State Roundup: Disabilities advocates fear loss of $150M to agency; Hakeem Jeffries attempts to sway Dem holdouts over redistricting

ADVOCATES PROTEST PROPOSAL TO SLASH $150M FROM DISABILITIES AGENCY: Developmental disabilities caregiver Idris Idowu fears that a Moore administration proposal to slash $150 million from the state agency that oversees those services will not only hurt his clients — if could threaten his ability to support his family as well. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES ATTEMPTS TO SWAY DEM HOLDOUTS OVER REDISTRICTING: Gov. Wes Moore’s stalled effort to redraw the state’s eight congressional districts got a push Wednesday from U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who spent several hours in Annapolis in an attempt to convince Senate President Bill Ferguson to move the redistricting bill out of the dead-end Senate Rules Committee. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

• Ferguson and Jeffries shared broad agreement about the need to respond to the harms of the Trump administration and spoke mostly about the legal merits of redistricting, a source with knowledge of the conversation who was not authorized to discuss it said, but the meeting did not appear to have changed either man’s mind. Madeleine O’Neill and Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.

DELEGATE PUSHES TO EXTEND CANDIDATE FILING DEADLINE: A Frederick County delegate is pushing to extend Maryland’s filing deadline for congressional candidates by nearly a month while a battle over redistricting is fought in the state legislature. The bill, HB689, sponsored by Del. Kris Fair, a Democrat, would move the congressional filing deadline from the last Tuesday in February, which is Feb. 24, to March 20. Erik Anderson/The Frederick News Post.

STATE SEEKS MORE COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF DHS: Legislative analysts want Maryland to withhold $750,000 from the state Department of Human Services until the agency provides a more complete accounting of spending on programs, including foster care and federal assistance. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.

BILLS SEEK TO RAISE NUMBER OF LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS IN SCHOOLS: Lawmakers are considering companion bills in the House (HB 340) and Senate (SB 238) that would make Maryland part of a multistate compact with comparable licensing standards and reciprocal license agreements for school psychologists, in an attempt to fill the gap in school-based psychologists. William Ford/Maryland Matters.

COMMENTARY: BILL ALLOWING CHAPLAINS AS SCHOOL COUNSELORS OPENS DOOR TO PROSELYTIZING: Religious Maryland lawmakers are offering a false solution to a real problem. Like most states, Maryland faces a serious shortage of school mental-health professionals. The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per counselor, yet Maryland’s average is closer to 327. The gap is even wider for school psychologists. HB-24 attempts to address the shortage by inserting unlicensed volunteer chaplain aides into public schools to provide “support services” to students. The bill lacks even the most basic safeguards. Mickey Dollens/Maryland Reporter.

SQUATTERS ISSUE ON ITS WAY TO ANNAPOLIS AFTER BETHESDA SITUATION: Nearly a week after Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies cleared a $2.3 million Bethesda home that had been occupied for almost nine months, the property now sits sealed in metal panels. Every door, and some windows, have been covered. Hundreds of items belonging to the squatters remain piled in the driveway, now waterlogged — a visible reminder to neighbors that while one eviction is complete, the larger legal fight is not. For 19-year-old Ian Chen, who lives next door, the eviction was not the end. It was a turning point, a call to action in Annapolis. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.

LOCAL CONGRESS MEMBERS PUSH FOR ENVIRO PLAN AFTER POTOMAC SPILL: Congressional lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia are pushing for a “rigorous” environmental remediation plan, public briefings and continued bacteria monitoring in the wake of last month’s spill of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River. The lawmakers’ letter to DC Water, the owner of the broken pipe, comes amid continued sparring between President Donald Trump and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore about who’s responsible for the devastating sewage leak near Cabin John and who’s responsible for its cleanup. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.

• D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) declared the Potomac River sewage spill a public emergency Wednesday and requested federal assistance with cleanup as the Trump administration continued to criticize local leaders – including Gov. Moore — for allegedly mishandling the environmental disaster. Jenny Gathright and Dana Hedgpeth/The Washington Post.

REPUBLICANS LINE UP FOR 2026 GOV’s RACE; EXCEPT BOUCHAT; HE’s RUNNING IN 2030: Republican candidates for governor of Maryland are coming out of the woodwork as we hit the home stretch before the Feb. 24 filing deadline. The field of filed candidates has now ballooned to seven, and that does not count former Democrat Ed Hale, who will presumably officially file as a candidate after the announcement of his lieutenant governor running mate on Thursday, or Del. Christopher Bouchat, who announced last summer. Brian Griffiths/The Duckpin.

• On the other hand, Del. Bouchat will not be filing to run for governor this year. Bouchat writes: “… I am not filing to run, since serving in public office has crippled my business and need to focus on salvaging the damage done. Smartest one of the bunch, because I am announcing my candidacy for 2030.” Brian Griffiths/The Duckpin.

WHEN ICE COMES TO YOUR COMMUNITY: In Western Maryland’s Washington County, the federal Department of Homeland Security bought an 825,000-square-foot warehouse with plans to retrofit it into a detention facility for up to 1,500 immigrants. Almost everyone is grappling with what it means to have the immigration crackdown in their backyard. Will more detention beds tax infrastructure such as the water supply? What about traffic, security and the capacity of local emergency services? County officials have said they don’t have the answers because, in part, the federal government hasn’t shared plans with them. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.

ICE OPENS ATTORNEYS OFFICE IN HUNT VALLEY: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has opened an office in Hunt Valley for its attorneys. State property records show the building is owned by The International Trust, which attorney Tim Braue said leased 16,365 square feet of office space to the U.S. General Services Administration. The space is being used by the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, the legal arm of ICE. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.

FEDERAL FUNDS HELP BOOST CROWNSVILLE REDEVELOPMENT: Nearly a year and a half ago, state, local and federal officials celebrated the opening of a nonprofit center on the campus of the historic Crownsville Hospital. Wednesday, officials were back in that same building to celebrate the delivery of $7.65 million in federal funds that will help Anne Arundel County continue redevelopment of the 500-acre Crownsville site. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.

SPHERE COULD GENERATE $1.5B, CREATE MANY JOBS, ANALYSIS SAYS: Once operational, the new Sphere set to be built in National Harbor will generate $1.5 billion in revenue and create thousands of jobs across Maryland, according to new analysis from accounting firm Ernst and Young. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.