Judy Gallant

Attendees at our annual Legislation and Advocacy luncheon on October 27 heard from our lobbyist, Pam Metz Kasemeyer, that there will be changes in the Maryland legislature during the upcoming legislative session, with shifts in leadership and Committee Chairmanships that can make a difference.

The Maryland Speaker of the House of Delegates, Michael Busch, died in April, and has been replaced by Adrienne Jones (Democrat from Baltimore Co.). Senate President Mike Miller is battling cancer, and announced he will step down from his position in January, 2020. Senator Bill Ferguson (Democratic from Baltimore City) has been elected by fellow Senators as their next president.

Bill Ferguson is a liberal democrat who is committed, in particular, to increasing school funding. Delegate Kirill Reznik of Montgomery County, who has spoken to our group in the past, has been appointed to be the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Behavioral Health and Opioid Use Disorders. Delegate Ariana Kelly, another Democrat from Montgomery County, is the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Youth and Families. These leadership posts can help hold up or move legislation forward, and these two committees work on many of the bills that are important to our Society.

We will be monitoring bills that go before these committees and others and can always use your help.

Please feel free to contact me any time at judy.gallant@verizon.net.

Judy Gallant, LCSW-C, is the director of the Society’s Legislation & Advocacy program, as well as chair of the Maryland Clinical Social Work Coalition, our GWSCSW legislative committee in Maryland. She maintains a private practice in Silver Spring.

Pamela Metz Kasemeyer, JD, and her firm of Schwartz, Metz & Wise, PA, represent us in Annapolis and guide our advocacy strategy. Ms. Kasemeyer is an acknowledged authority on Maryland’s health care and environmental laws and has represented a variety of interests before the Maryland General Assembly and regulatory agencies for more than 25 years.