GOV. MOORE SAYS STATE CONFRONTING ‘TWO STORMS’: Gov. Wes Moore (D) has used his semiannual speeches to the Maryland Association of Counties to deliver sobering fiscal news before and Thursday night’s address, at the MACo winter conference in Cambridge, was no exception. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
STATE REVENUE OUTLOOK IMPROVED SLIGHTLY: Maryland revenues will be slightly better than expected in the coming year, but not nearly high enough to blunt a multibillion-dollar budget deficit that will force “difficult trade-offs” as the state works through the budget, fiscal officers said Thursday. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
- Maryland officials got a tiny bit of good news Thursday as they prepare to wrestle a multibillion-dollar budget hole: The state is projected to have a little bit more money than expected. Pam Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE SUGGESTS ROLLBACKS TO PUBLIC ED PLAN: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday proposed scaling back parts of the state’s ambitious public education improvement plan as the state faces a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
COUNTY SCHOOL LEADERS SAY CHANGES NEEDED TO BLUEPRINT SCHOOL PLAN: The state’s education reform plan needs some reforms itself if it’s to survive a looming multibillion-dollar budget deficit and deliver on its promises, school leaders and local elected officials said Thursday. William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
SOME PEOPLE NEED ABORTIONS LATER IN PREGNANCY – MANY COME TO MD: Maryland is one of the few places in the United States serving people who need later abortions, home to two of the only clinics in the country that perform procedures into the third trimester. Taylor Nichols and Cait Kelley/Capital News Service.
- Patients seeking abortion care travel hours, often crossing state lines, to reach Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner Rachel Kashy and her colleagues at the Women’s Health Center of Maryland. Taylor Nichols and Cait Kelley/Capital News Service.
PENTAGON OFFICIAL SENTENCED FOR DOG FIGHTING: Anne Arundel County resident Frederick Moorefield Jr. was a high-ranking member of the U.S. Department of Defense and admitted to participating in dogfighting rings for at least 20 years. Justin Fenton/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE PANEL VOTES TO STUDY, RATHER THAN RECOMMEND WAYS TO PAY FOR CLIMATE PLAN: One year after a state environmental agency calculated that it would cost Maryland at least $10 billion to meet the government’s ambitious climate mandates, the Maryland Commission on Climate Change took baby steps Thursday toward considering how to pay for them — but the panel didn’t go nearly as far as some members originally intended. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
TAX COLLECTION ON TRACK BUT OFFICIALS WARN OF POTENTIAL TRUMP EFFECT: Maryland lawmakers tasked with resolving a daunting multi-billion-dollar budget deficit in the coming months will enter those negotiations without any last-minute curveballs — at least on one side of the equation. Sam Janesch and Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE CITY DOT DIRECTOR ABRUPTLY RESIGNS: Corren Johnson has resigned from her post as director of the Department of Transportation effective immediately, according to an announcement sent out by the mayor’s office Thursday. Emily Hofstaedter/WYPR-FM.
TWO TOP HEALTH INSURERS DENY HIGH NUMBER OF CLAIMS: Two of Maryland’s top three health insurers ranked above the industry average in claims denials in 2023. Both Blue Cross Blue Shield, known as CareFirst in the region, and UnitedHealthcare deny their beneficiaries’ claims for medical procedures and appointments more than other companies in the field. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
CARROLL ZONING CHANGES COULD LIMIT SOLAR PROJECTS ON FARMLAND: The Board of Carroll County Commissioners unanimously approved amendments to guidelines and regulations on solar generating systems proposed to be built on farmland in the county. Sherry Greenfield/Carroll County Times.
REP HARRIS: LEADERS BLOCKING FEDERAL DEPORTATION ORDERS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED: Amid the conversations about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation immigration plans, Maryland’s lone Republican in Congress said federal funding should be cut off from local jurisdictions if leaders don’t cooperate with federal orders, and leaders who stand in the way should be prosecuted. Mikenzie Frost/Fox45 News.
OBITUARY: NEDDA IRENE PRAY, ATTORNEY, LAND PRESERVATIONIST DIES: Nedda Irene Pray, an attorney who successfully represented wrongfully terminated Rite Aid employees and was a Baltimore County land preservation activist, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 7 while vacationing in Switzerland. She was 73 and lived in Mays Chapel. Jacques Kelly/The Baltimore Sun.
HARFORD ZONING CHANGE WOULD ALLOW LIQUOR STORES IN MORE NEIGHBORHOODS: Harford County officials are debating how a proposed change in zoning law would affect neighborhoods and small businesses. Matt Hubbard/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE GAVE OUT DEVELOPER TAX BREAKS. IS CITY SEEING THE BENEFIT? A new report sheds light on the performance of the city’s various TIFs. When you plot out where new things in Baltimore have been built since the turn of the century, you’ll find them to be scattershot. Leo Sanderlin and Hallie Miller/The Baltimore Banner.
