Senator Dawn Gile on Serving in the Maryland General Assembly

In the latest episode of the Pittman & Friends podcast, County Executive Steuart Pittman sits down with State Senator Dawn Gile for a candid discussion of how a military spouse and attorney found her lane in Maryland’s Senate, learned to lead on hard votes, and kept family life intact while pushing forward consumer protections and healthcare reforms. From Broadneck to Crofton to Davidsonville, her district spans traffic chokepoints, has rural character, and shoreline concerns—so listening isn’t a slogan, it’s the job.

They dig into the moment she defended Maryland’s constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedom after the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision. Consumer protection takes center stage as they unpack the ticketing mess: bots snapping up seats, speculative listings that sell shows before real tickets exist, and families paying triple for community events like the Renaissance Festival or the local Nutcracker. They also explore Maryland’s push on prescription drug affordability and how the state’s board can bring real savings to public plans and set a path for wider relief. Throughout, Senator Gile talks about balancing law, parenting, and public service; building durable relationships across the aisle; and translating values into bills that hold up in the real world. 

Tune in to this heartfelt conversation between two public servants and learn more about those that represent Anne Arundel County every day. Subscribe, share with a friend, and join us next week for another great episode. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Well, welcome back to the Pittman Friends Podcast, and I'm here with my good friend, Senator Don Guile from District 33 Anne Ronald County. Welcome.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Yeah, thank you very much. It's good to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Yeah, so this is your fourth session, correct? Yes. Fourth session. You were elected in 2022. Mm-hmm. All right. So what I'd like to do, you know, some people like to get into the the nitty-gritty of all the bills and everything that's going on in session, and it's, I mean, with thousands and thousands of bills, it's just it gets a little crazy. But I haven't had you on, and and you've clearly been a rising star in the Senate, in the party, in the county. Everybody's it seems like everybody likes Don Guyle. I I don't know if they do, but sure I hope not. I don't read the comments on your social media. Yeah. But I'd love to talk about just, you know, how you got into this, your experience, and what it's like now that you're, you know, in it a little bit, and then we can get into some of the issues. So what were you doing before?

District 33’s Diverse Needs

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Oh, what was I doing before? I was a military spouse, uh attorney, mom, and my husband was active duty. So I was elected in 2022. DJ, my husband, retired from the Army after 24 years of service just a few months prior to that November 2022 election. He was deployed a lot. We were raising kids. I was trying to practice law through it all. And um You were practicing law, right? Yes. Yes. I guess I shouldn't tell myself, sure. But I w I was practicing law and then I was leading organizations advocating for veterans and military families, including especially on military spouse employment issues. I was president of Military Spouse JD Network, which is an organization of military spouse attorneys. National president. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, exactly. And it sounds very specific organization, but one of the things we were really focused on was licensing accommodations for military spouses. So when you move from state to state, if you're in a profession that requires a license, the military spouse employment rate is several times higher than the national average. Lots of reasons for that, including the geographic instability and the barriers for licensing for those military spouses in a profession that requires a license. So I was doing that. We also had a pro bono. Yeah, I've done a lot of work on since I was elected. I've done a lot of work on veterans and military families. But we also had a pro bono legal services program where we did a free legal services for gold star families. So I was doing all that. And then, you know, my when I said I was going to run for office, my youngest wasn't quite a year old.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Okay, so how old are they all now?

