BUSINESS OWNERS PACK HEARING TO OPPOSE 2.5% B2B TAX: Maryland business leaders packed state legislative hearings Wednesday to voice their opposition to a proposed 2.5% tax on business-to-business services. In its current form, the tax would apply to a wide range of services, including accounting, tax preparation, consulting, public relations, information technology, photography, landscaping, valet parking, and truck repair. If passed, it would take effect July 1. Rachel Baye/WYPR-FM.
- The lone person testifying for the bill was its sponsor, Del. David Moon of Montgomery County. “The events in recent weeks with the administration are causing a need to reevaluate every aspect of the general assembly’s work this session,” he said. Jeff Morgan/WMAR-TV News.
- Melissa Salzman, owner of Lovelyarns in Hampden said if the tax bill is passed, the extra costs to her business would then be passed down to her customers. Raven Payne/WMAR-TV News.
- Business owners aired their grievances over the course of a day that began with a late-morning news conference followed by hours of testimony before House and Senate committees where more than 400 businesses signed up in opposition. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Representatives of small and large businesses alike argued that a 2.5 percent tax would eat into their profit margins, raise operational costs, and potentially shutter some companies while driving others out of the state. Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
‘EVERYTHING’s ON THE TABLE’ TOWARD BALANCING STATE BUDGET: As Maryland state lawmakers work to complete a $67 billion budget for the state government, they insist that “everything’s on the table” — including tax increases and spending cuts — to keep the books in balance. Those include a business to business tax and legalized online gambling. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
LAWMAKERS GRILL ENERGY PROVIDERS OVER CUSTOMERS SOARING BILLS: Maryland lawmakers grilled local electricity and natural gas providers Wednesday in Annapolis — with one state senator saying a response from a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. representative amounted to “extortion.” Representatives for Exelon’s BGE, Pepco and Delmarva, as well as Potomac Edison and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, faced the legislative committees that oversee energy issues. Bria Overs/The Baltimore Banner.
- Amid soaring energy costs for Marylanders, lawmakers interrogated representatives of the state’s utility companies Wednesday to get to the bottom of why so many of their constituents have seen their energy bills skyrocket over the past couple months. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
- Energy providers pointed to lower-than-usual temperatures and increased usage as the cause for skyrocketing bills. They said that, because it’s getting warmer, ratepayers should see relief on their wallets in the coming months. With the knowledge that hot summer months are on the horizon, legislators were unimpressed. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
SPIKING CONDO FEES PROMPT CALL FOR CHANGES TO STATE LAW: Maryland’s reserve study law, passed following the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Fla., in 2021, was intended to ensure condo buildings kept up with needed repairs. Now changes to the Maryland law are in the works, following a wave of skyrocketing condo fees. But some stakeholders object to portions of the bill, saying it either provides too much flexibility for owners or is still not flexible enough. Brooke Conrad/The Baltimore Sun.
CIRCUIT COURT ELECTION MEASURE DONE FOR THIS YEAR: A decades-old discussion on whether to change the way Maryland’s circuit court judges are elected will continue for at least another year. “The votes are not there,” said Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and sponsor of Senate Bill 630. “Just going to put it [the bill] in the drawer. We will continue to have the debate.” Without a Senate bill, the House version will also be tucked away for now. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND, OTHER STATES SAY FED LAYOFFS CAUSING IRREPARABLE HARM: Maryland, 18 other states and the District of Columbia say the federal government’s mass layoffs of probationary federal workers is causing irreparable harm to the state governments. The jurisdictions are asking U.S. District Court of Maryland Judge James Bredar for a temporary restraining order that will halt the firings and reinstate about 23,000 workers. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
- And an attorney for the U.S. government refused to say Wednesday how many probationary federal employees have been terminated as he tried to defend the mass firings against a lawsuit from 20 attorneys general, including Maryland’s. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
LAIDOFF USAID WORKER FROM ARUNDEL GOES BEFORE CONGRESS: Lifelong Edgewater resident Steven Ramsey, along with about 40 other laid-off and furloughed USAID employees, gathered in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday. They prepared the pleas they would attempt to make to members of Congress to provide additional oversight in the continuing resolution passed by the U.S. House on Tuesday. They wanted senators to amend the bill to make the Trump administration spend funds already appropriated for foreign aid. James Matheson/The Baltimore Sun.
HUNDREDS PROTEST AT REP. HARRIS’s BEL AIR OFFICE: Hundreds of protesters lined the sidewalks outside Rep. Andy Harris’s Bel Air office on Saturday, International Women’s Day. Harris, who is Maryland’s only Republican representative in Congress and chair of the House Freedom Caucus, is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk. he purpose of the rally was to oppose everything the current administration has done and continues to try to dismantle. Aliza Worthington/Baltimore Fishbowl.
MO CO COUNCILMEMBER GLASS TO RUN FOR COUNTY EXEC: Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large) is announcing Wednesday that he is running for county executive in 2026. Glass said that he is running for the county’s top leadership post because “we need to improve our local economy, improve our schools and protect our residents.” He also plans to make pushing back against the actions of the Trump administration a cornerstone of his campaign. Ginny Bixby/Bethesda Today.
FAMILY OF DEAD SANITATION WORKER DEMANDS ANSWERS ABOUT VIOLATIONS: Somber and silent, the family members of city sanitation worker Ronald Silver II stood again before Baltimore City Hall to demand answers about his death last summer after collecting garbage in smothering August heat. They’ve done this before, but there was new information this time. “Over the weekend the family learned from Baltimore Brew reporting that MOSH had issued a citation for ‘serious’ workplace violations,” said the family’s attorney, Thiru Vignarajah. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
6th CASE OF BIRD FLU FOUND IN ARUNDEL BACKYARD CHICKENS: Maryland’s sixth case of bird flu was detected in a backyard flock in Anne Arundel County, officials announced on Wednesday. Darreonna Davis/The Baltimore Banner.
