State Roundup: Will Hogan sign bills on abortion, climate change and ghost guns?

State Roundup: Will Hogan sign bills on abortion, climate change and ghost guns?

Bills are heading to Gov. Hogan's desk for his signature, but Democratic lawmakers are expecting to override his veto on several. Photo by Trey Gibson on Unsplash

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JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL COULD END JAIL FOR 1st TIME OFFENDERS: After years of research and discussion, state lawmakers are considering a bill sponsored by Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore) that would reform the Maryland juvenile justice system, including new sentencing rules. Among the changes included in her so-called omnibus bill: no confinement for first-time misdemeanor offenses, unless the crime involves a gun. Lea Skene and Darcy Costello/The Baltimore Sun.

ABORTION CARE ACCESS BILL PASSES GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Health care workers besides physicians could start performing abortions in Maryland and the procedure would be covered without cost by most insurance plans in the state under legislation passed by the General Assembly this week and is now headed to Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk. Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.

  • The bill establishes and ensures that there are a sufficient number of health professionals to provide abortion care, while establishing the Abortion Care Clinical Training Program Fund, which also provides certain requirements regarding abortion services. J.J. McQueen/The Afro.

CLIMATE CHANGE BILL AWAITS GOV SIGNATURE, OR NOT: A sweeping piece of climate change legislation that would push the state to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels is expected to land on Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk this week — in time for Democratic General Assembly leaders to override a veto that the Republican executive has hinted is coming. Scott Dance/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE TO APPEAL RULING ON CONGRESSIONAL MAP: Maryland Democrats in the General Assembly passed an alternate congressional map Wednesday — just as the state vowed to fight a court ruling finding that Democrats had engaged in what the judge called “extreme partisan gerrymandering” in the original map. Meagan Flynn/The Washington Post.

  • Maryland’s attorney general, Brian Frosh, said he will appeal a judge’s decision that found a map of the state’s congressional districts drawn by Democratic legislators was too partisan. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
  • Even as lawmakers took final action on their revised plan, attorneys for the legislature filed a notice of appeal to Friday’s court ruling that rejected their original congressional reapportionment map. Details of the appeal were not immediately available. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
  • Just after the House vote, the Office of the Attorney General announced that it had filed a notice to appeal the decision by Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia, who threw out the legislature’s original redistricting plan following a four-day trial in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court earlier this month. The enactment of redrawn map passed Wednesday is contingent on the outcome of the appeal. Bennett Leckrone/Maryland Matters.

HOGAN ANNOUNCES $216M CANCER ‘MOONSHOT:’ Gov. Larry Hogan wants Maryland to spend $216 million toward cancer research and treatment — much of it in Baltimore — as part of what he’s calling the “Maryland Cancer Moonshot Initiative.” Giacomo Bologna/The Baltimore Sun.

  • Nearly half of the additional funding — $100 million — will expand services provided by the University of Maryland Medical System’s Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. In a statement, Kevin J. Cullen, the center’s director, said the funding “will benefit thousands of Marylanders whose lives are touched by cancer each year.” Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.

HOUSE OKs PAID FAMILY/MEDICAL LEAVE BILL: The House of Delegates gave final approval to a paid family and medical leave program on Wednesday that would cover most Marylanders but does not specify how much employers and workers would have to contribute until an analysis is complete. Elizabeth Shwe/Maryland Matters.

BILL BANNING GHOST GUNS GOES TO GOVERNOR’s DESK: The Maryland General Assembly has approved a measure to ban so-called ghost guns, which don’t have serial numbers. The House gave the measure final passage 92-41 on Tuesday, sending it to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Staff and wire reports/The Baltimore Sun.

W. MD RAIL CAR FACTORY MAY GET $11M IN STATE INCENTIVES: A company that will bring a rail car factory and hundreds of jobs to Western Maryland could receive more than $11 million worth of state incentives over several years, according to state officials. Justin George/The Washington Post.

MOSBY AMENDS FINANCE REPORT: Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has amended her annual finance report to indicate that her 84-year-old grandmother – and not her deceased grandfather – contributed to her campaign. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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