health care reform bill that will provide for insurance coverage for 32 million of the country's uninsured, make health care more affordable for Americans, prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions or because of serious illness and allow young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plan until age 26.
Thank you for the calls you made, the emails and letters you sent, the visits to Congressional offices and your educational outreach to friends and family.
UULM-MD will continue to work for better health care in Maryland by working to make sure the federal reforms are fully implemented in our state and that quality health care is truly affordable for all Marylanders.
During the 2010 Maryland General Assembly, Maryland UUs continued to work toward moving forward UULM-MD's priority issues: global warming/climate change, health care for all, ending marriage discrimination for same sex couples and public campaign finance reform. Many of you worked tirelessly to create change during this session and to provide information and education as a foundation for future legislative successes on our issues. Thank you to everyone who participated in hearings, rallies and educational programs, contacted legislators and worked with our coalition partners on legislation to promote UU values.
Thank You to Our Legislators
We often ask legislators to support our positions. Please take the time to thank your legislators who sponsored and supported or opposed legislation related to UULM-MD's priority issues.
You can find sponsors of legislation and how legislators voted by going to the Maryland General Assembly website. Enter the bill number and the sponsors will be listed on the page describing the bill. If there was a vote on the bill, there are new sections at the end listing committee, Senate and House votes.
You can find your legislators and their contact information from this same link.
Global Warming : UULM-MD supported the Public Service Commission--Report on the State's Long-Term Energy Needs (SB 910/HB 522) bill which would have required the Public Service Commission to take the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act into account on any future actions. The bills had strong support, but failed in committee. Supporters hope the Governor will implement the provisions by Executive Order.
Health Care : UULM-MD supported the Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Support Bill (SB 717/HB 832) , which would have added a 10 cent tax to the cost of an alcoholic beverage. Funds raised by this bill would create funding for health care coverage for childless adults as well as fund developmental disabilities support, addiction treatment and prevention and mental health care. The bill gained support, but was not voted on this year.
On the Federal level, UULM-MD members were actively engaged in supporting the enactment of the Affordable Health Care for America Act .
Marriage Equality: The major action during the session was the February 23, 2010 opinion issued by Attorney General Doug Gansler that state agencies and offices should begin the process of recognizing legal out-of-state same sex marriages. There were many attempts by legislators to stop the implementation of this opinion, but they failed.
House Bill 90/Senate Bill 852, Same Sex Marriages-Foreign Jurisdictions-Invalidity , attempted to place a moratorium on the Attorney General's opinion that Maryland state agencies and offices should recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages that were legalized in other jurisdictions, including foreign countries. House Bill 90 was defeated by the Judiciary Committee . Senate Bill 852 was not voted on by the committee.
The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (SB 582/HB 808) , which would allow two persons to marry regardless of their gender, gained additional support and four new co-sponsors this year. Neither the House nor Senate committees voted on this bill despite having enough votes on the House Committee to pass it.
The attempt to provide for a constitutional amendment that would limit marriage to one man and one woman, Maryland 's Marriage Protection Act (SB 1097/HB 1079) was opposed by UULM-MD and was not voted on in committee because supporters of marriage equality blocked consideration of it.
Repeal of the Death Penalty : UULM-MD monitored attempts to weaken the legislation passed last year. All attempts failed in committee. There was no legislation in the 2010 session to repeal the death penalty.
Public Campaign Finance Reform :The recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to make unlimited contributions to candidates has brought the issue of public financing of campaigns to the forefront once more.
UULM-MD supported the Public Funding and Small Donor Act for General Assembly Elections (SB 681) , which would have created a voluntary, publicly funded way to run for a seat in the Maryland General Assembly. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Education, Health and Environmental Affairs but was not voted on in committee.
If your Maryland Senator is on this committee or if you are in Senate President Mike Miller's district, we encourage you to express your disappointment that this bill was not given more consideration this year and urge that a similar bill be voted on by the Senate during the next legislative session.
At the 5th Annual Meeting of the UULM-MD, Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegates Elizabeth Bobo, Heather Mizeur and Doyle Niemann spoke about legislation expected to come before the 2010 session of the Maryland General Assembly that relates to issues of interest to UUs. They also discussed ways in which UUs can be most effective in making our support of or opposition to legislation known.
During the business meeting, the decision was made to continue focusing our resources on global warming, health care reform and marriage equality. In addition, in response to the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations to contribute to political campaigns with independently sponsored ads, the Public Campaign Financing Task Force was formed. We will continue to monitor issues we have supported in the past, such as the repeal of the death penalty in Maryland , and alert our members of potential changes.
If you would like to work with one of these groups, please contact info@uulmmd.org to have your name added to a task force email list.
Thank you to those who have contacted their members of Congress. Passage by the House of the ACES climate change and the Affordable Health Care bills is indicative that our voices are being heard. They need to hear from all of us how much we appreciate their commitment to and support for passing critically needed comprehensive health reform and climate change legislation. They are hearing from the vocal opposition in far greater numbers and the media is helping people believe their distorted views of proposals before Congress. All Maryland members of the House of Representatives, except Congressman Bartlett, voted in favor of The American Clean Energy and Security Act and Representatives Bartlett and Kratovil voted against the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Both Senator Cardin and Senator Mikulski have been strong supporters of health care reform and climate change legislation.
To contact Maryland's Senators, click here.
To find your Representative, click here.
Maryland General Assembly 2009 Session
During the 2009 Session of the Maryland General Assembly, UULM-MD’s priority issues gathered more support and there was major success on some of our issues. Click here to see our 2009 Legislative Wrap-Up.
JOIN UULM-MD
Join UULM-MD for Action Alerts and Join an Issue Group for Up-to-date Actions.
UULM-MD sends out alerts thru Constant Contact to give the latest actions needed, major events, and background on issues.
There also are special email groups for Global Warming/Climate Change, Marriage Equality, Health Care, and Death Penalty Repeal.
For more information, you may contact us at info@uulmmd.org or click on the “Join UULM-MD” button below.
