MOORE RESTORES DISABILITIES AGENCY FUNDS; CUTS STATE WORKER RAISES: Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday introduced his supplemental budget that he said provides some certainty in a time of instability. In it, Moore restores hundreds of millions of dollars he cut from the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration’s budget. David Collins/WBAL-TV News.
- But those fund came at the expense of clean energy projects, state employee raises and other cuts. The $360 million budget also delays implementation, for another year, of the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, which was part of the $117 million in cost reductions included in the package. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
- The cuts to Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration have been some of the most emotionally charged and controversial elements of Moore’s approach to resolving a $3 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year beginning July 1. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
LAWMAKERS BRACE FOR BUSINESS BACKLASH OVER B2B TAX PROPOSAL: Legislators are preparing for a new round of battles with businesses intent on again stopping a proposed sales tax on some services. The proposal — identical bills in the House and Senate — would tax certain business-to-business transactions including lobbying, accounting and tax preparation services and some computer and IT services. That could generate roughly $1 billion, depending on which services end up being taxed. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
AFTER STATE OF UNION, MARYLAND DEMS CRITICIZE TRUMP ‘LIES:’ Democrats sat mostly silent through President Donald Trump’s aggressive and partisan 90-minute speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, but they had plenty to say about the president and his address afterward. “Tonight was another chapter in Donald Trump’s great betrayal of the American people, with lies, lies and more lies – but no plan to lower costs for working families,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said immediately following Trump’s speech. Jack Bowman/Maryland Matters.
HUNDREDS PROTEST NOAA LAYOFFS IN SILVER SPRING: Hundreds gathered at the NOAA’s Silver Spring headquarters Monday in enthusiastic defiance of the Trump administration’s layoff of an estimated 650 agency workers nationwide Thursday. Despite occasional vitriol directed at the administration, the hourlong rally was mostly peaceful, with those in attendance expressing support for the agency and its workers. Speakers included members of Maryland’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Jamie Raskin, April McClain Delaney and Glenn Ivey. Jack Bowman/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: REAFFIRM MARYLAND VALUES BY ELIMINATING PROGRAM 287(g): | Racial and ethnic profiling must end – and passing the Maryland Values Act is essential to making progress. The Maryland Values Act is a recently proposed bill that hopes to terminate a program called 287(g) in the state. Since 1996, 287(g) has authorized state and local law enforcement to enter formal agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement allowing them to perform certain ICE duties in the name of public safety. Isabelle Verduzco and Elisha Novoa/Maryland Reporter.
COMMENTARY: EXPLAINING MARYLANDERS RISING ENERGY UTILITY COSTS: All over Maryland, energy utilities are prematurely terminating consumers’ long-term fixed-price gas supply contracts. But it’s hard to get an answer why from public officials, which I attribute to a Kafkaesque conspiracy against the public. J.H. Snider/Maryland Reporter.
AISHA BRAVEBOY TAKES WIDE LEAD IN PRINCE GEORGE’S EXEC PRIMARY: With a commanding early lead in Tuesday’s special primary election for Prince George’s County executive, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy started to look forward Tuesday night to becoming the Democratic nominee for the post. Since Democrats have an overwhelming advantage in voter registration in the county, the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary is largely considered the favorite to win the seat against the Republican nominee. Those votes – all in the hundreds — were too close to call. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
STATE AUDIT FINDS B’MORE SCHOOL SYSTEM STRUGGLES TO PAY ON TIME: The latest report from Maryland’s Office of Legislative Audits finds that the Baltimore City school system struggles with paying for services on time and tracking school police overtime work. From 2017 to 2022, the report released last week says, 49% of the vendors working with Baltimore City schools didn’t get paid on time. More than 16,000 invoices didn’t get paid for over three months. Bri Hatch/WYPR-FM.
