HOGAN ANNOUNCES $15M FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS: Facing a shortage of workers to build all of Maryland’s infrastructure, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced a $15 million program to sweeten jobs on public projects. The “Jobs that Build” grants will offer companies with state contracts $10,000 per worker to entice employees to stay on the job or start working on a state infrastructure project. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
- The program’s goal is to help construction companies build their workforce as the government ramps up spending on infrastructure projects. Hogan said he thinks the program will make “a huge difference” for companies that are having trouble finding and keeping skilled workers. With the new federal infrastructure law providing significant sums of money for capital projects like roads, bridges, ports and airports, the labor crunch is only getting worse, Hogan said. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- Hogan compared the program to an earlier announcement in which he lifted the requirement for four-year college degrees for some state jobs. The move opened the door for workers with alternative training and experience to move into higher-paying positions. Hogan attributed a 41% increase in hiring to that change. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
- This federally funded program will complement the state’s workforce development plans, which recently included 12,000 new apprenticeships, and Maryland becoming the first state to abolish the required post-secondary degree for state jobs. Latrice Hill/Baltimore Fishbowl.
CRAB PROCESSORS SEEK LONG-TERM FIX TO WORKER SHORTAGES: Eastern Shore crab processors welcomed the federal government’s planned release of new visas to hire foreign guest workers, but they called it a one-year remedy that fails to address recurring labor shortages. “We need a long-term fix to survive,” said Jack Brooks, one of the owners of J.M. Clayton Seafood Co. in Cambridge in Dorchester County and president of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
EDUCATION OVERHAUL COULD BE PHASED IN: A board established to implement Maryland’s 10-year comprehensive education plan proposed a timeline for that on Thursday. Instead of setting a March deadline for the state’s 24 school systems to submit implementation plans, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board suggested it could be done in three phases. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MOORE OUTLINES PLANS AT COPPIN; COX CANCELS APPEARANCE: More than a thousand Baltimore and Prince George’s County faith and community leaders filled an auditorium at Coppin State University on Sunday to hear Maryland’s gubernatorial candidates respond to their calls for state investments in housing, jobs and health care. But despite an agenda listing time slots for both Democratic nominee for governor Wes Moore and Republican Del. Dan Cox, Moore was the only candidate onstage as Cox decided not to attend. Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.
OPINION: SAY NO TO THIS WES MOORE: Baltimoreans may not have much, but we do have our narratives. We have our tales that if told should be credited to us and only us. This is why I am disappointed with the rhetoric coming from Wes Moore and his campaign for governor. The rhetoric begins with Moore’s book, “The Other Wes Moore.” Chris Anderson/MarylandReporter.com.
COX VIEWS LGBTQ TALK IN SCHOOLS AS ‘INDOCTRINATION:’ an Cox opposes the expansion of LGBTQ rights in education, highligthting during his gubernatorial campaign his belief that addressing issues of gender, sex and sexual orientation in schools equates to “indoctrination” and “propaganda.” He is also vocal about parental involvement in education. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
PEROUTKA PUTS HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ABOVE THE LAW: Republican candidate for attorney general Michael Peroutka has made clear that if he is elected, his view of Christianity will determine his decisions. And he has said that as attorney general he will not support laws enacted by the legislature if he believes they are in conflict with his understanding of God’s law. Joe Heim/The Washington Post.
OPINION: BAY CONTINUES TO SUFFER: On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency caved to Chesapeake Bay-state governors and agricultural interests by failing to enforce the Clean Water Act or impose sanctions on recalcitrant states for violating mandates to reduce bay pollutants. Instead, the annual meeting of the Chesapeake Executive Council with the EPA administrator and bay-state governors – including Larry Hogan of Maryland and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia – turned into a self-congratulatory session where for the third time it was acknowledged that bay states will miss a vital cleanup deadline. Sen. Gerald Winegrad/The Washington Post.
DEL. SAAB SUES RIVAL GILE FOR DEFAMATION: Del. Sid Saab (R-Anne Arundel), locked in a tight open seat Senate race in District 33 with attorney Dawn Gile (D), filed a defamation and false light suit against Gile and her campaign committee on Thursday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
MIZEUR CONTINUES TO OUTRAISE HARRIS: Democratic congressional challenger Heather Mizeur again reported raising more campaign money than Republican Rep. Andy Harris in Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Harford County congressional district, but the incumbent, who is seeking a seventh term, held more in reserve as their first debate approached. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
NEIL PARROTT CHALLENGES TRONE: As a professional traffic engineer, Neil Parrott has been working on the roads to Washington, D.C., for a long time. As a politician now running for Congress, his actions have showed a similar purpose. Dwight Weingarten/The Hagerstown Herald Mail.
TRONE USES CUSTOMER SERVICE MODEL: Incumbent U.S. Rep. David Trone wants to take his customer-focused approach into another term. But he faces perhaps his strongest challenge yet with Republican Del. Neil Parrott in a newly shaped congressional district, and his party faces historical headwinds in the midterms. Dwight Weingarten/The Hagerstown Herald Mail.
POLITICAL BRIEFS: PAC BACKS PARROTT; TRONE SPENDING: The House Freedom Fund, a political action committee organized by a group of conservative U.S. representatives and led by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has endorsed state Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington, in his bid to unseat Democrat David Trone in the 6th Congressional District race. Wes Moore on Monday will be touring parts of Hagerstown at the invitation of Mayor Emily Keller, then headline a fundraiser at The Maryland Theatre. Staff/The Hagerstown Herald-Mail.
- U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), who has put more than $12.5 million into his reelection campaign, apparently did not feel the need to restock his campaign treasury over the past three months. Republicans are running spirited campaigns against two veteran Democratic incumbents. But the incumbents had such a head start with their fundraising that they have robust advantages in cash on hand that could prove critical in the final weeks of the campaign. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
- Relying largely on more than $12.5 million in personal funds that he has pumped into his own campaign, two-term Rep. David Trone (D-Potomac) outspent his Republican opponent, state Del. Neil Parrott of Hagerstown, by a ratio of more than 28-1 during the three months ending Sept. 30, according to newly filed campaign disclosure reports. Louis Peck/Bethesda Beat.
ACTIVISTS, POLITICIANS WORK TOWARD CANNABIS EQUITY: Kevin Ford Jr. works to educate Marylanders on how the cannabis industry can bring positive changes to Black and brown communities, whose families have historically been harmed by inequities in marijuana prosecutions. Ford isn’t doing this work alone. He’s receiving some advice from his godfather: former Prince George’s County Executive and two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rushern L. Baker III. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