SPEAKER_02 2:48

So my oldest is 15, then my I have a 10-year-old, and my youngest is five, a kindergartner. And um yeah, I had a COVID baby. All girls. Yeah. All girls. We do have a male dog for more retard. Trying to help my husband out somehow. But yeah, so I mean, the the um among my reasons for running for office was my advocacy for veterans and military families. We've got a lot here in Anahonda County, veterans and military families, something I felt very strongly about. Uh cared a lot about public service, cared a lot also about issues affecting women and families, having three girls, cared a lot about women's reproductive rights, cared a lot about paid family leave, things that keep everyone in the workforce, truly, but you know, especially some of these things really disparately impact women. And it was right around the time of COVID and I made the decision that I was gonna uh was gonna run. I did the LBJ Women's Campaign School too, at a U University of Texas at Austin before I announced I was gonna run. Um did that all during COVID, still breastfeeding my baby back then. And um and then I, you know, d uh uh looked around, decided I was gonna run for state senate, had never held office before and made the decision.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Well, you describe it's it's a strange it goes across the middle of the county. It is kind of a microcosm of the county.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Yeah, you're right. It's cut through the middle by the Severn River. I represent Arnold, Saverna Park, parts of Saverna Park, Crofton, Gambles, Odenton, Crownsville, Davidsonville. So, you know, uh the issues that people care about in each of those regions differ widely, whether it be Bay Bridge traffic for the people that are on the Broadneck Peninsula, whether it be, you know, issues related to traffic along Route 3, you know, down in the Odenton, Crofton, Gambrilles area, or there's, you know, the rural character of the communities in Davidsonville. My way. Yeah, down in your way.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

So You do know that you represent me.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

I do.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

I do, yeah.

Juggling Law, Family, And Session

SPEAKER_02 4:48

You're among my favorite constituents. Yeah. Uh in and you know, uh my my district, it it varies widely. And I think when I, for example, when I was knocking doors and talking to constituents when I was campaigning, it was something that really educated me when talking to people about those issues and about what they cared about. So yeah. Elected in November 2022, tough, tough race. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yes. Yeah. And it's been a red district for a really long time, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:19

Right. So, you know, uh delegate Heather Bagnell, of course, she was elected in 2018. So she did represent District 33 as a delegate. The Senate seat one-third of it.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

So there's three districts within it, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Well, actually, um delegate Bagnell represented at the time, that was prior to redistricting. She represented all. It wasn't broken up into three sub-districts into three delegate districts. So she represented all of thirty-three.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yeah, because there were three running three Democrats running, and she was the top vote getter and cracked cracked in.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, she she managed to squeak out um Tony McConkie. Yeah. They there hadn't been a Democrat elected in the state Senate seat in over 50 years. I think prior to that, the state senators represented counties. There was there's always an asterisk because Bobby Neal did he he was elected as a Republican, changed parties to a Democrat, and then so he he was a Democrat that represented District 33 in the Senate, but he wasn't elected at it.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Right, right. I remember that.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, one a really tough race and managed to pull it off. Love serving. It's truly like an honor and a privilege, but not without its challenges. Aaron Ross Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

So your life must have changed somewhat with three kids and practicing law and then taking this on. And you still practice law, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yes. I had to change the kind of law that I practice because I was doing litigation for a long time and that was unsustainable. And I think that, you know, people don't realize in the General Assembly, the majority of people there were continue to work jobs outside of the General Assembly. And it's incredibly challenging. During session, which we're in right now, it's nearly impossible. Most people take leave or they juggle it, you know? And then outside of session, during the interim, I mean, we still have obligations. We still go to conferences, we still meet with constituents, we still meet with advocates, we still develop our legislative priorities for the next session. We go to parades, we go to ribbon cuttings, you know, all those things.

Teamwork And Party Dynamics

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yeah, you guys is you're working year-round. And you know, I'm going to tell you something funny. We may cut this, we may not, because uh but I'm not gonna name I'm not gonna name the person who said it. That's how I'm gonna keep it. Somebody suggested to me that you run for county executive in this upcoming, that I run for your seat, and and that person was an old timer and said, who had served, and said, you know, it's really not that much work being in the Maryland General Assembly. You know, you just work for three months of the year. And I'm sitting here thinking, maybe when you were around, but but uh no, I you know, y'all work full-time and practically and you don't get paid full-time, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

No, definitely not. And that's why most people still have to maintain a job outside of that. There are a lot of retirees, you know, there are a lot of business owners. People come from all different backgrounds in the General Assembly. I think that's what the beauty of it is. But no, I mean it's a juggle. It's a juggle with my kids. I mean, I'm fortunate to live close to Annapolis, that I get up with my kids in the morning, I pack them lunch, make them breakfast, along with my husband, shared responsibilities. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Okay, well, so so I'll tell you one of the reasons that I wasn't interested. Not uh first was that you're there and you hadn't made a decision to to run for something different. But it seems that being a senator or a delegate in the Maryland General Assembly is it's a team sport, absolutely. You are one of a of a team. And the job I have now, I've always liked being my own boss. I'm not my own boss. I have 600,000 bosses, of course, but you know, in an institution, it's not like you have to get votes to do anything. There's lots of things you can do. And um so how I mean, what does that feel like to be one of one of many in a team?

