Analysis: Call backs harder to get as legislators head home

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Now that the legislative session is over, some lawmakers — last week’s bigwigs with aides and pages at their beck and call — must now answer to their own bosses.

Since Sine Die, most legislators have all returned to their home districts and “real” jobs. Lobbyists no longer stake them out, and fewer reporters are chasing them around for a story that absolutely must run today.

Last week, Dels. Tom Hucker and Warren Miller both had to work around their work schedules to return my phone calls. And some lawmakers who are in the legal profession have been so busy that they have not returned calls at all yet. In times like these, it pays to know a legislator’s cell phone number.

Reporters used to be able to catch legislators each morning after session, before committee hearings, or simply by walking to their offices. Now, they must call lawmakers’ offices and pray they get a call back that day.

And when that return call comes, it can be hard to get any follow-up information, as lawmakers must finagle ways to find it between meetings and projects.
-Erich Wagner
Erich@MarylandReporter.com