Before the new Maryland General Assembly meets in January, a lot of things have to come apart in Annapolis.
November’s general election will bring dozens of new members into the House of Delegates and the Senate. But it won’t be clear just which desk they’ll call their own inside the Statehouse and who will be their officemates until committee assignments are set. That leaves a lot up in the air, according to the Montgomery County delegation administrator.
“We just don’t know who and we don’t know where and we don’t know when,” Susan Gottschalk said. “And I guess, basically, we don’t know how, either.”
The coming changes filter down to ordering stationery to reflect members’ new assignments to rearranging parking spot allotments in the garage.
Where the shuffle really gets complicated is in the offices themselves, especially when the House of Delegates alone gets 34 new members. Julie Magness, the assistant to House Administrator Barbara Oakes, said the next few weeks will be spent deciding where to put new members and learning which delegates already in an office will move their operations elsewhere depending on appointments.
“We’ve got to give them a space to work out of,” Julie Magness said, “and as soon as possible.”
But much of the seating charts in state offices depends on exiting members, who, unlike move-in or move-out days on college campuses, can set their own schedule. Magness said some come in on a weekend to pack up while others ask their aides to round up their belongings rather than return to the office.
“If they ran and they didn’t win, sometimes they don’t want to be around,” Magness said. “Whether it’s their choice or the voters’ choice, technically they’re still the member until noon on Jan. 17.”
For their offices, new delegates get a desk and a chair, a filing cabinet and two guest chairs from the House’s pool of furnishings.
“A lamp, too, if we have it,” Magness said. “It’s not likegoing to Staples.”
Gottschalk said moves between legislative bodies can be just as confusing, such as the upcoming switch for Del. Richard Madaleno Sr. to the Senate.
“He won’t move out of this office until an office over there opens up,” Gottschalk said. “It’s the proverbial daisy chain. I can only hope for a dull moment.”
