Earlier this month, two Washington County Republican delegates signed on as co-sponsors of a bill that could stop the National Security Agency from operating in Maryland by cutting off utility services to the agency, among other proposals. An article published February 28 in The Herald-Mail examines why delegates Andrew Serafini and Neil Parrott initially supported the measure, titled the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, but later requested that their names be removed from it.
Laura Hussey, an assistant professor of political science, was interviewed for the article and noted the Maryland bill is similar to legislation in other states where the NSA operates and reflects anxiety about the agency and its operations.
Hussey said that 72 percent of those surveyed in a recent Gallup poll said “big government” was a bigger threat than “big business,” adding “the larger issue is the conflict within the Republican Party about the issue. This divide is not unique to Maryland.”
Hussey also predicted aggressive legislation such as the Fourth Amendment Protection Act will not be going away in the near future.
You can read the full article in The Herald-Mail here.
Tags: CAHSS, PoliticalScience
