When the dust settles on the 2010 General Assembly, lawmakers might have had a chance to consider whether Maryland should limit the age of political campaign contributors.

It's an idea that came to Del. Brian Feldman during his summer job — teaching a course on federalism and state policy.

One of his students did a paper comparing campaign finance issues of different states and brought up that Maryland is one of the states where children can make donations, which is an easy end around to contribution limits.

"I'm thinking about putting in a bill where the contributions have to be labeled as given by parents, or there's an outright ban," said Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac.

Feldman, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University's Washington, D.C., campus, is one of several lawmakers who serve double duty as professors, sometimes teaching about the legislature or politics.

"It jibes nicely with what I do in the legislature," Feldman said.

Student papers have addressed what states are doing about same-sex marriage, the death penalty and health care.

"It's been an interesting class, and I've enjoyed it," he said.

Del. Samuel I. "Sandy" Rosenberg teaches both at the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland at Baltimore. A lawyer, Rosenberg's classes revolve around the legal aspects of legislation.

"I think I'm qualified to teach the class," said Rosenberg (D-Dist. 41) of Baltimore.

Another lawmaker-lecturer is House Minority Whip Christopher B. Shank, who for the past two or three years has taught a course on state government politics at George Washington University in Washington.

"Students benefit by real-world adjunct professors who understand government at the practical level, and what I try to bring to my course is that real-world experience instead of that ivory tower," said Shank (R-Dist. 2B) of Hagerstown.

Sen. Jamie Raskin agreed.

"I think that there's a tendency in academia for people to drift into the clouds in terms of theory, and being in the Senate really brings me back down to earth," said Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park, who has been teaching constitutional law for 20 years, a long time before his 2006 election.

"My students have a newfound respect for me because I did something in the world besides write another law review article," said Raskin, who teaches at American University.

His academic life also can benefit the Senate, he said. During the last session, Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville tried to cut the University of Maryland's funding because the College Park campus wanted to show a pornographic movie. Few in the chamber wanted to take up the debate.

"I'm a First Amendment scholar, so I leapt to my feet," Raskin said.

Sen. Catherine E. Pugh (D-Dist. 40) of Baltimore, who has taught marketing at Morgan and Coppin State universities, brought a class to Annapolis during the session last year. She said she had to give up teaching because of her added legislative responsibilities.

She is working with Coppin on developing a curriculum to get more students interested in what goes on in Annapolis and the political process, she said.

Sen. James Brochin (D-Dist. 42) of Towson had taught a class on running political campaigns at Towson University. When the budget cutbacks hit, he lost the job.

"I loved it. I did it for 15 years, and it was a great job. And it kind of ran out," Brochin said.