© Hannah Gaskill/Baltimore Sun/TNS Emely Deleon and other members of CASA were arrested and taken to jail in Annapolis for protesting about healthcare on the State House steps.

Advocates pushing Maryland lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide access to allow Marylanders to enroll in health insurance programs regardless of their immigration status were arrested on the steps of the Maryland State House Friday morning.

“What do we want? Health care for all! When do we want it? Now!” chanted the seven protesters, including Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s brother, Trent Leon-Lierman, as they blocked Maryland state senators from entering the State House. Capitol police and the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms created a path to guide them through.

“We’re not moving,” Earvin Gonzalez said to senators and capitol police officers, his hands clutching the end of a banner that read “Healthcare is a human right” in bold red and black letters.

All seven were handcuffed and taken to the Annapolis police department on Taylor Avenue. Five protesters were placed in a police van. The remaining two were escorted in separate police vehicles.

Co-sponsored by House Health and Government Operations Committee Vice Chair Bonnie Cullison, a Democrat from Montgomery County, and Democratic Del. Deni Taveras of Prince George’s County, The Access to Care Act (House Bill 588) would qualify non-incarcerated Maryland residents who are ineligible for programs like Medicare, Medicaid or the Maryland Children’s Health Program to enroll in health insurance programs through the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange.

© Hannah Gaskill/Baltimore Sun/TNS CASA members (left to right) George Escobar, Alex Vazquez, Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, Emely Deleon, Viviana Lozano, Trent Leon-Lierman and Earvin Gonzalez were arrested and taken to jail in Annapolis for protesting about healthcare access for immigrants on the State House steps.

The bill passed out of the House chamber last month on a vote of 100-38. It appears to have stalled in the Senate with only three days left in the legislative session.

Ahead of Friday morning’s protest, approximately 80 supporters of the bill gathered at Lawyers Mall outside the State House, sharing stories of ailing relatives who need dialysis treatment or have cancer. Some expressed fears about what may happen to them if they fall ill.

Cullison said that she respects the police officers that protect she and her colleagues, but called Friday’s arrests “a bit of an overreaction.”

“In this instance, they were peaceful — just making the point that health care is a human right,” the vice chair said. “At this time when they’re facing tremendous need in terms of having access to health care and … feeling like they’re being shut out — it makes it very challenging for them and emotions are high, passions are high.”

Still, Cullison said that she doesn’t see the bill moving, pointing to concerns that Senate Finance Committee Chair Melony Griffith, a Democrat from Prince George’s County, has about the bill’s potential cost. Cullison also said that Griffith thinks that Senate Bill 806, which would study options for affordable health and dental care for people unable to sign up for state and federal plans because of their immigration status, “is a good first step.”

Senate Bill 806 is likely to receive final approval in the House chamber Saturday.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Griffith said that the Senate had committed to “proceed with caution with legislation” and “manage expectations.”

“And so that’s what we did,” Griffith said as she explained why the bill had stalled in her committee.

“What you have is a group of people who have identified a solution to a part of the problem, and I think that because of their passion and their desire to see the health care needs met, they don’t necessarily understand why we want to look at all of the options available to us, because no matter what solution is chosen, it’s going to require an investment from the state,” Griffith said. “We want to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the most vulnerable and getting the most out of the investment the state makes.”

Cullison said that House Bill 588 and Senate Bill 806 are “supplemental — one does not replace the other.”

“We need both of them,” Cullison stressed, “and I’m very worried that we’re not going to see 588 before midnight on Monday.”

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