ECONOMISTS: WHITTLING GENERAL FUND WOULD MEAN SLASHING ED & HEALTH CARE: Economists said that Gov. Wes Moore’s claim to whittle down the general fund would require slashing education and health care programs, providing little to no relief for Marylanders anytime soon. Taxpayers are still reeling from last year’s tax hikes, they added. Democrats and Republicans differ on what cuts Moore needs to make, but they both agree that cuts are essential to addressing the state’s financial woes. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND RETHINKS SPECIAL ED FUNDING, BUT IT COULD COST MORE: Studies have determined that chronic underfunding is impeding students with disabilities. And each year school districts across Maryland collectively spend more than $1 billion on special education above what they get from state and federal coffers, according to the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland. But that could change. Talia Richman/The Baltimore Banner.
SENATE BILL 1: LEGISLATION WOULD BAN ICE AGENTS’ MASKS: It is not coincidental that a bill restricting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers’ face coverings was designated as “Senate Bill 1,” the first major piece of legislation of a new General Assembly session. Maryland Democrats assigned it that number to illustrate its importance to a party eager to demonstrate its opposition to federal immigration officers’ tactics — notably the use of masks hiding agents’ identities when making immigration arrests. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
MOORE, OTHER GOVs, JOIN WITH TRUMP OVER PJM-DATA CENTER PLAN: Gov. Wes Moore (D) found himself in a rare position Friday: Joining forces with President Donald Trump’s (R) administration on energy policy. Moore was one of 13 governors who signed an agreement with the Trump administration, pushing for PJM Interconnection, the operator of the nation’s largest electric grid, to bring $15 billion worth of new power online — with data center companies paying the tab. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
FORMER SPEAKER JONES RETURNS TO APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Former House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones has returned to the House Appropriations Committee, Chair Ben Barnes announced Thursday at the panel’s first meeting of the 2026 legislative session. Jones told colleagues, “I’m back home,” after being named one of three new members on the committee, according to Barnes. Mennatalla Ibrahim/The Baltimore Sun.
LATINO CAUCUS SAYS IT WILL LEVERAGE ITS STRENGTH: One recent morning, Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) opened his computer to an email from a desperate family: “Please help us locate our elderly family friend who has been detained,” it read. “This is the moment we are in right now,” says Acevero, who serves as vice chair of the Maryland Latino Legislative Caucus, with 91 members the largest in Annapolis. “We serve as the voice of the Latino and immigrant community to assure that we are reflecting their concerns and aspirations with legislation and a budget that is fair, equitable and meets the moment.” Rosanne Skirble/Maryland Matters.
NATIONAL DEMS STILL HOPE TO ELIMINATE MARYLAND’s ONLY GOP HOUSE SEAT: National Democrats aren’t giving up on potentially eliminating Maryland’s lone Republican congressional seat through redistricting, despite Senate President Bill Ferguson refusing to consider the effort. His chamber, necessary to advance legislation, will prioritize affordability issues during this year’s legislative session instead. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
HARRIS WOULD SUPPORT TRUMP ON INSURRECTION ACT: Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., said on Thursday he would support President Donald Trump invoking the Insurrection Act against Minneapolis amid continued protests against immigration officials. “What these protesters are protesting is the deal the U.S. government has made with states since the very founding of the republic,” Harris said. Sam Barron/Newsmax.
AFSCME CONTINUES TO SEEK WAGE HIKES AFTER BARGAINING FAILS: AFSCME Maryland, the largest union in state government, continues to ask for better wages after failing to reach a collective bargaining agreement with Gov. Wes Moore. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
MORGAN STUDENT JOURNALISTS DECRY UNIVERSITY’s NEW PR POLICY: For years, current and former editors said, reporters at The Spokesman, Morgan State’s student newspaper, have hit a wall getting the information they need to cover the news on the campus of 11,000 students. The university’s PR office is often slow to respond and has rarely granted interviews with the top brass, according to student journalists. The rocky relationship hit a breaking point in the fall, when an email directed university employees to schedule media interviews through the PR office, which student journalists said effectively ends their tradition of interviewing their professors directly and hampers their ability to cover breaking news. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND WOMAN FIGHTS TO PROVE CITIZENSHIP: A Maryland woman arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last month and held for 25 days despite providing a birth certificate, immunization records and what her lawyers describe as overwhelming evidence that she is a U.S. citizen said the experience was shocking and she hopes the case against her will soon end. Joe Heim/The Washington Post.
- “They told me I only had two options: Buy a ticket, or they were going to deport me,” said Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22, describing her time at ICE’s Baltimore field office in Hopkins Plaza before being transferred to Louisiana. “I told them I was born here.” Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
FREDERICK DELEGATION PONDERS BILL TO HIKE SHERIFF’s SALARY $50,000: Frederick County’s state delegation is considering whether to file a bill that would raise the Frederick County sheriff’s salary by $50,000 — from $125,000 to $175,000 — starting in 2027. On Friday, during the delegation’s first meeting of the 2026 General Assembly session, Sen. Karen Lewis Young asked the delegation to sponsor a bill on the sheriff’s salary. Erik Anderson/The Frederick News Post.
MO CO COUNCIL GEARS UP TO REGULATE DATA CENTERS: As data centers continue to proliferate in the Washington, D.C., region, four members of the Montgomery County Council are setting the stage for a debate over the best approach to regulating such facilities locally. One proposal would regulate where data centers can be located in the county and under what conditions. Another would create a task force that would study data centers and make recommendations about them to the council. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
ANTI-MUSLIM, ANTI-PALESTINIAN GRAFFITI FOUND AT BETHESDA SCHOOL: Montgomery County police are investigating anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian graffiti discovered Friday morning on an outside wall of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. Whitman Principal Gregory Miller notified the school community about the graffiti in a letter Friday. “This morning we discovered the words, “F*** Muslims, Nuke Palestine,” he wrote. Joe Heim/The Washington Post.
- “This profoundly offensive, threatening, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic hate speech is completely unacceptable, hurtful, and will not be tolerated at Walt Whitman High School or any school in Montgomery County,” Miller wrote. County police are investigating the appearance of the graffiti, which has been covered. Ashlyn Campbell/Bethesda Today.
COURT REFUSES TO REHEAR MOSBY APPEAL: A federal appeals court has refused to rehear former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s appeal in her mortgage fraud and perjury case. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
