More than a third of the General Assembly ? 54 delegates and 12 senators ? are joining 1,700 fellow legislators nationwide for the annual National Conference of State Legislatures this week in Boston.
“Maryland has always played a significant role in the national conference,” said House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, including holding major leadership positions, partly because of Maryland?s proximity to Washington.
The NCSL, based in Denver, tracks policies and trends in the 50 legislatures, sharing information on a variety of issues.
The organization has 11 committees that follow issues on the federal level and takes positions that are submitted to “guide our lobbying activity,” said media relations director Bill Wyatt of the Washington office. Those include unfunded mandates from Congress and pre-emption of state legislation by federal law.
Legislators at the conference re-enacted the Boston Tea Party protest Sunday to “show their displeasure with the growing number of unfunded mandates and cost shifts passed along to the states by the federal government,” an NCSL release said.
“The response to the meeting this year is high,” Wyatt said, with an attendance of 9,000, including legislative staff.
“I think the vast majority [of lawmakers] go for the subject matter discussions,” Busch said, and come back with an understanding of how issues are being handled in other states.
The number of senators attending is smaller than usual, Walker said, and Senate President Thomas Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert and Prince George?s counties, will only attend one day.
The 54 delegates include 12 Republicans, among them Minority Leader Anthony O?Donnell of Calvert and Whip Chris Shank of Washington County. No GOP senators are attending.
“I do see value in trying to learn from legislators in other states,” said O?Donnell, who will be attending his first NCSL.
“In the long run, I believe it will benefit Maryland. The networking opportunity and the ability to learn from others will help people become more effective legislators and deal with some of the vexing issues.”
O?Donnell said he will use the trip to study fiscal matters, homeland security and illegal immigration.
The conference offers “a lot of opportunity to find out about best practices,” said Sen. Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County, a vice chairwoman of the NCSL committee on communications, financial services and interstate commerce.
She said one of the values of the conference has been the financial literacy programs for legislators.
COST TO YOU
The event will cost Maryland taxpayers about $85,000.
That is based on last year?s average of $1,265 per person, a figure provided by House Speaker Michael Busch?s communications director, Alex Hughes.
The 66 lawmakers must submit expense forms after the event, and there is a maximum of $225 a day for lodging and meals, said Joy Walker, assistant to Senate President Thomas Mike Miller Jr.
