LAWMAKERS CONSIDER ENDING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM: Maryland lawmakers are weighing whether to eliminate a decades-old immigration enforcement program amid rising concerns about the Trump administration’s efforts to escalate mass deportations nationwide. Katie Mettler and Dana Munro/The Washington Post.
SECOND LOOK ACT VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE: After an hour of robust debate, a Senate committee advanced a House bill Friday that would let some long-serving incarcerated individuals to ask a judge for a second chance at life. By an 8-3 vote, the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee approved the Second Look Act, which would let individuals who have served at least 20 years in prison petition for a reduced sentence. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: IT’s TIME TO PASS THE SECOND LOOK ACT: This week, the Maryland Senate is scheduled to vote on HB 853, the Maryland Second Look Act, which would enable people who have served at least 20 years in prison to ask the court to reconsider sentences that may have seemed appropriate when first handed down but are no longer necessary to safeguard the public. People like our clients. Left to age in prison, our clients develop serious (and expensive to treat) medical issues. They grow old in a place that is not designed to meet the needs of the elderly. They are not dangerous. They are not violent. Leigh Goodmark/Maryland Matters.
BUSINESS OWNERS URGE LAWMAKERS TO REVERSE COURSE ON TAXES, FEES: A diverse group of Maryland business owners is urging state lawmakers and the governor to reconsider a historic $1.6 billion increase in taxes and fees ahead of an anticipated budget vote in the final days of the 2025 legislative session. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
WATERED-DOWN HOUSING BILL NOW CALLS FOR STUDIES: Lawmakers are scrambling to push through a heavily amended version of Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) priority “Housing for Jobs Act,” which may be the governor’s bill in name only at this point. The bill that originally would have tied increased housing development to job growth in the state now calls for studies, the setting of housing goals and limited guarantees for developers. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
TRUMP ADMIN NIXES FIGHTER JET DEAL BETWEEN MARYLAND, D.C.: Maryland will not be getting a squadron of fighter jets from the D.C. Air National Guard after all, a White House official said Friday — marking the apparent end of the road for the state’s pursuit of the elite flying mission that was part of a pact last year involving D.C. and RFK Stadium. Katie Shepherd and Meagan Flynn/The Washington Post.
ENERGY PACKAGE A MIXED BAG FOR ENVIRO GROUPS: Environmental groups are in a sticky situation when it comes to the sizable energy reform package making its way through the General Assembly. Many are encouraged by the bill’s provisions reining in natural gas pipeline replacements, boosting the state’s use of energy storage and limiting multiyear rate hikes. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS RAISE CONCERN OVER DEMS’ BUDGET PLANS: As the clock ticks closer to the last day of session, Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the budget Maryland Democrats are rushing to get in shape to head to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, an Eastern Shore Republican, said Friday that Democratic leadership is “coming up short” on details that will “make or break” state residents and business owners. They also began to share their own ideas. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
COLUMN: MUSK IS NOT AN IDIOT; JUST ASK ANDY HARRIS: Elon Musk is not an idiot. “Look it up,” Andy Harris said, “in the dictionary.”That was one of the many things I learned from the Eastern Shore congressman’s tele-town hall last week. He said 10,000 people called in, and Andy, who has been avoiding in-person town halls, had us right where he wanted us. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE WON’T RULE OUT PRES RUN, BUT SAYS FOCUS IS MARYLAND: Gov. Wes Moore isn’t ruling out a presidential run in 2028 but said he’s concentrating on Maryland. “I am not focused on anything except for making sure that this is Maryland’s decade,” he said Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Candy Woodall/The Baltimore Sun.
80 YEARS AGO: FINAL INVASION OF THE PACIFIC WAR: Eighty years ago, on April 1, a Sunday in 1945, seven troop divisions, four Army, three Marine, landed on the beaches of Okinawa, a remote tropical island the size of Prince George’s County. It was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific War and its bloodiest battle, particularly for 450,000 civilians on the long narrow, hilly isle. A quarter of the inhabitants would die in the course of intense combat and heavy bombardment from hundreds of Navy ships and aircraft. Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.
MARYLAND, VIRGINIA JOIN TO TRY TO STOP ARBITRARY FEDERAL AGENCY MOVES: Maryland and Virginia congressional Democrats are proposing legislation aimed at preventing costly federal agency moves pushed by the Trump administration. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Virginia, are sponsoring companion bills that would require federal agencies to conduct and share comprehensive cost-benefit analyses with Congress and the public before permanent relocations. Mennatalla Ibrahim and Colin McNamara of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
DEATH OF 28-YEAR-OLD INMATE INVESTIGATED: Maryland State Police are investigating the death of a 28-year-old man at the Eastern Correctional Institute in Westover on Saturday. Matt Hubbard/The Baltimore Sun.
- A suspect, also an inmate, has been identified. He has not been charged at this time and is not being identified pending further investigation. Keith Demko/The Salisbury Daily Times.
NAVAL ACADEMY DITCHES RACE, SEX, ETHNICITY IN ADMISSIONS: The Annapolis-based U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor in its admissions process, according to new court filings. Ellie Wolfe and Sapna Basil/The Baltimore Banner.
ELFRETH HIGHLIGHTS DIVERSITY IN MILITARY IN HOUSE FLOOR SPEECH: As the Trump administration moves to strip diversity, equity and inclusion policies at the U.S. Naval Academy, Maryland freshman U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth is pushing for “a Navy and Marine Corps that look like our country.” Elfreth, whose District 3 encompasses parts of Anne Arundel County and the Naval Academy in Annapolis, used some of her House floor time last week to highlight women and women of color who graduated from the Naval Academy and represent the diversity that contributes to the U.S. Armed Forces. James Matheson/The Baltimore Sun.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNCIL OUSTS IVEY AS CHAIR IN LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP: Just before the Prince George’s County Council meeting started last week, Chair Jolene Ivey (D-At Large) was told that members would vote on whether to replace her. The writing was on the wall. It was time for a leadership change in Maryland’s second-largest county as it faces a looming budget deficit that county officials say will grow worse under the Trump administration. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
DEMONSTRATORS PROTEST MUSK, TRUMP IN FREDERICK: Scores of demonstrators decried Elon Musk and President Donald Trump in two protests in Frederick on Saturday — at Francis Scott Key Mall and outside City Hall. Nolan Wilkinson/The Frederick News/Post.
