ACLU, 16 groups ask speaker hopefuls for greater openness, legislative reforms, term limits

By Len Lazarick
Len@MarylandReporter.com
The ACLU, Common Cause and 15 other progressive groups and unions are asking the candidates for speaker of the House of Delegates to answer a questionnaire that commits them to greater openness in the legislative process and to term limits for the speaker and committee chairs.

The twelve-part questionnaire raises many of the issues that have long troubled witnesses, advocates, lobbyists and journalists about how the legislature operates.

“We need to know where House Speaker candidates stand on good governance issues, because they will shape the direction of the state for decades to come,” said Dana Vickers Shelley, executive director of the ACLU of Maryland. “Marylanders deserve and rightly demand that legislators demystify the political process and allow for greater civic engagement. Moreover, decentralization of power, diversity, and inclusion affords our communities more robust and representative debate on important issues.”

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