SPEAKER_02 9:03

Yeah, one of 47 senators. So I've never served in the House of Delegates, but I've heard it's a different experience. We have a little bit more because we have, you know, our purple districts that I know that the Senate President cares about and cares about keeping the Democrats in the quad- we have 34 Democrats and cares about keeping us there. So we do have a little bit of flexibility and autonomy in our votes. I mean, we certainly, in order to get a bill passed, we do have to convince our other senators about it. But I think sometimes people think that, you know, because I'm a Democrat, I'm expected to vote in line with the Democrats, and that's not always the case. I do vote with Republicans on certain bills. But I appreciate that the Senate President gives us that autonomy to to make those decisions and vote according to what not only what my values are, but also, you know, what I think my district wants to carry both of those with me when I press the button, you know, make those votes.

Respect Across The Aisle

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah. Well you I mean you are clearly part of the Democratic team. I mean you and you um you know you show up at Democratic Party events and and and all of that. What's it like? Uh how's your relationship with Republicans in in the Senate anyway? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Yeah. I have a really good relationship with Republicans that I serve with. We I think people see what's happening in Washington and think the same is true happening in the General Assembly. And certainly there are lots of spirited debate, and there are lots of things that we disagree with with the other party, but we are very respectful that we all serve a role there, and we are all representing our part of Maryland. I appreciate hearing their perspective, especially given some of the areas that they represent are not within what I say, like the middle of Maryland, the Baltimore, D.C. corridor. What the people want out in Garrett County or Allegheny County, what the people want on the Eastern Shore, are going to oftentimes be different than what people in Prince George's, even in Anarundal, Baltimore City. And I think it's important when we're making decisions for the state that we consider all of those Maryland, all those parts of Maryland. And so we we need to hear those perspectives. And I think that like, we we joke, you know, we we like we work we s work really well together. And I've really valued, you know, I serve on the Senate Finance Committee, I serve with a minority leader, Steve Hershey, I serve with the minority whip, Justin Reedy, Senator Justin Reedy from Carroll County, and Senator Johnny Mounts from the Eastern Shore. And we work really well together, and we're really like respectful of each other's positions on things. I mean, most of the bills that we pass are passed unanimously or darn near close to unanimously. There are times where we disagree with each other, but it though and those are gonna be on things that you would expect that you're gonna disagree on. But I think for must to make a quality product, we can't be in an echo chamber. We can't just be like all Democrats, you know. As much as like I'm sure the the chair of the Democratic Party may disagree. Yeah, but I think it's important that we hear from uh from other perspectives in order to And that diversity of thought is I think true, even when we're talking about, you know, having a diverse group in i in the General Assembly, in a in a body, in a decision-making capacity, whether it be women, whether people of color, you know, whether it be people that are Republican or Democrat, I think it's important that we bring those perspectives together. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Yeah. I uh you know it's uh at the county council level as well. I'm a Democrat, we've got four to three, four Dems, three Republicans. And I think I I well when I was talking to you earlier, we joked about this too, that in some ways it's sort of simpler with with the opposite party where we know where we stand, we know we are gonna disagree. So you go in knowing there's gonna be there there just there's some fundamental disagreements there. And but at the same time, we're always hoping that we can bring them to our way of thinking on something. So burning bridges is stupid.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Right? I mean, they are ultimately you want to have a good real a good basic core relationship so that you can so that you can get their votes sometimes if for no other reason.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

And I actually believe that's the way it is with neighbors. I mean, with human beings who are not in politics. That that, yeah, I know my neighbor's, you know, a maybe a Trump voter, but in fact, um when I was on the board of uh Farm Bureau in Anneronal County, I knew that almost all of them, not all uh a majority of them were Trump voters. Sure. And and they were people who I would trust my life to and who helped me out when my equipment broke down. And and um it was in some ways almost more important to maintain those relationships separate from the political side of it. But so I'm glad to hear that that things are going well on that front. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

I mean, I I think you're a lot more effective when you know, to the point earlier we were talking about about being likable, about working with people. The fact that if people see you, especially those on the other side of the Trevor Burrus, so you're deliberately likable?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

I thought you were just naturally likable.

