The State House caucus that balls together, makes laws together

For 90 days, they wear ties and jackets and dress shoes. They sit for hours and hours on end: listening to testimony about the pros and cons of bills, hashing out amendments in committee meetings, pressing a green button to vote “yes” or red for “no,” over and over again on bill after bill.

When the work for the day is done, lawmakers find themselves sitting again, at dinners sponsored by trade groups and others who want to bend their ears.

So by the time Monday night comes, a group of lawmakers, lobbyists and staffers are beyond ready to get out of the stuffy confines of the official world of the Maryland General Assembly and convene a meeting of the sweatiest group in Annapolis: the Basketball Caucus.

In a high school gym a few blocks from the State House, they trade their suits for old T-shirts and sweatshirts, basketball shorts and sneakers. They drain baskets, hustle for loose balls and, of course, engage in good-natured trash talk.

“First and foremost, it’s basketball, which is always my favorite sport,” said Del. Caylin Young, a Baltimore Democrat who is the unofficial vice chair of the unofficial Basketball Caucus. “But also, it’s just a positive thing to have the young staff, the young lobbyists — we can all just have a good time, build relationships.”

“There’s so many different walks of life, backgrounds, so many different colleges, high schools, whatever,” said Del. Stuart Schmidt Jr., an Anne Arundel County Republican and the unofficial caucus chairman. “We can come together on Monday night and just be together.”

On a recent Monday night, about a dozen ballers filed into the St. Mary’s High School gym, ranging from fresh-out-of-college young staffers to Jonathan Carpenter, a lobbyist who, at 56, declared himself “one of the older guys.”

Young and Schmidt were the only sitting lawmakers on the court that night, but other legislators and politicians cycle through the games, including sometimes Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott when he’s in town.

There’s no official history of this unofficial caucus, but according to Carpenter, it started back in the early 1990s. “A bunch of lobbyists and some legislators got together and said, ‘We need to get some cardio exercise,’” he said.

Lobbyist John Pica, now 72, played for many years when he was a delegate and senator. Later, after becoming a lobbyist, he refereed House vs. Senate games. He’s quick to tell a story about getting his nose broken during a game and continuing to play.

“Basketball brought everyone together,” he said.

The Basketball Caucus has ebbed and flowed over the years. For a long time, the games were played at St. John’s College nearby, before more recently moving to St. Mary’s High School.

Darryl Barnes was the unofficial leader for awhile when he was a state delegate. But when he switched over to the lobbying world after the 2023 session, it wasn’t immediately clear who would be the one to corral delegates and senators.

Eventually, it fell to Schmidt. He makes sure the gym is available and announces “meetings” of the Basketball Caucus in the House of Delegates chamber.

“The best part of it is, when I stand up on the floor and talk about it, I see Caylin in the background going like this,” Schmidt said, laughing and making the motion of draining a shot.

The play on the court at St. Mary’s isn’t quite NCAA March Madness-caliber, but the players do go hard. At one point, Young went coast-to-coast but missed the layup at the end, punctuated by a hand clap and a cry of “Oh!” in frustration.

Later, lobbyist Addison Pruitt got a fast break and dished the ball to Solomon Stephens, a staffer for Sen. Nick Charles. Stephens has a pretty jumper but missed the three-pointer. Pruitt hustled to get the rebound and made the putback for two.

“Listen: We play to win. Nobody wants to lose,” said Carpenter, who lobbies for Greenwill Consulting Group. “We’re legislators and lobbyists. Nobody wants to lose.”

Most of the time in Annapolis, wins and losses are measured in bills passed or defeated, amendments added or not, a project in the budget — or not. The stakes in the Basketball Caucus are lower: They’re mostly playing for pride and bragging rights.

Those who sweat their way through Monday nights, when the games sometimes run until 11 p.m. or even midnight, say that amid the competition, they gain friends and allies. They get to know each other beyond their party labels or their roles in the capital city.

“We come here on Mondays, put all that aside, put the world aside and just play basketball,” Schmidt said. “Just be friends.”

“It’s just a great way for folks to come out and fellowship,” said Pruitt, a lobbyist with Compass Advocacy, and one of the regular players. “From the staffers, from the lobbyists, from your community advocates to your legislators. It’s just a way for us to unwind from the pressures of session.”

Mateo Garcia Araoz-Fraser used to work on Capitol Hill, where there is a strong softball culture. In his first session in Annapolis, where he’s chief of staff to Del. Joe Vogel, a Montgomery Democrat, he was pleased to find the Basketball Caucus as a social and athletic outlet.

“It’s an opportunity for people to unite. There are few things that unite people, but there are lots of things that divide people,” he said. “As long as you’re giving it your all, people accept you on the court.”

It also helps to get moving and sweating after hours spent sitting in dimly-lit committee rooms and eating free food, said Tony Nicholas, chief of staff to Del. Chris Tomlinson, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties.

“We go to all these receptions,” he said. “I come to burn the calories off.”

Pamela Wood

pamela.wood@thebaltimorebanner.com

Pamela Wood covers Maryland politics and government. She previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Capital and other Maryland newspapers. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she lives in northern Anne Arundel County.

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