MARYLAND COULD FACE $1.4 BILLION BUDGET GAP: Lawmakers will be briefed today on a $1.4 billion budget gap they could face as they head into the 2026 legislative session, roughly five times larger than the amount predicted in April. The briefing by the Department of Legislative Services blames the situation on national economic pressures, chiefly inflation and the rising costs of goods and services to state government, as well as the ever-increasing costs of Medicaid. The state also is seeing other costs driven by tariffs imposed on imported goods by the Trump administration. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
UNLICENSED ELDER CARE FACILITIES PROLIFERATE IN B’MORE: Across Baltimore, more than 115 seemingly ordinary homes quietly serve as the last stop for potentially thousands of elderly and vulnerable residents, where seniors are warehoused in unlicensed assisted living facilities with little oversight, few inspections and often no trained medical staff. State and local officials have known about this shadow network, where older and disabled Marylanders often end up in exchange for their Social Security or disability checks. Lawyers have called it “trafficking,” benefit exploitation and outright neglect. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
SEN. JACKSON NOW STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Sen. Michael Jackson became Col. Michael Jackson at midnight Tuesday, taking over as superintendent of the Maryland State Police and kicking off a scramble to fill his District 27 Senate seat which represents parts of three Southern Maryland counties. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
DOGE WHISTLEBLOWER RUNNING FOR STATE SENATE: Chuck Borges, the former Social Security Administration data chief turned DOGE whistleblower, is running to represent southern Maryland in the state’s Senate. Makena Kelly/Wired.
STATE ABANDONS PLAN FOR N. B’MORE LOCKED TREATMENT FACILITY: The state is ending plans to bring a youth detention center to North Baltimore, to the relief of neighbors who had strongly opposed its placement in a residential area. In 2023, the Department of Juvenile Services began calling for a locked 24-bed residential treatment center for young men. Jasmine Vaughn-Hall/The Baltimore Banner.
MANY HOUSE DEMS SAY THEY’LL VOTE AGAINST SENATE DEAL: Maryland’s House Democrats are largely dissatisfied with a bipartisan Senate deal to reopen the federal government, with many saying they plan to vote against. As early as Wednesday, the House could vote on the budget package fresh from the Senate that will reopen federal agencies, restore food aid, ensure back pay for furloughed federal workers and undo mass layoffs carried out during the shutdown. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DRIVERS CAN DONATE TO VETERANS FUND WHEN REGISTERING VEHICLE: Maryland drivers who go online to apply for or renew registration can donate to a state veterans fund at the same time, starting Tuesday. The state Motor Vehicle Administration will work with the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families to steer donations to the Maryland Veterans Trust Fund. The nonprofit group helps veterans and their families who are facing temporary financial hardships with expenses such as rent, mortgage payments and utilities. Lorraine Mirabella/The Baltimore Sun.
BWI SEES LESS DISRUPTION THAN MOST AIRPORTS DURING SHUTDOWN: Despite the federal government shutdown, flight delays and unpaid staff, BWI Marshall Airport has experienced less disruption than many of the other 40 major hubs targeted for a 10% reduction in air traffic by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to travelers and flight data. Chevall Pryce/The Baltimore Sun.
SOME FEDERAL WORKERS RELIEVED THAT SHUTDOWN’s END IS IN SIGHT: Some federal workers expressed relief Tuesday that the end of the government shutdown was in sight, but said morale problems and uncertainty about future employment kept any celebrations at bay. Jeff Barker and Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
SUPREME COURT EXTENDS PAUSE ON SNAP BENEFITS: The U.S. Supreme Court has extended through Thursday a pause on lower courts’ orders that the Trump administration authorize a full month of benefits for a food assistance program that 1 in 8 Americans use to buy groceries. Jacob Fischler and Ashley Murray/Maryland Matters.
MOORE CLAPS BACK AT POST EDITORIAL ON REDISTRICTING: Gov. Wes Moore had a five letter response to a scathing editorial dressing him down for his pursuit of congressional redistricting in Maryland. “I can respond to the Washington Post with five letters: IDGAF,” Moore told NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW” host Kelly O’Donnell on Tuesday. Moore said it was “hypocritical” for the paper to call out Maryland and not the GOP-led states that kicked off the redistricting wars over the summer. Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
ICE ARRESTS SURGE IN MARYLAND: Since January, ICE arrests of people who entered the U.S. illegally but have green cards pending have surged in Maryland. Within the first six months of the year, more immigration arrests were made in the state than in all of 2024 as the Trump administration amped up deportation efforts across the country. Around 2,000 people in Maryland were detained through the end of July, according to the Deportation Data Project. Sara Ruberg/The Baltimore Banner.
MO CO COUNCILMEMBER FILMS APPARENT ICE ENFORCEMENT, IS ‘GRABBED:’ Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink said Tuesday she was “grabbed” by a man Monday morning as she tried to film what she believed to be an immigration enforcement action in Prince George’s County. Mink (D-Dist. 5) posted a video of the interaction to her social media page Tuesday. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
MOTHER URGES BA CO SCHOOLS TO MONITOR CHILDREN WITH DIABETES: The mother of a sixth-grade child who was sent alone by a substitute teacher to the nurse’s office when he was “on the verge of passing out,” says the boy had dangerously low blood sugar that could have become a medical emergency. She got an alert and called the school. But the mother says the school’s nurse should have been monitoring it instead and is urging the Baltimore County school district to do more for children like him. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
A VETERANS PARK WITH STEELMAKING ROOTS IS DEDICATED: On Veterans Day, hundreds of dignitaries, politicians, and servicemen and servicewomen braved the unseasonably chilly temperatures in Edgemere to dedicate Veterans Memorial Park at Wells McComas VFW Post 2678, which Wells McComas VFW post Commander Dan Woolfrey and Sparrows Point/North Point Historic Society President Keith Taylor had been planning for years. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
MO CO SCHOOLS’ BUS CONTRACT ‘ILLEGAL,’ SAYS STATE BOARD: A new report from the Maryland State Board of Education has declared Montgomery County Public Schools’ $168 million electric school bus contract “illegal,” saying the district violated its own procurement rules when awarding the deal. Scott Taylor/The Baltimore Sun.
Another 1.4 Billion Gap!? Oh man we are killing it here in MD. I wonder if we’ll have another high bar for new higher taxes or if they’ll actually cut things this time. With a $67 billion budget, you can’t possibly convince me that there isn’t $1.5 billion of wasteful spending going on in there. I’m sure they’ll do their due diligence and go line by line pinching every nickel….lmao. Not Holding my breath, the Dems in Annapolis have zero Fiscal Responsibility and zero education on how the economy actually works. We can’t tax our way to prosperity.
Oh that’s so nice that I can now donate to Veterans while paying for an over priced car registration. Sorry there is little stomach to spend or give away money, even to a good cause, while I’m taking it in the rear from the state of MD.
Anyone else want to defend the Dem representatives in this state? How about Mo Co? Because this Illegal Bus contract is either Incompetence, fraud, or pandering to the connected. I thought the Dem party was “better’ than the Repubs. Nope time and time again they just show they are just on the other side of the same coin. No Moral superiority here, no competence to do their job properly, and zero sh*ts given about following the law, I mean what’s the incentive, all of these people will just win again as the sheeple line up at the Ballot box next year. Still waiting to be convinced that one party is better than the other….I’ll be waiting until the day I die.