SPEAKER_02 14:25

No. I mean, I just I think, you know, you catch more flies with honey or whatever. It's the saying goes.

Growing As A Public Leader

SPEAKER_00 14:31

But I you know, I grew up in the Midwest, so I think Midwestern no, no offense to anyone, but uh, you know, you just it's it's I think it's just uh But no, you know, I have seen you though where you were in in difficult political situations, um, where you had to stand up for something that was really important to your community and your constituencies, constituents, and watched you handle it in a way that was both forceful but also understanding. I'm talking about some of the implementation of the blueprint and you know class sizes and and where the teachers went and and those things. And that was difficult. I I mean I could tell it was difficult for you. And I was just really impressed with the way that you listened to everybody talk to everybody and then made a point that was, I think, the right point. There need to be some changes in the blueprint.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah, there probably still needs to be changes in the blueprint.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah. And the superintendent says the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Yeah. Agreed, agreed. No, I yeah, uh ultimately I always I tell people that I'm not always going to agree with you, but I'm always going to listen to you. Whether that be constituents, whether that be lobbyists or advocates. I I I think that's important for a legislator in order to make a good decision, to be make a well-informed decision. And, you know, at the same time, I don't I I don't I don't see any benefit of being, you know, snarky or mean or act like I'm above people or something. I think that constituents want me to be relatable. You know, people want to be heard and I'll I'll make the point to listen. And I think at the same time, you know, my colleagues in the General Assembly or my colleagues just in general in government, I think it's important to to to work together.

unknown 16:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

So uh here's another aspect of this being a leader, being a public servant that uh fascinates me, and I love to watch it. I remember when I ran eight years ago, there was a group of us that were new, and I we would all watch each other as we went around to events and spoke publicly. And I look back on people like Sarah Elfreth who was running at the time, and then I look at her now and I see how much more how how much better she is at it. And I know I've gotten better. Um none of us are perfect. I'm certainly not. And I watched you in the beginning, and uh your nervousness was I could see it anyway, I don't know if other people could see it. And I've watched you more recently become much more confident without losing the humanity, without losing, you know, the that you're a person, you've got vulnerabilities like everybody else, and I think that's part of the the charm. But you were asked to stand up your first year in the Senate and do something really important.

SPEAKER_02 17:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 17:14

So I was asked to defend the constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom on the Senate floor. It was one of, if not the most consequential monumental bill that we had that session. It was very important. This was in 2023, the Jan that first session that session of 2023, and it was not long after the Dobbs opinion. And it was something that was very important that we needed to enshrine this right to reproductive freedom in our in the Maryland's Constitution. And I serve on the Senate Finance Committee. Melanie Griffith, who I adore, who's now the CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, but was formerly chair of the Senate Finance Committee. I remember she came into my office and she asked me to be the floor leader on that bill. And I was so nervous because it was so important. Right. And it was so important to me personally as being one of the reasons why I ran for office, you know, being, like I said before, being a mom of three girls, something that I really, really cared about. And, you know, I cried the day that Dobbs' opinion came down. And to do it justice and to adequately defend it, she asked me to do it, not only because I'm a lawyer and so have knowledge on like constitutional law, but I mean, uh like also obviously being a woman too and serving on the committee, not that a man couldn't do a fine job on it. So I I remember I stayed up like all night, like that the days before that bill was going to come onto the floor to be fully prepared, had my binder and all my notes and ready to go. And I remember standing up and like shaking, like if holding the microphone. But then you feel that moment, you feel the weight of the responsibility of it, and you just go with it. And was really proud. There was lots of amendments that the Republicans were trying to push through on the bill to, you know, change or weaken it, and lots of debate as to the whether we needed to do this and the constitutionality of it. And um, the bill was to take it to the voters, correct? Yes, right. As a constitutional amendment, it has to be ratified by the voters. So it was ultimately then later on the ballot in uh 20 24, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um when it be when and it was obvious resoundingly endorsed by Maryland voters, even in like red areas, you know. They were and I I was resoundingly passed. So yeah, that was a hu that was a huge, huge responsibility. And um I you know I look back on that as like a pretty consequential moment for me.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Yeah. If people want to watch that video, where where would you find it?

