State Roundup: 5 counties progress toward Bay ferry system; lawmakers to seek way to extend SNAP benefits; federal workers offered deferred state tax payments

FIVE COUNTIES PROGRESS TOWARD BAY FERRY SYSTEM: Two years after a study found the project feasible, five counties developing a new Chesapeake Bay ferry system say work is progressing, aiming to launch before 2030. The study was completed by a tourism consortium representing Anne Arundel, Calvert, Queen Anne’s, Somerset and St. Mary’s counties. Josh Davis/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE LAWMAKERS TO SEEK SNAP BENEFITS EXTENSION: With federal food assistance set to dry up this week, Maryland lawmakers are convening a hearing to see if there’s a way to extend benefits through the end of the year. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.

FEDERAL WORKERS OFFERED DEFERRED STATE TAX PAYMENTS: Federal workers who are on a state tax payment plan can ask to have their payments deferred during the ongoing federal government shutdown, the comptroller’s office announced Monday. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

EATERIES OFFER FREE, DISCOUNTED MEALS TO FURLOUGHED FED WORKERS: If you’re a furloughed federal worker, you can get unemployment insurance, housing resources, utility protection and loans from Maryland’s state government — and now, you can also get free or discounted meals at certain restaurants. Ela Jalil/The Baltimore Sun.

COMMENTARY: STATE SHOULD SUSPEND LOTTERY DURING SNAP CRISIS: The Maryland Lottery has long been described as a “voluntary tax.” It’s a system that draws billions of dollars each year from Marylanders hoping that luck might change their circumstances. But the data shows that the highest per-capita lottery sales come from neighborhoods with the highest rates of poverty and the greatest number of families receiving SNAP benefits. It’s a reflection of economic despair. The moral responsibility of state government must be clear: We should not continue promoting or profiting from gambling while families wait for the certainty of their next meal. State Sen. Steve Hershey/The Baltimore Sun.

CANNABIS USE BEFORE DRIVING RISES: Researchers studying six years of highway fatalities in one Ohio county found more than 40% of 246 autopsied drivers tested positive for cannabis. Among Maryland medical-use patients, 39% admitted to using marijuana before driving in 2023, the year marijuana was legalized in the state, up from 18% the year before, according to Maryland’s 2025 Cannabis Use biannual report. The report also found that up to 10 times as many fatalities involved alcohol as marijuana — 207 to 22 in 2022. Karl Hille/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE HEALTH LAUNCHES RESPIRATORY ILLNESS DATA DASHBOARD: Maryland health officials launched a new data dashboard on seasonal respiratory illnesses as the winter holidays approach — with data on the once-novel Covid-19 virus now reported alongside that of influenza and others. The Maryland Department of Health announced Monday that the Maryland Combined Respiratory Illness Dashboard aims to help families monitor seasonal illnesses that spike in the cooler months. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

SERVICE & INNOVATION SECTY STEPS DOWN FROM MOORE CABINET: More senior staff changes are coming to Gov. Wes Moore’s team. Moore announced Monday that Maryland Department of Service and Civic Innovation Secretary Paul Monteiro will leave the position he has held since 2023. He will be replaced by Jonny Dorsey, who takes over as the second secretary of the department created under Moore. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

• The Department of Service and Civic Innovation was created by Moore in 2023 and Monteiro was the inaugural secretary. It houses the service year program, one of Moore’s signature initiatives that gives recent high school graduates a chance to work a year with a government agency, nonprofit or other service organization and earn a paycheck and a stipend. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.

‘SHADOWY’ ‘NOMOORE’ GROUP’s FEDERAL FILING RAISES QUESTIONS: A federal campaign filing by NoMoore.org, a group that Democratic Party operatives called “shadowy,” raises more questions than it answers about the group that is using social media to needle the first-term Democratic governor. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

MARYLAND PREPS TO MOVE TO FEDERAL HEALTH CARE MODEL: Maryland is preparing to transition to a federal health care model next year, which will determine how much consumers pay for medical care and how they access it. However, a unique system in Maryland that has given the state control over Medicare rates for decades could come to an end under the Trump administration. Health advocates argue the state’s current system has helped to keep hospital costs down and prevent exorbitant cost growth. Lorraine Mirabella/The Baltimore Sun.

B’MORE CITY, COUNTY TO REVIEW AI SYSTEM AFTER DORITOS INCIDENT: Leaders in Baltimore City and Baltimore County are proposing a review of artificial intelligence security systems under contract after officers recently pulled their weapons on a teenage student whose bag of Doritos was mistaken for a firearm. Luke Parker and Chevall Pryce/The Baltimore Sun.

EMBATTLED SOMERSET SUPER TO STEP DOWN: In an abrupt move, Somerset County Public Schools on Monday morning announced that Superintendent Dr. Ava Tasker-Mitchell will step down later this week. Monday’s announcement follows months of public friction between the Somerset County Board of Education and the Maryland State Department of Education over Tasker-Mitchell’s job status. Josh Davis/The Baltimore Sun.

NAVY VET TAKES TO THE STREETS TO PROTECT NEIGHBORS FROM ICE: When Clifford “Buzz” Grambo hears Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are near his Upper Fells Point home, he hops on his scooter. The 43-year-old Navy veteran is part of a loose network of Southeast Baltimore residents who attempt to protect their neighbors from ICE’s stepped-up efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Julie Scharper/The Baltimore Banner.

COPPIN STATE HEALTH BUILDING NAMED FOR HENRIETTA LACKS: Coppin State University’s Health and Human Services Building now bears the name of Henrietta Lacks, honoring the Baltimore woman whose cells — taken without her knowledge in 1951 — became the first immortal human cell line and revolutionized medical research. Megan Sayles/The Afro.

MacKENZIE SCOTT’s LATEST DONATIONS TO 2 STATE HBCUs HITS $63 MILLION: Two historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland received a total of $63 million in donations in less than two weeks from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The unrestricted gifts — $63 million for Morgan State University and $38 million to University of Maryland, Eastern Shore — are in addition to $60 million that Scott gave the schools five years ago. Morgan State got $40 million then, and UMES received $20 million. William Ford/Maryland Matters.

JUDGE REAFFIRMS ORDER KEEPING ABREGO GARCIA IN U.S.: A Maryland judge Monday reaffirmed her temporary order prohibiting the removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the United States, confirming with Justice Department attorneys that they plan to honor it just days after they notified the court of their intention to deport him to Liberia as soon as the end of this week. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.