Maryland General Assembly Notebook 2013

Miller Gets His Bust

A state senator wants a new state bird; one man's technolgical fortress is his castle; and the Senate president feels snubbed by Obama.

It's not a statue in front of the office building that bares his name but Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller did receive a bust of himself this week courtesy of the Regional Manufacturing Institute. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, a Perry Hall Democrat, gave a sneak preview of the small, light-weight bust of Miller moments before presenting it to the Senate's top dog. "You can't have too much Mike Miller," Klausmeier said. The technology is similar to what was used in a scene of Jurassic Park 3 where a copy of a velociraptor's larynx was recreated. The institute offered legislators in Annapolis the opportunity to have themselves scanned into a computer and get busts of themselves. Miller seemed impressed with the petite bust but joked that it …

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WATCH: Raskin's Birthday Flash Mob in Silver Spring

About 150 dancers celebrated the state senator's big day by breaking out in dance to "Do You Love Me," the Gazette reports.

Although the doo-wop song's famous refrain asks, "Do you love me/now that I can dance," State Sen. Jamie Raskin, who's birthday was celebrated with a flash mob to The Contours classic, still can't. "The big joke is that I can't dance," he told the Gazette newspaper after about 150 people gathered in downtown Silver Spring for a commemorative flash mob. Raskin, a Democrat who represents parts of Silver Spring in the Maryland General Assembly, worked with downtown Silver Spring-based Maryland Youth Ballet to cooridinate the event, which started with about half-a-dozen of the company's advanced dancers before many more eventually joined the routine.  Watch the performance, captured on video by a YouTube user. 

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Senate Delays Same-Sex Marriage Vote

Lengthy debate, amendments expected Thursday.

The Maryland Senate has delayed its vote on same-sex marriage legislation until Thursday. The 47 legislators had planned to take up the bill, which was passed Friday by the House of Delegates, during their Wednesday morning session. The opponents said the procedural delay would allow them time to seek an opinion from the attorney general on several amendments as well as prepare additional amendments that could be offered Thursday. One amendment, offered by Sen. Edward Reilly, an Anne Arundel County Republican, would allow the law to go into effect on Oct.  1 — thus removing an amendment by Del. Wade Kach, a Baltimore County Republican, that set the effective date as Jan. 1, 2013. "It may look like a placebo, but this is really a poison …

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Raskin Entertains Attorney General Run

Some politicians are already looking to 2014.

We may be in the midst of an election season, but that doesn't stop talk of what might happen in 2014. In fact, Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 20 of Takoma Park) is already exploring the idea of running for Maryland Attorney General, according to a video interview with Raskin by the Maryland Reporter. Raskin was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 2006 and was reelected to a second term in 2010. It was announced last week that Raskin would be the new Senate Majority Whip. In the video, Raskin also talks about his position as the head of a new ethics committee.

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