The Maryland General Assembly's 421st session began on January 11th and will end on April 10th. During this session legislators will address many issues that impact minority and women business owners. Elected officials at the local, state, and national level make decisions on policies and budgets that can have a profound affect on your business.

In past sessions, Governor Robert Ehrlich introduced landmark legislation that created the Small Business Reserve Program as well as the Elimination of the Ten Day Rule. This year, the Ehrlich Administration is spearheading a bill that evaluates through a disparity utilization study, the goals for the Minority Business Program. This will impact the minority business program for the next five years.

Are you aware of bills affecting your business? Have you let your state delegates and senators know your views? Contacting your elected officials is an important strategy for any business owner to help educate legislators about the unique value and role minority businesses have to our state's economy, and how the goods or services your business provides affects people's lives in the communities they represent.

It is your responsibility as citizens and business owners to educate yourselves about proposed legislation affecting you and your business, and to take action to ensure your elected officials are aware of your stance on these critical issues. There are several steps you can take to empower yourself to influence decisions before they are made.

1. Get information about pending legislation To find out what new laws are currently being considered, as well as their status, you can go to http://mlis.state.md.us/#bill. This website allows you to search current pending legislation by subject, bill number or sponsor.


2. Contact your elected officials Entering your address at http://mdelect.net/electedofficials/, will produce a list of all your federal and state representatives, along with their addresses (snail and e-mail), and phone number. Our state legislators are extremely accessible. Let them know what issues are important to you both as a private citizen and as a businessperson. Make these contacts even if you do not have comments or concerns about a specific bill so you can introduce yourself and your business to facilitate future meetings.


3. Attend a hearing If you find that there is pending legislation that either positively or negatively impacts you and your business, attend the hearing where the bill is being presented. The website http://mlis.state.md.us/#bill will tell you when and where the hearing is being held and which legislative committee is in charge. You can even contact the committee staff and offer to testify at the hearing to make your views heard to the entire committee.

As Maryland's principal advocates for small, minority and women owned businesses, my staff receives numerous phone calls each week from business owners complaining about a particular law or regulation. Instead of voicing your opinion after the fact, get involved now! Check our website for a synopsis of bills, this session, that impact small, women and minority businesses at www.mdminoritybusiness.com/legislation.html.

According to the Center for Civic Education, a representative democracy is a system of government in which power is held by the people and exercised indirectly through elected representatives. We sometimes forget that for a representative democracy to work we must continuously communicate with our elected representatives.