STATE COULD SAVE $326M IN OFFICE MOVES, TECH CHANGES: In the midst of a budget crisis, Gov. Wes Moore’s administration in January went searching for modest savings in unusual places. Barely used phone lines could be disconnected. The state could cut back on buying new cars and service its existing vehicle fleet less often. Nine state-owned buildings could be abandoned in favor of commercial leases. On Friday, the results were in: Those belt-tightening measures will result in $50 million of savings each year for the next five years, and $326 million more over the next two decades. Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
- The largest portion of the savings — about $30 million — for the fiscal year that starts July 1 will come from changes in state technology. Officials said underutilized mobile and land phone lines will be eliminated. The state will also standardize laptop purchases and keep equipment longer before buying replacements. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- The large State Center office complex is one of many state-owned properties in Baltimore that could be sold for redevelopment as workers move to private commercial office space downtown. Melody Simmons/The Baltimore Business Journal.
- The state will relocate employees working in the buildings to yet-to-be-determined spaces in the city’s central business district. The state plans to secure commercial lease agreements. Included in the savings is $126 million for the previously planned relocation of state employees from the State Center complex. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DROP IN BOND RATING COULD COST MARYLAND; WE’LL FIND OUT SOON: State officials — and Maryland taxpayers — will learn in a few days just how much a ding on the state’s prized credit rating will cost, if anything. Maryland officials plan to offer roughly $1.7 billion in bonds for sale Wednesday, the first since the state lost its treasured triple AAA bond rating last month, when Moody’s downgraded the state to Aa-1. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND SEEKS TO EXPAND INTERNET ACCESS ON EASTERN SHORE: Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day has announced $1.27 million in fiscal 2025 funds to help more Marylanders on the Eastern Shore access high-speed, affordable internet, part of a broader $13,609,394 in broadband expansion funding throughout the state. Keith Demko/The Salisbury Daily Times.
STATE’s LGBTQ+ PROTECTIONS LIKELY TO BE TESTED UNDER TRUMP: For more than a decade, Maryland state lawmakers passed laws to protect and uplift Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community – from marriage equality for same-sex couples to boosting health care access for transgender individuals. The second Trump administration is likely to put those protections to the test. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: SCHOOL SUCCESS ALSO DEPENDS ON FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY: We liberals have failed to learn the lesson that more money isn’t enough for schoolchildren to succeed. We must pay equal attention to accountability for how efficiently and effectively the money is spent. Liberals’ failure goes back about 50 years when federal funds started to flow, particularly to assist low-income students and students with disabilities. The money came but the expected results didn’t. Students made little progress, which is what happens when accountability is absent from school. Kalman Hettleman/Maryland Matters.
COLUMN: MOORE DENIES RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT; FEW ARE CONVINCED: “Well, I, I, I’m not running,” Gov. Wes Moore told The Associated Press in Annapolis concerning a presidential run. “And people should get very used to me going all around the country bringing business back to Maryland.” “I know I’m not running,” he told a reporter during a Democratic love fest in South Carolina. “I am, uh — I am not running,” he said on TV’s “The View,” emphatically shaking his head. “I’m not.” Sounds convincing. So why is no one persuaded? Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
ABREGO GARCIA BACK IN U.S.; FACING FEDERAL CHARGES: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly deported to his native El Salvador three months ago, was brought back to the U.S. on Friday and will face federal charges, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Ariana Fiqueroa/Maryland Matters.
- Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. marks a surprising turnaround in the mistakenly deported Maryland man’s legal saga after months of litigation seeking to bring him back. Since sending Abrego Garcia to a Salvadoran mega-prison in March, the Trump administration has defied a judge’s orders to return him to the U.S. or communicate their efforts to do so. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
- Federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville, Tenn., determined that Abrego Garcia will be held in custody until at least next Friday, when there will be an arraignment and detention hearing. Staff/The Associated Press.
FRIENDS RALLY FOR HAGERSTOWN WOMAN HELD BY ICE: Melissa’s teenage son hoisted a laptop above his head as his mother appeared on screen by video call from a detention facility in Spokane, Wash. At the first sight of their friend in weeks, a crowd of around 150 people, who had gathered for a rally outside Melissa’s Hagerstown nail salon, erupted in gasps, cries and applause. Her family members wept and held each other. The 43-year-old is fighting deportation to Vietnam, a place she last lived when she was 10. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
CARLA HAYDEN ON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TERMINATION: Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said she does not feel her termination was personal and that she is concerned there is not much awareness from the White House on what the library actually does. Hayden, 72, spoke with CBS’ Robert Costa about her termination during the network’s “CBS Sunday Morning News.” Matt Hubbard/The Baltimore Sun.
- Hayden’s confusion about her dismissal intensified when White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said during a press briefing that Hayden did not “fit the needs of the American people.” However, the Library of Congress is primarily a research repository to serve the needs of members of Congress; it is not a lending library, and it does not have children’s books for checking out. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
ALSOBROOKS KEEPS RFK JR. IN HER SIGHTS: Four days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was supposed to testify before her committee, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks stood outside the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. She was calling for his resignation. Alsobrooks has repeatedly focused on the actions of one of Trump’s most polarizing allies: RFK Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services and the face of the Make America Healthy Again movement. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
PITTMAN IN LINE TO BECOME NEXT DEM PARTY CHAIR: When Maryland Democratic Party Chair Ken Ulman announced his plans to resign by June 13, all eyes shifted to Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman. Gov. Wes Moore and Ulman say Pittman is the next man for the job. Moore intends to nominate Pittman later this month, all but guaranteeing he will fill out the remainder of Ulman’s term, which ends next year. Pittman faces an array of challenges. But he says he is up for the task. James Matheson/The Baltimore Sun.
KLAUSMEIER TAPS FIVE MEMBER PANEL TO AID IN IG SEARCH … On Friday, Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier announced the appointment of a five-member task force to aid in the search for an inspector general. Klausmeier recently advised Inspector General Kelly Madigan that she would not be automatically reappointed to the post, but that Madigan could reapply for the position. Staff/The Baltimore Banner.
… BUT PANEL MAY BE MOOT, SINCE COUNCIL FAVORS MADIGAN: A new panel of experts appointed by Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier to help her pick a new inspector general may be irrelevant before it even begins its work. Whatever candidate the panel chooses for the job will need four votes from the council to be confirmed. Four members have said they will not confirm anyone except Madigan. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
TALBOT CONSIDERS MORE REGULATIONS ON SHORT-TERM RENTALS: As a proposal to increase regulations on short-term rentals in Talbot County draws sharp criticism from rental owners and companies, some residents are pushing back in support of the legislation. Leslie Steen, of Tilghman Island, says there are four short-term rental properties within 1,000 feet of her home. She’s worried it’ll become a domino effect for the “tight-knit” community if more rentals pop up. “The more houses we lose, the less of a community we have,” Steen said. “And that’s not healthy.” Konner Metz/The Star Democrat.
ONLINE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AID STRUGGLING PRINCE GEORGE’S YOUTH: Adolescents across the country have increasingly suffered from anxiety and depression over the last 10 years, and school officials in Prince George’s County noticed the same trend locally. So when the county’s public school system needed to support its struggling students, it did what schools and young people across the nation are doing — it turned to an online service. Max Schaeffer of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
