On February 25, the Maryland Senate will hear SB 240, in the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. This bill amends the law on petition validity, repealing the requirement that signatures on petitions must be an exact match of how that signer is registered. The bill has 19 sponsors. If it is signed into law, it will end lawsuits that are now pending in both federal court and state court.

On March 11, the same committee will hear SB 710, by Senators Andrew Harris (R-Cockeysville) and Jamie Raskin (D-Takoma Park), lowering the party petition from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures.

The February 19 issue of California Watch has this article about a letter sent recently by wealthy campaign donors to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asking her to support HR 1826, the Public Funding bill in the U.S. House. That bill has been stuck at 133 co-sponsors all month. The article has a link to the letter itself, which is dated February 17. It has 57 signers. Thanks to Calitics for the link.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that let each U.S. House district elect its own presidential elector. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the Nebraska district that is based in Omaha. A bill to re-establish electing all presidential electors statewide, LB 777, has a hearing on Wednesday, February 24, in the Senate Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.