Spotting the walkers

We didn’t need Plan B.

For the second week in a row, we lacked enough members for a quorum of the Baltimore City delegation on Friday morning.

My bill making paint manufacturers liable for knowingly marketing their poisonous product was on the voting list.

I was certain that several of my colleagues were taking a walk: the opponents of my legislation had asked them not to come to the meeting so that we couldn’t take a vote on the bill.
My Plan B: If we didn’t get a quorum, the chairman of the delegation could convene a meeting immediately after Monday’s floor session. The first item on the agenda would be my bill.

If anyone took a walk, they would be spotted.

However, nearly an hour after the scheduled start of Friday’s meeting, we had a quorum. The vote for m y bill was unanimous.

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Later in the day, a delegate from another part of the state paid me a visit.

He wanted to talk to me about a bill of his that was in the Judiciary Committee. As we spoke, in the front of my mind was the fact that one of my bills was in his subcommittee.

I gave him advice but didn’t make a commitment.

On Saturday, the New York Times had an article about another issue of interest to my colleague. I asked a friend in the bureaucracy for an update on how Maryland was handling this matter.

I’ll share it with the delegate.