SPEAKER_02 19:58

I shared like an excerpt of it on my social media, on my Instagram, where I talked about I was pushing back uh on uh some of the the the issue of like thirt later later term abortions, you know, can't came up and and so there's there's some debate about that. But there's uh there's lots of other really important debate about the really hard decisions that that people are faced when they're half team to make these really. People could just Google it in YouTube and all the General Assembly uh sessions, uh committee meetings and things like that are all um on YouTube. Trevor Burrus Yeah, people can find it.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Trevor Burrus, Jr. You mentioned a few things. We talked before this, we talked the other day, the things that you're that you've been focusing on and are still focusing on. And you mentioned data privacy, AI, prescription drug affordability, concert ticket pricing bill. Uh Renfest has some issues related to that. Yeah. Anything that anything you want to share that that's going on right now that you think is important?

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Yeah. I mean, I'm continuing to work on issues related to health care and access to health care. I'm continuing to work on bills related to consumer protection measures.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Convenient that the chair of the House Health Committee is right now.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

I'm so proud of her. Chair Father Wagnell, we're we're so proud of her.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

And yeah, it's wonderful. And then, you know, Chair Pam Bidel is the chair of the finance committee. Uh-huh. So we have, you know, two powerhouse Anorondo County women that are overseeing basically all the health policy issues in the state of Maryland.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

And if it's a legal issue, it goes to the judiciary. We've got delegate Sandy Bartlett who's chairing judiciary now, correct?

SPEAKER_02 21:31

Yeah, she is uh chairing the Judiciary Committee in the House, very, very proud of her. And then we have our speakers in the House, Speaker Jocelyn Pinyamelnik. Super proud of her. Also has represents Garner Rundle as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

We are well represented.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Yeah, no, we're all very proud of these.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

No, we are the center of the of the state. We are a microcosm of the state. We are the most important county in the state. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Who would disagree with that? Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

The best place for all.

Cracking Down On Ticket Scalping

SPEAKER_02 22:03

So what is the scalping issue that's Yeah, so lots of bills that I've worked on as far as consumer protection related measures. The concert ticket bill came from frustrations from people, not just like Taylor Swift type shows, but that you think of oftentimes associated with these extraordinarily high ticket prices, but came from even like smaller venues, including most recently from the Renaissance Festival. We also had an incident of the Nutcracker here at Ballet Company in Annapolis, I'm forgetting the name, but they had an issue too, where even tickets for the Nutcracker were selling them on secondary markets when you can just get it from the primary directly from them, but they were like jacking up the price. And so the Renaissance Festival had reached out to me not long ago, or they were there was uh news articles too about it. Yeah, it's crazy. They sell out way in advance. They they do sell out well in advance. And they have a very measured approach about how they release tickets and how they sell them. But there was these scalpers that were buying up these tickets and then selling them on the secondary market, even though the tickets for the Renaissance Festival are not transferable. So you can't. You can't you're supposed to buy it for yourself, you know. I mean, I'm sure look if you can't go that day or something and you give them to somebody else. But the whole idea is to prevent scalpers that are, you know, financially benefiting on this like deceptive, manipulated marketplace of the secondary market. And it was really frustrating because it ultimately, even though it's not really their fault, it's it create it it puts them in a bad light. It puts a Renaissance festival in a bad light because people are angry then because they think it's their fault. Because they're like, why can't I get tickets directly from you? Why do I have to pay, you know, several times higher by going to the secondary market websites instead in order to buy these tickets from so they've they've uh are, I think, currently in litigation on some of these scalpers and they've been doing their best, but it's like whack-a-mole and trying to chase these like scalpers. They use bot software in order to buy up the tickets super fast as soon as they're released.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

So what can you do legislatively?

