Pasadena is not an area overflowing with cantaloupes. Though a few farmers grow them, for sure.
So, why did state Sen. Bryan Simonaire introduce legislation in Annapolis to end state inspection of those sweet orange melons at summer farmers markets?
“I was working on other legislation and came across this,” he said.
This, it turns out, is that Maryland law exempted Anne Arundel County from state inspection. Simonaire wondered if that was wise, only to learn that Maryland stopped inspecting commercially produced cantaloupes once the U.S. Department of Agriculture took over the food safety check.
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“It got on the books decades ago. Since then, federal policy has changed,” said Simonaire, a Republican. “Nobody ever came back and cleaned up the code.”
Among 1,200 bits of legislation introduced in the General Assembly this session, cantaloupe reform is one of a certain kind of bill. They aim to fix problems you probably didn’t know existed.
There’s a proposal to highlight the service of Black sailors who fought for the Union in the Civil War with a study commission and another to change the retirement age of judges from 70 to 75.
Sen. Pamela Beidle wants to ban state transportation spending on maglev trains, which could one day cross this Democrat’s corner of Anne Arundel. Prince George’s County lawmakers want a memorial sign for the 95 people killed in accidents on Indian Head Highway since 2007.
“This is more than just a tribute. It’s a call to action,” Sen. Anthony Muse, a Democrat, said in a hearing.
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All of these bills would require the state to do — or not do — something.
Sen. William Folden, a Republican, wants Maryland to let bow hunters in his largely Frederick County district carry pistols. Fellow Republican Sen. Johnny Ray Salling wants the state to use the name Francis Scott Key when it completes a bridge to replace the one destroyed last year.
Del. Lorig Charkoudian wants the Department of Natural Resources to set up and manage food-foraging forests on state lands, following the example of a project in Silver Spring.
“I have become a little bit obsessed with food foraging,” the Montgomery County Democrat said.
Charkoudian’s bill would require DNR to establish permits to pay for the program and rules to keep overeager eaters from cleaning all the mushrooms out of a forest or poisoning themselves with the wrong kinds. It would ensure people who need food can pick their own.
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“It is really based on trust and community, and right now, when people are feeling so cynical, that’s crucial,” she said. “People come and they work. People come and they take the food.”
With some bills, the state itself is asking.
The Maryland Attorney General wants the board that governs requests under the Public Information Act to decide when someone is “being frivolous, vexatious, abusive” or seeking information in “bad faith” — and then penalize or ban them from future requests.
With all of them, though, going unnoticed is not a sign of significance.
“The bigger or more controversial bills take up more of the time and the bipartisan, noncontroversial ones become bottled up,” Sen. Mary Beth Carozza said.
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The Ocean City Republican is back for her second attempt at “Sherry and Christian’s Law.” It would require anyone convicted of negligent or reckless driving in a fatal accident to appear in court.

It’s named for Sherry Zdon and Travis “Christian” Butcher, motorcyclists killed in separate crashes years apart. The drivers responsible paid their fines and avoided courtrooms.
“What we found from the testimony of both of those families was how wrenching it was for the families of the victim not to have that closure,” Carozza said.
Bills can be symbolic even without having someone’s name in the title.
Lawmakers this session have proposed an overdose awareness day and a Korean American day. One lawmaker hopes to make a flag designed by a Virginia artist the official flag of 9/11 memorial ceremonies in Maryland, while another wants braille flags at all veterans cemeteries.
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A sales tax break for veterans on Veterans Day? It’s up for consideration. Giving power to the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to regulate fantasy football bets? Yep.
How about letting watermen go out four hours before sunrise or lifting the ban on political contributions from casino operators? Both await a hearing.
Sen. Ben Kramer wants to limit the number of roosters you can have to five per acre.
“What we know for certain is that we do have cockfighting in Maryland and this is looking to get at that issue because training roosters to cockfight is a very lucrative business,” the Montgomery County Democrat said.
Law enforcement officers have discovered hundreds of roosters at properties in Anne Arundel, Harford and Calvert counties, and even Kramer’s home county. Unless there’s evidence of cockfighting, there’s nothing they can do.
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“But they know these are being used for that purpose,” Kramer said.

There are exceptions for poultry farmers in the bill, but there’s no reason for anyone to have that many roosters unless they’re training to fight.
The bill complements Kramer’s long interest in animal welfare legislation, but he also wants to prevent gamecock breeders from spreading avian flu.
“I see it as being complaint-driven, rather than investigators going out and looking for this,” Kramer said. “What it does is give them a significant tool.”
Will any of these bills pass?
Simionaire, whose bill on cantaloupes is one of the few that would take a law off the books, considers other measures more important. He wants to put the brakes on a Maryland Port Authority plan to use the Patapsco River in his district as a place to dump muck dredged from shipping channels.
Like Carozza, though, he said bills that get less attention can still be significant.
“Even little things can be big issues.”
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