AS SESSION ENDS, DEM LAWMAKERS SEE SUCCESS: Maryland lawmakers will make the trek to Annapolis on Monday morning for a final day of legislating before the General Assembly adjourns at midnight and most of them strike out on the campaign trail ahead of upcoming elections. Much of the agenda Democratic leadership marked as priorities was wrapped up over the weekend during a flurry of Saturday votes that overrode Friday vetoes from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
- The Maryland General Assembly will wrap up its 90-day legislative session Monday having already accomplished Democratic leaders’ marquee policy goals. It joined Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to cut taxes for most retirees. It enacted some of the nation’s most ambitious climate change goals. It enhanced gun regulations by banning the sale and possession of untraceable firearms. And it took steps toward legalizing adult-use cannabis, putting the question to voters in November. Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
ABORTION, PAID LEAVE BILL VETOES OVERRIDDEN: Nurse practitioners, midwives and other nonphysician medical professionals will be able to perform abortions in Maryland after the Democrat-controlled General Assembly overrode Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of the Abortion Care Access Act on Saturday afternoon. Bryn Stole and Scott Dance/The Baltimore Sun.
- The new law puts Maryland at the vanguard of abortion rights nationwide, expanding access and requiring most insurance policies to cover the entire cost of the procedure. The state is among a small minority to advance abortion protections this year as many rush to pass restrictions in case the Supreme Court strikes down the right to abortion. Erin Cox and Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
- The Maryland General Assembly voted on Saturday to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes of abortion access and paid leave bills, enacting the measures into law. The bills were among 10 measures a Democratic supermajority in the legislature enacted over the Republican governor’s objection on Saturday. Danielle Gaines, Hannah Gaskill, Bennett Leckrone and Elizabeth Shwe/Maryland Matters.
HOGAN VETOES 10 BILLS: Gov. Larry Hogan had issued a slate of vetoes late Friday afternoon objecting to 10 pieces of legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly, including a bill to expand access to abortion services in Maryland and another that would create a paid family and medical leave insurance program for nearly all workers in the state. Scott Dance and Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
- As he weighs a bid for president after his term ends, he was facing a list of litmus-test policies widely popular in Maryland but unpopular with Republican primary voters. Erin Cox and Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
SENATE OKs STADIUM AUTHORITY BILLS: The Maryland Senate gave tentative approval late Friday to two measures that top officials in Baltimore and Prince George’s County have been pursuing since the start of this year’s legislative session. One of the bills — House Bill 896 — would authorize the Maryland Stadium Authority to perform $1.2 billion in upgrades to the city’s professional sports stadiums. The funding would be evenly divided between Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
GHOST GUN BAN, CLIMATE BILL TO TAKE EFFECT WITHOUT GOV’s SIGNATURE: A ban on so-called “ghost guns,” difficult-to-trace weapons that lack serial numbers or are sold in pieces to evade Maryland’s background check rules, will go into effect after Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday that he would not veto the measure. Bryn Stole/The Baltimore Sun.
- A bill to accelerate Maryland’s transition away from fossil fuels will become law without Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature, setting goals to cut the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 60% below 2006 levels by 2031 and virtually eliminate the state’s carbon footprint by 2045. Scott Dance/The Baltimore Sun.
- The governor allowed about 28 bills to take effect without his signature — including the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, which would set aggressive goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland and establish new policies to help achieve that goal. Danielle Gaines and Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
SAFE HARBOR BILL WOULD PROTECT YOUNG VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING: A bill that would protect children who have been victims of sex trafficking is nearing passage with just a few days to go until the end of this year’s General Assembly Session. The Safe Harbor and Service Response Act prevents children ages 17 and under who have been trafficked from being charged with prostitution. The bill passed the House of Delegates comfortably and is awaiting action in the Senate. Callan Tansill-Suddath/WYPR-FM.