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Yeah, so we have been working with them on creating a cause of action. Previously, I I did a bill two years ago on this issue, worked closely with Meriwether uh especially on this. We were looking at doing a cap on the secondary market, and then there was lots of complaints at first about this, you know. I mean, you you you can't you you can't like sell your plane ticket at like a higher amount just because it, you know, it becomes more desirable to go to Florida one weekend. It's just in the same way. I don't think you should be able to sell your tickets for a profit. And some people feel like you should be able to just because it's what we've been doing for so long. But the reasons why a lot of people were flying to Europe to go see Taylor Swift is because they have cap on the secondary market in Europe. And well, in lots of places in Europe. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

And so constitutionally, can we do that? Put a cap?

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm sure they'd be challenged and would have to like, you know, fight back against it. But ultimately the captain the the the captain we had to remove the cap from from that bill, but we also had a ban on speculative tickets. These are fake tickets, where they will, you know, sell, let's say Meriwether uh announces a show on a Wednesday and say that they're going to start selling tickets on that Friday. There were instances where when they announced the show that very next day, even before Meriwether released the tickets, that tickets were being sold like on StubHub and other secondary market websites. They weren't real tickets because they hedged their bets on being able to get the tickets when they come for sale. They're fake tickets, speculative tickets. And so and it causes panic, people think they have to buy up tickets. So we did have a ban on speculative tickets that did pass in this bill. But when and there were other parts of the bill, transparency, all-in ticket pricing, things like that, and we put enforcement in the office of the Attorney General, so there was no what's called private right of action where the individuals could sue. The thing is, is we decided it would be better is to allow the venues to be able to sue, especially with these discussions with Renaissance Festival. So that's what we're looking at doing instead. Okay. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Yeah. So you you have these constituent issues or a business that's a constituent like the Renfest, and you have to figure out whether there's some legal and legislative way to actually address it. Which is one of the reasons why I I know historically having attorneys in the in legislative bodies was very maybe more common than it is now. I think it's kind of a good thing because I think folks waste their time trying to do things that, you know, if you don't understand the law, you don't understand the solution.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Right. So I mean I I do think I mean we have a variety of different backgrounds. I think the all different backgrounds are important. We have great uh counsel from the Department of Legislative Services who do advise us on issues. But you know, it's certainly helpful. It's a certainly a helpful background to have. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Well, so have you filed to run for re-election? Yeah. I know we're we don't talk about politics on this show, but you know, just wondering whether you know you're gonna be involved in the future.

Why Legal Expertise Matters

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. I filed to run for re-election. Uh delegate uh Bagnell and delegate Prusky and I, we filed right after session last year. So you're ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Hoping to stick around.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I've really it's been a a truly rewarding, meaningful experience. The work is uh it's intense, it's especially during session, really long days and and well into the evenings, and but I just I really I really enjoy seeing the impact. There's lots of other bills that I've done that have come from constituents directly or have come from different advocacy groups, like the prescription drug affordability board bill that I worked on on lowering prescription drug costs and other things that I I can see the benefit and I and I directly know who is being helped, and that's what keeps you keeps you going, waking up and keep continuing to do the this work.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Trevor Burrus Yeah, that prescription drug affordability is it's great to see Maryland being a leader in the country. Yeah. Yeah I know it's going to help counties and jurisdictions first by limiting those prices, and then I I think you all passed a bill last year to extend it to the public. Yeah, it's just so so it makes me so angry to hear that other countries that they're able to make a profit selling these drugs for far less in other countries, and then and then they're basically scalping Americans, selling them for a whole lot more because our politicians in the past haven't stood up and said enough is enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

So I won't go, I won't get on my my SO box. Agreed, everything you said. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

Yeah. Well, thank you so much for joining us and sharing some of your thinking, some of your background. I just think it's really important for people to under to know the people better who represent them. And thank you for your service.

Re‑Election And Impact

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Well, thank you, County Executive. I appreciate it. I appreciate the discussion. It's good being on here. And you get the last word. Ooh, I get the last word. The last word is. The last word is you are listening to the Pittman and Friends podcast. If you like what you hear, please hit the subscribe button, share with a friend, and join us for the next episode.