Senate Votes to Censure State Senator The Maryland Senate has unanimously voted to censure a state senator who failed to disclose his work for a grocery store chain. It was the first time a Maryland state senator has been disciplined by the chamber in 14 years. The Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics determined Sen. Ulysses Currie used his position as chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee for his own private gain and the gain of Shoppers Food Warehouse. The Prince George's County Democrat was acquitted last year of all charges in a federal bribery case. The case focused on more than $245,000 in payments he received from Shoppers between 2003 and 2008, when he chaired the powerful Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. The Senate has not voted on sanctions against a lawmaker since Baltimore Democrat Larry Young was expelled in 1998.