Some of my readers may have noticed Mocoprogressive’s mention of the withdrawal by the sole sponsor — Delegate Ronald A. George (R), Anne Arundel — of House Bill 11, which was written to bring Maryland into complience with the federal Real ID act, as described in this article in the Washington Times. The Senate version is SB 184, submitted by Senator Janet Greenip, also a Republican of Anne Arundel County.
As Moco emailed me to mention that he was going to be preoccupied for a couple of days, I called Del. George’s office and asked them to comment. It turns out that HB 11 was pulled only for technical reasons — it had been submitted before the session started, without any co-sponsors. Apparently the committee chairman did not want to amend co-sponsors onto the bill, so Del. George pulled the bill and resubmitted it — this time with 49 co-sponsors — as HB 537.
Thus, while the ultimate fate of this bill remains uncertain — there is some sympathy in the legislature to follow Maine’s lead and push back on the Federal government — it is not quite dead yet.