Please join UULM-MD and UU’s around the state, January 20th from 8:30 am to 1pm, as we get ready for the upcoming legislative session. Find out what our Issue Leads and their partners have been working on and what laws they think will be enacted this year.
This year the kick off will be hybrid, with members having the option to participate via Zoom or in person at the UU Church of Annapolis at 333 Dubois Rd in Annapolis. Doors (and screens) will open at 8:30 am
Keynote Speaker: Senator William C. Smith, Jr
UULM-MD is pleased to announce that this year’s Keynote Speaker will be the Chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Senator William “Will” Smith, Jr.
Senator Smith was elected to the state house in 2015. In 2016, he was appointed to fill then-Senator Jamie Raskin’s seat when Rep. Raskin was elected to Congress. In 2019, he became the Chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and has been instrumental in getting many of UULM-MD’s Priority Legislation enacted.
A member of the Navy since 9-11, Senator Smith is still a member of the Naval Reserves and had to leave the General Assembly in March 2019 when he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Resolute Support with the 1st Armored Division. While he was stationed in Doha, Qatar, Senator Smith helped monitor the country’s 2019 presidential election and peace talks between the United States and the Taliban. After he returned from Afghanistan, Senator Smith led the Police Accountability Review Process in 2019 by starting listening panels in October.
Currently, Senator Smith is the chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. As the General Assembly has changed over the past years due to COVID 19 and technological advances, Senator Smith has continued to pass legislation that honors the inherent worth of every Marylander. He has consistently reached across the aisle to get bipartisan support. In the past legislative session, he helped pass Jaelynn’s Law (which strengthens existing safe storage requirements applicable to firearms that are potentially accessible to an unsupervised child). After the bill was passed out of Committee, he was praised on the Senator floor by two of the Republican members of his committee, Senators West and Folden, for his ability to incorporate their concerns and pass a law that they could support.
We are so pleased that Senator Smith will be able to join us at the Kickoff on January 20th, 2024.