Teenagers may soon be able to register to vote as soon as they can get their driver’s licenses, under a proposal passed by the House Monday.
The bill would allow all 16-year-old residents to register to vote. Although they still would not be able to vote in an election until they turn 18, they would be able to sign petitions for referendums and potential candidates, a point of contention among Republicans.
Will the House of Delegates impeach Attorney General Doug Gansler?
That’s the question Del. Don Dwyer has promised to ask the House to consider Wednesday. Dwyer, a socially conservative Republican from Anne Arundel County, believes Gansler broke the law with his February opinion that Maryland courts would likely recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, despite their prohibition in Maryland law.
Teachers would be able to take labor disputes beyond the respective boards of education that control their salaries, under a controversial bill gaining speed in both the House and Senate.
Even opponents to the bill, which would create a neutral third party to handle disputed negotiations for teachers statewide, call the measure “greased lightening.” Foes argue that the bill will take spending authority away from local decision makers, though there is a provision that allows counties not to fund pay hikes.
The House and Senate are at odds over whether it’s best to help residents pay their energy bills by sending direct aid, or by offering cash to help make homes more efficient.
The House Appropriations Committee wants to use more of the money from a regional tax on greenhouse gas emissions to pay for the weatherization of homes. But the Senate has voted to send most of the money directly to ratepayers and right away.
Gov. Martin O'Malley signed the first two bills of this legislative session last week, and they were two of his highest-priority proposals. Still, the fact that the unemployment and jobs tax credit bills took so long to develop underscores the slow pace of this year's...
Today is "crossover day," and lawmakers have to get bills out of the chamber where they were introduced. We also have a roundup from the busy weekend in the House, which is getting ready to finish its budget. WORK TO DO: Hayley Peterson with The Washington Examiner...
Urban and rural delegates locked horns Saturday afternoon over where inmates should be counted by the U.S. Census — at their former homes or in prison.
The House gave preliminary approval to a bill that would prohibit the state from counting prisoners as residents of the county where they are in jail, unless those prisoners resided in that county before they were put away. The information would be used in the redrawing of legislative districts in the state following this year’s Census count.
Thanks to Caroline Carr-Locke of Scotland for reminding me that the World Wide Web is more real than imaginary. At 1:18 p.m. Saturday, I was eating lunch at a conference in the shiny new journalism building at the University of Maryland College Park when Caroline got...
Developers would be able to get waivers from controversial new restrictions on stormwater runoff that counties have to put in place by May, under a bill approved by the House.
By a 127 to 13 vote, delegates passed an attempt at compromise between environmental and business groups Friday, which clarifies how counties should implement new regulations for stormwater management.
The House budget committee roundly rejected a Senate proposal to hand off half of the state’s responsibility for teacher pensions within five years, one of a series of decisions that will lead to difficult negotiations between the two chambers.
The House Appropriations committee unanimously rejected the change, and also scaled back a plan to divert state and local highway money toward general expenses. Those changes were two major components of the close to $32 billion spending plan the Senate passed this week.
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