Good morning,

On Friday evening, Governor Hogan vetoed three of the main police reform bills, HB 670, SB 71 and SB 178. These were three of the key bills that emerged from the House and Senate Conference Committee negotiations.

First and foremost, we thank the Governor for standing with the men and women of law enforcement.

While there are three bills in this group, today we MUST focus on SB 71 and SB 178, and ask our elected officials to support Governor Hogan’s veto of these two bills (the veto on HB 670 has already been overridden by the House).

Please take five minutes to send an email to the legislators below and urge them to sustain the Governor’s veto of SB 71 and SB 178. We have tried to keep the message simple. Feel free to copy and paste this into an email:

 

Please stand with the men and women of law enforcement and sustain Governor Hogan’s veto of SB 71 and SB 178. These are important votes that will help those who keep Maryland safe and protect our families, friends and neighbors. We are counting on you and your vote.

Then copy this list onto your TO: line in your email.

sarah.elfreth@senate.state.md.us; joanne.benson@senate.state.md.us; guy.guzzone@senate.state.md.us; katiefry.hester@senate.state.md.us; katherine.klausmeier@senate.state.md.us; Cheryl.Kagan@senate.state.md.us; ronald.young@senate.state.md.us; pamela.beidle@senate.state.md.us; michael.jackson@senate.state.md.us; will.smith@senate.state.md.us

As I write this, we are in a much better place now than we were at the beginning of the session thanks to the work of the FOP. There are parts that we like, and there are parts that we don’t like with regard to HB 670. We are committed to continue working to improve this bill throughout the summer and next session.

We appreciate working with the many members of both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate who listened to our concerns. It is our hope that we can work collaboratively with the Maryland General Assembly to enact meaningful police reform that improves public safety and improves trust in policing while protecting law enforcement officers.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE THIS MORNING AS THE SENATE GOES INTO SESSION AT 11:30!

Thank you for your immediate attention to this email.

Fraternally,

Clyde E. Boatwright

President,

Maryland State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police