SPONSOR OF LAW ON SEX ABUSE OPEN TO LIMITING STATE’s FINANCIAL JEOPARDY: Del. C.T. Wilson, the lead sponsor of a 2023 law that vastly expanded the ability of child sex abuse victims to sue their abusers and the institutions that protected them, said Tuesday he is open to finding ways of limiting the financial jeopardy faced by state government. Negotiations to settle allegations against the state by 3,500 people could add additional strain on a budget that already required $3 billion in proposed cuts and tax changes to balance. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Maryland’s state government faces a potentially large bill to compensate people who were abused as children in the juvenile justice system, with no plan to pay for it. Under the Child Victims Act, passed in 2023, about 3,500 people have sued the state for damages arising from child sexual abuse they endured while in state care, mainly in the juvenile justice system. Pamela Wood and Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE PROPOSES CHANGES TO EDUCATION BLUEPRINT: Gov. Wes Moore is proposing to significantly reshape the state’s signature public school improvement plan in hopes of eliminating costs while redirecting some of those savings to new literacy, math and teacher recruitment efforts. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- Faced with cuts that could defer parts of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the Moore administration Tuesday proposed the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act that would create a competitive grant program for school districts to propose innovative ways to implement “collaborative time” for their teachers, and to fund efforts to fill teacher vacancies — a key reason the collaborative time proposal had to be delayed. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
PUBLIC SAFETY TO GO BEFORE LEGISLATORS: Maryland lawmakers will focus on several public safety proposals this legislative session, including harsher sentences for criminal offenders and more tools for law enforcement. More than three dozen public safety-related bills have already been filed in Annapolis, and more are in the works. Glynis Kazanjian/The Baltimore Sun.
RENTER ADVOCATES URGE PASSAGE OF ‘GOOD CAUSE’ BILL: Advocates for renter protections braved frigid morning temperatures Tuesday for a rally urging lawmakers to finally pass “good cause” evictions legislation to protect tenants from being kicked out without a justified reason. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES DISAPPOINTED BY TRUMP SPEECH: People representing marginalized groups in Maryland, including immigrants, non-white people and members of the LGBTQIA+ population, expressed displeasure with Donald Trump’s speech and subsequent issuing of executive orders they say could have harmful effects on their communities. John John Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND CHALLENGES TRUMP OVER END OF BIRTH RIGHT CITIZENSHIP: The lawsuits against the new Trump administration have begun. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Tuesday that he was joining 22 other states to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship — the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
- The ACLU and immigrant rights groups sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire shortly after Trump signed the order. On Tuesday, 18 state attorneys general sued in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Those states include New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Ariana Figueroa/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: MOORE TAX PLAN MAY UNDERMINE ECONOMIC GROWTH: When Gov. Wes Moore announced that he was backing an increase in the state income tax for people making over $500,000 and an extra 1% on capital gains from the sale of stocks and property like real estate, that move ran counter to his goal of boosting Maryland’s lagging economic growth. Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.
REPUBLICANS WORRY MOORE’s TAX HIKE ON WEALTHY COULD BACKFIRE: Gov. Wes Moore’s new budget proposal would raise taxes on Maryland’s wealthiest residents by adding two new tax brackets at income thresholds the state previously did not account for — a plan that some Republicans worry could backfire. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
DEL. ATTAR RECOMMENDED TO FILL JILL CARTER’s SENATE SEAT: Baltimore City Democratic Central Committee members voted Tuesday night to recommend that Del. Dalya Attar (D), a prosecutor, replace Jill P. Carter in the state Senate, where she would become the first Orthodox Jewish woman to serve. She must still be approved by Gov. Wes Moore. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
FORMER ELECTIONS BOARD MEMBER WON’T FACE CAPITOL RIOT CHARGES: A former Maryland state board of elections member charged with participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection will not stand trial, following a blanket pardon issued Monday by President Donald Trump. Federal prosecutors Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss charges against Carlos Ayala in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
EX-B’MORE WORKER WHO TOOK BRIBES WAS FLAGGED EARLIER: A former Baltimore government employee who admitted last year to accepting bribes in exchange for adjusting some property owners’ water and tax bills had been flagged years earlier by another employee for “inconsistencies” apparent in his work. Hallie Millie/The Baltimore Banner.
CHEF ANDRES RESIGNS PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL, THEN ‘FIRED’ BY TRUMP: Chef and humanitarian José Andrés, a Bethesda resident, announced Tuesday that he submitted his resignation as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition last week. He mentioned that his two-year term was already up, though President Donald Trump claimed to have fired him. Staff/MyMCM.