LAWMAKERS TARGET STREET RACING: Lawmakers in Annapolis are trying to crack down on street racing across the state. Last weekend at Pratt and President Street video captured traffic at a standstill as onlookers watched a street stunt takeover. Maxine Streicher/WBFF-TV.
NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP, DIFFERENT ELECTION: As a tight battle nears for control of the U.S. House, Maryland has passed a significantly altered congressional map that changes the outlook for its midterm races — and moves thousands of voters into new, more compact districts that no longer “look like prehistoric animals,” as one anti-gerrymandering group put it. So what does each new district look like? Meagan Flynn/The Washington Post.
REDRAWING MAPS PUT STATE DEMS ON SPOT: The process of redrawing the congressional map under a judge’s order, analysts say, put Maryland Democrats on the spot, squeezing them uncomfortably between the competing objectives of maintaining their party’s control of the U.S. House and embracing transparency and government reform. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
GOP LAWMAKERS CHALLENGE MAGISTRATE’S REPORT ON LEGISLATIVE MAP: Three Republican lawmakers have filed exceptions to a special magistrate’s report recommending that challenges to Maryland’s state legislative redistricting plan be dismissed. The filing, which was expected, is the first to be made before the Friday deadline. Attorneys for Republican Dels. Mark Fisher, Nic Kipke and Kathy Szeliga contend that Special Magistrate Alan Wilner’s report erred in three areas. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
REISTERSTOWN – Russell Strickland, Maryland’s acting secretary of emergency management, left, meets Thursday at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation with Brig. Gen. Riho Ühtegi, commander of the Estonian Defense League, center, and Lt. Gen. Senad Mašovi, the chief of defense for the Armed Forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Ryan White/Capital News Service)
MARYLAND GUARD HOSTS FOREIGN GENERALS: The Maryland National Guard hosted two generals from Estonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina militaries at Camp Fretterd Military Reservation during a several-day visit last week. The visit underscored an ongoing military partnership between the state and the two European nations that has taken on additional importance since last month’s Russian invasion of Ukraine. Later this spring, Maryland National Guard soldiers will participate in maneuvers in Europe with their counterparts. Ryan White of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
SEN. WARREN BACKS BROWN FOR ATTY GEN: Former presidential candidate and current U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) weighed in on Maryland’s attorney general race Friday, throwing her support behind Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.). Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
JUDGE DROPS MEDIA RESTRICTION IN MOSBY HEARING: After objections from news organizations, the judge presiding over Marilyn Mosby’s federal indictment has dropped plans to restrict media attendance at a key court hearing next week and will move the proceeding to a larger room. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
MO CO TEACHERS UNION BACKS ELRICH FOR COUNTY EXEC: A union for Montgomery County Public Schools teachers is backing Marc Elrich in his bid to win a second term as county executive. Elrich is facing four challengers in a July 19 Democratic primary — businessman David Blair, Council members Tom Hucker and Hans Riemer, and Peter James, the CEO of a tech company. Andrew Schotz/Bethesda Beat.
COUNTY ATTORNEY SAYS BEVINS VIOLATED CHARTER: A long-awaited legal opinion by Baltimore County Attorney James Benjamin finds that sixth district Councilwoman Cathy Bevins violated the county charter when she briefly moved out of her district last summer. Although the county charter states a council member has to leave office if they move out of their district, Benjamin wrote, “there does not appear to be legal precedent to require the immediate removal of Councilwoman Bevins.” John Lee/WYPR-FM.
ANNAPOLIS BUSINESSES SAY GOODBYE TO POLITICIANS, HELLO TO TOURISTS: Over the last two weeks, Barb Ripani has seen a change in the clientele who walk into Potato Valley on State Circle in Annapolis. From January to April, Ripani corrals hordes of politicians, lobbyists and legislative aides who crowd into the popular lunch spot she’s co-owned for 27 years. She knows about half of their orders by heart, she said. But after Monday, nearly all of those regular customers will disappear when the 2022 Maryland General Assembly session adjourns. Brooks DuBose/The Capital Gazette.
