PEÑA-MELNYK ELECTED UNANIMOUSLY AS NEW HOUSE SPEAKER: Maryland lawmakers returned to Annapolis on Tuesday for a one-day special legislative session to choose a new speaker to lead the House of Delegates and to override 18 vetoes, including Gov. Wes Moore’s veto of a bill to study reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Katie Shepherd and Katie Mettler/The Washington Post.
- Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) is the 109th person to serve as speaker of the House of Delegate but just the second woman of color in the job, following her predecessor, Del. Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County). Her rise to the speaker’s rostrum caps a nearly two-decade career in Annapolis, but got its start in an unlikely place: a small home with a leaky roof in the Dominican Republic. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- “From early on, I was just fearless,” said Joseline Peña-Melnyk. “Not ashamed. Not ashamed at all that someone would see me go [to the bodega] after other families had already eaten. So I would do that.” Being around folks who worked hard but struggled to meet even their most basic needs instilled in her a strong sense of compassion. “I learned to have empathy and to care about the things that really matter,” she said. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
- Maryland had exclusively elected white men as speaker until 2019, when former Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the chamber’s first Black and female speaker, prevailed in a divisive battle for the position. Jones announced her resignation on Dec. 4 and will remain in the House as a delegate representing Baltimore County. Mennatalla Ibrahim and Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
- Between 1997 and 1999, Peña-Melnyk worked as Assistant U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., and she served on the College Park City Council for two terms before being elected to the House of Delegates. JT Moodee Lockman and Caroline Foreback/WJZ-TV News.
LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE GOVERNOR’s VETO OF REPARATIONS STUDY: It took years to pass — and another eight months to override the governor’s veto — but lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that creates a Maryland Reparations Commission. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- Democrats decried the need to further examine and consider solutions to racist policies, while Republicans questioned the study, the costs to the state and how to determine who would receive reparations. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DEL JAZZ LEWIS RESIGNS HOUSE SEAT: House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis, a Democrat representing Prince George’s County, resigned Tuesday during a special session of the Maryland House of Delegates shortly after Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk was unanimously elected the chamber’s 109th speaker. Mennatalla Ibrahim and Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
POLL: MARYLANDERS SPLIT OVER FIXING HUGE STATE BUDGET SHORTFALL: A new poll finds Maryland residents roughly split on how officials should resolve a budget shortfall, and highlights growing pessimism about the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The poll released Wednesday by the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County suggests the governor and legislature “shouldn’t lead with tax cuts” as they cope with a projected $1.5 billion budget shortfall in the 2026 legislative session, said Mileah Kromer, director of the survey. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
SEN ATTAR SEEKS TO DISMISS EXTORTION CHARGES: State Sen. Dalya Attar, the Baltimore lawmaker indicted with her brother and a police officer, filed a motion to dismiss her extortion charges Tuesday, stating the government doesn’t have the alleged sex tape at the center of its case. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
MOST ARRESTED BY ICE IN MARYLAND HAVE NO CRIMINAL BACKGROUND: Federal agents swept across Maryland with renewed force in recent months, pushing immigration arrests to their highest level yet under President Donald Trump. But contrary to the messaging from the president and his team, most of those arrested this year had no criminal history, according to a Banner analysis of newly released federal data. Ben Conarck, Daniel Zawodny and Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
TRANSIT OFFICIALS: FOUR-LANE BAY BRIDGE SPANS WOULD EASE CONGESTION: Maryland transportation officials on Tuesday unveiled their recommendation to replace the aging Chesapeake Bay Bridge with two new four-lane spans, saying the plan would ease chronic congestion, reduce environmental impact and lower costs. Brian Carlton and Josh Davis/The Baltimore Sun.
SUPREMES DECISION: JHU SEES DROP IN BLACK, HISPANIC FROSH, RISE IN ASIANS: Two years after the Supreme Court effectively ended race-conscious college admissions nationwide, Johns Hopkins University has seen a significant change in the racial makeup of its freshman class, according to newly released enrollment data, with the number of Asian students up 20% and the number of Black and Hispanic students cut in half. Karl Hille/The Baltimore Sun.
CHARLES ROBINSON, POLITICAL JOURNALIST FOR MPT, DIES AT 69: Charles Robinson III, an award-winning journalist who covered stories across TV, radio and print for decades, died Monday afternoon at age 69, according to an executive at Maryland Public Television, his most recent workplace. Robinson covered local, state and national news throughout his career, working on Maryland state politics coverage until his final days. Sara Ruberg/The Baltimore Banner.
So they’re going to waste money on a Reparations study, which I’m pretty sure we have done before. Even if we really wanted to pay out some kind of reparations, who pays for it? The Taxpayers of today, many of us whom not only never owned or met a slave but also many of us never had ancestors that owned them. How is that fair? Not to mention, even if we did go that route, we don’t have the money, we have a continued budget shortfall, we can’t afford it, even if we really really really wanted to do this. Its not fair, its not feasible. Why do we keep circling this wagon. The only people benefiting are the people getting paid to do this worthless study.
Muh Taxes, Muh Taxes, Everyone is tapped out. Who are these 47% of MDers that are OK with muh taxes, I’m willing to bet most of them are so wealthy they don’t care or they are so poor, they are taking more than paying in. Meanwhile the rest of us in the middle continue to get fucked as our wages barely go up every year and costs continue to rise despite inflation being for the most part quelled. Bring back Hogan, we need a parking brake for Annapolis again to quell all of this spending.
Despite the cost, I do support a new Bay Bridge. I wonder which one will get built first the Key or Bay bridge. Obviously it will be the Key, but the year will be 2121 and only a few more Billion to go. lol. The fact that we even need to debate about putting a walkway or even a bike lane on the bridge is just dumb and pandering to the Bike lobby. YOU CANT EVEN TAKE BIKES ON US-50! WTF would we put in a bike lane on a road that it is illegal to ride a bike. IDK what Drugs the legislature or these people doing the study is on, but I want some.