ON OPENING DAY, HOUSE, SENATE LEADERS LAY OUT TARGETS FOR 2026 SESSION: Affordability. Accountability. Opportunity. Maryland’s new House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk says all work will be carried out through the lens of those three words for the next 90 days. The priority for state legislators will be balancing Maryland’s fiscal year 2027 budget — state financial experts project there will be at least a $1.2 billion structural deficit to close. Senate President Bill Ferguson says this will not be a year of structural fixes, but rather one of dipping into reserve accounts and making small cuts to make ends meet. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
- Both presiding officers opened the 2026 General Assembly by reminding their respective chambers that pocketbook issues should be their primary concern as lawmakers try to address rising costs without adding to them with new taxes. Christine Condon and William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
- The first day of the General Assembly is traditionally a time for more back slaps than broadsides and more applause lines than arguments. The actual business of Wednesday took about an hour in the Senate, about an hour and a half in the House, as each chamber elected its leaders for the session, approved rules and read the first batch of bills across the desk — 231 in the Senate and 301 in the House. Each chamber was packed with family members, former members and visiting state and local officials. Christine Condon, William J. Ford and Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.
SOME SHERIFFS WORRY LEGISLATORS WILL BAN AGREEMENTS WITH ICE: Some county sheriffs in Maryland said they worry crimes committed by immigrants in the country illegally could rise if Democrats follow through on a promise to ban 287(g) agreements during this year’s legislative session. The agreements allow local enforcement officers to partner with ICE to enforce federal immigration law. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
FREDERICK SHERIFF VOWS TO KEEP WORKING WITH ICE IF REELECTED: Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins plans to keep working with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, regardless of the national uproar over the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an ICE agent, subsequent protests nationwide and criticism from local leaders. “They have a job to do,” Jenkins said after filing for reelection Wednesday morning. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
A DIFFICULT LEGISLATIVE SESSION AS END OF MOORE’s FIRST TERM BEGINS: Gov. Wes Moore is running for reelection this year as Maryland continues to face challenges, such as federal funding cuts, immigration enforcement and a looming $1.4 billion budget deficit. Wednesday marked the start of the final legislative session of Moore’s first term. Ciara Wells/WTOP-FM.
BIG SPENDERS: EXELON, CONSTELLATION VIE FOR INFLUENCE IN ANNAPOLIS: Exelon, through BGE and its other subsidiary, Pepco, spent $925,000 trying to peddle influence over lawmakers last year. Constellation, at nearly $1.5 million, spent more than any corporation in the state. This session will see more of the same. Constellation has 16 registered lobbyists for the 2026 legislative session — more than any entity not named Exelon, which will employ 34 advocates. Adam Willis and Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
WHAT MO CO LAWMAKERS ARE FOCUSING ON: Montgomery County lawmakers have set their individual priorities for the 2026 session. Among them, Del. Jheanelle Wilkins said she was “thinking about the weight and the importance of the” House Ways and Means Committee she will be leading this session, particularly as legislators look to close a nearly $1.5 billion budget deficit. Del. David Moon is sponsoring a “digital unmasking” bill that would require the state to begin collecting identifying information about anonymous U.S. ICE agents involved in violent or unconstitutional misconduct, for possible future legal action. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
MARYLAND BOOSTED HEALTH INSURANCE ENROLLMENT, BUT WITH ONE ISSUE: The cost of health insurance has skyrocketed for millions of Americans while Congress failed to agree on relief. But as open enrollment in the state’s health exchange comes to a close Thursday, Maryland boosted its sign-ups this year. State officials consider it a feat — though a tenuous one that comes with threats that could drive up costs for all Marylanders. Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE SENDS OUT 180,000 JOBLESS CLAIMS REPAYMENT NOTICES: Hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents who received unemployment benefits during the pandemic are now being told they may have to pay some of that money back, with state officials acknowledging that some notices may have been sent in error. Mallory Sofastaii/WMAR-TV News.
HOUSING PERMITS FALL SHORT OF HOUSING NEEDS: Maryland officials have released the state’s first-ever Housing Production Targets, setting clear goals for how many homes local governments must approve through 2030. The report, part of Gov. Wes Moore’s Housing Starts Here executive order, will guide state funding decisions and come with annual reports tracking whether communities are keeping pace. Currently, the state approves about 18,000 housing permits a year, according to the Department of Planning, a figure officials say falls short of demand. Wambui Kamau/WYPR-FM.
144 CHILDREN LANGUISHED IN HOSPITAL, DESPITE DOCTORS CLEARING THEM: One-hundred and forty-four children in Maryland foster care identified in a new court filing as having “overstayed” at hospitals over the course of two recent years. Having been taken to emergency rooms or psychiatric units, the children languished there, sometimes for months, beyond when doctors said they could be discharged because caseworkers couldn’t find a foster home or other facility to take them. Hospital overstays led longtime child advocates to sue the Maryland Department of Human Services in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt in 2023. Earlier this week, lawyers filed a memo on who should be included in a class action suit. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO CHARTER AMENDMENT SEEKS TO GIVE REPUBLICANS A SHOT: For more than 20 years, Democratic candidates have won all partisan elections in Montgomery County for county executive, county council and General Assembly. Reardon “Sully” Sullivan, the chair of the county’s Republican Party, would like to change that reality for council members through a proposed charter amendment. Does he have any shot to do so? Adam Pagnucco/Montgomery Perspective.
ICE ARRESTS SEVEN IN ANNAPOLIS IN ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ ACTIVITY: At least seven people were detained by ICE officials Tuesday in the Annapolis area, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman wrote on social media Wednesday. Pittman said it represented “unprecedented levels of ICE activity” in the area. “Residents watched terrified as armed masked men in unmarked vehicles detained people,” Pittman wrote. Alex Mann and Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
