FISCAL REALITY DAMPENS CELEBRATION OF SINE DIE: The governor was disappointed, some of the biggest bills got put off to the last day, last-minute wrangling doomed some bills and saved some others, and it all ended at midnight with balloons and confetti raining down from the galleries to mark the end of 90 days of work. In other words, just another Sine Die. Danielle J. Brown, William J. Ford, Bryan P. Sears and Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
- Maryland lawmakers passed a budget on Monday, concluding their spring session after months of grappling with a tough fiscal reality and new federal policies coming down from President Donald Trump. Marissa Yelenik and Sofia Appolonio/Capital News Service.
- Lawmakers took votes to raise taxes and cut spending, all the while looking over their shoulder at Washington, D.C., where Republicans are slashing jobs and funding with threats of more to come. They struggled to rewrite energy policy to encourage more power generation while helping consumers and not abandoning efforts for clean energy. Pamela Wood, Brenda Wintrode and Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
- Months of handwringing over Maryland’s dim financial outlook turned into muted celebrations and then quickly back to handwringing as state lawmakers and Gov. Wes Moore tied up their 2025 lawmaking session on Monday. The largest state budget deficit in years was resolved, but the potential pitfalls ahead, they said, were still hard to even fathom. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
A WATERED-DOWN IMMIGRANT PROTECTION PACKAGE PASSES: After it was stalled for most of the day, a watered-down package of protections for Maryland’s immigrant community was rushed through by lawmakers with just minutes to spare Monday. The version of House Bill 1222 that passed the House and Senate includes language to help “sensitive locations” like churches and schools decide how to respond if immigration agent show, and it includes some privacy protections for migrant data. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
ENERGY REFORM BILLS PASS: With about 10 hours remaining in the 90-day legislative session, lawmakers gave final passage to a trio of energy reform bills focused on increasing the state’s power generation and curbing electricity and gas rate increases with new regulations for utilities. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
EDUCATION BLUEPRINT GETS A TRIM: It was one of the first issues to surface this year, and one of the last to be resolved, but lawmakers Monday approved compromise legislation to trim the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future while keeping much of the multiyear plan intact. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
WHO WON, WHO LOST DURING THIS YEAR’s SESSION: Lawmakers are packing their bags to go back to their regular lives and day jobs after 90 days in session in Annapolis. Gov. Wes Moore is packing his bags for an economic development trip in Asia. Who gets to count successes and failures from this year’s General Assembly session? Sometimes it depends on your perspective — what looks like a victory to Democrats might be a defeat for Republicans. Pamela Wood, Madeleine O’Neill and Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
COLUMN: O’MALLEY, OTHER DEMS, JOIN ‘PEOPLE’S CABINET:’ Mayor of Baltimore, governor of Maryland and Social Security commissioner. Now Martin O’Malley can add another title to his resume — the People’s Cabinet. Friday, Democrats listed O’Malley among their new alternatives to President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Commonly known as a shadow cabinet in parliamentary democracies such as the United Kingdom and Canada, we haven’t seen this in the United States until now. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
ROBERTS PAUSES DEADLINE TO RETURN MARYLAND MAN MISTAKENLY SENT TO EL SALVADOR: Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Mark Sherman/Associated Press and Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
- Roberts’ order is not final, but pauses the lower court’s order to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia of Beltsville while the justices reach a final decision on that order’s validity. Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, told reporters Friday she hoped her husband would be returned to the U.S. by the midnight Monday deadline set by a federal judge. Ariana Figueroa/Maryland Matters.
THE NEW REALITY FOR FEDERAL WORKERS: LONG COMMUTE TIMES: Roughly 100,000 federal workers live in the Baltimore metro region. The Trump administration’s return-to-office demand has clogged interstates and crowded commuter trains at levels not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way many desk jobs are done. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
AFTER OUTCRY, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD HISTORY RESTORED TO PARK SERVICE PAGE: The U.S. National Park Service on Monday appeared to restore its original webpage on the history of the Underground Railroad after it was met with backlash for deleting a prominently featured photo of abolitionist and women’s suffragist Harriet Tubman, as well as segments of text describing the horrors of slavery. Kelly Kasulis Cho/The Washington Post.
- But before the page was restored, the move further enraged Black Americans already grappling with a legacy of erasure as President Donald Trump has removed their ancestors’ accomplishments from Arlington National Cemetery and downplayed the need for the National Museum of African-American History. Rona Kobell and Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.
JHU SAYS ‘ABOUT A DOZEN’ INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ VISAS REVOKED: “Approximately a dozen” international students at the Johns Hopkins University had their visas to study in the United States revoked, university officials said in a statement Tuesday morning, joining schools across the country that have reported students being given little warning that their visas are suddenly invalid. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
- In response, the Baltimore university is providing support to those students through the Office of International Services, such as academic advising and health and wellbeing services, according to the school’s website. Todd Karpovich/The Baltimore Sun.
OFFICERS REFUSE TO SHOW ARREST WARRANT AS THEY DETAIN ASYLUM SEEKER: A Salvadoran mother of two and asylum-seeker was removed from her car and detained March 31 by law enforcement officers who refused to show her a warrant for her arrest. Westminster resident Elsy Berrios was driving to her job as a seamstress when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers pulled her over, her lawyer said. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
