ESTATE TAXES GIVE MARYLAND BUDGET A BOOST OVER TWO YEARS: Maryland’s revenue picture improved by nearly $250 million over two years, buoyed largely by a factor that cannot be anticipated — people dying. The numbers released Wednesday by the Board of Revenue Estimates show a tale of two budget years: A $355.7 million increase in taxes expected to be collected this year, offset by a $108.1 million reduction in fiscal 2027. Those estimates include a significant reduction in what the state can expect to collect from an IT and data services tax passed last year. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MOORE HIRED CONSULTING FIRM TO FIND WASTE BUT ARGUES AGAINST IG: As Gov. Wes Moore argues that Maryland does not need a statewide inspector general because his administration already has internal oversight, the state has paid an outside consulting firm millions of dollars to identify government waste. The state hired Boston Consulting Group in 2024 as part of Moore’s Government Modernization Initiative, an effort designed to find ways to save money and cut costs across state agencies. Tessa Bentulan/The Baltimore Sun.
JUDGE PUTS TEMPORARY STOP TO WESTERN MARYLAND ICE FACILITY: A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order halting construction work on an immigration detention center that the Department of Homeland Security had planned to begin operating next month, citing concerns about the facility’s potential environmental impacts. Joe Heim and Jasmine Golden/The Washington Post.
- Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown requested the emergency court order Tuesday to halt work on the 825,000-square-foot commercial space in Western Maryland while a separate challenge of the federal government’s purchase moves through the court. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
- Brown’s suit alleged that ICE had failed to conduct environmental review procedures before the agency purchased the Williamsport facility for over $100 million in January. State officials estimated that the facility had the capacity to house about 1,500 detainees — more than half of Williamsport’s population. Mathew Schumer/The Baltimore Sun.
LAWMAKERS’ FORMAL ENERGY PROPOSAL EXPECTED: The Maryland House and Senate are expected to announce their formal energy proposal to help curb rising utility costs within the coming days, and lawmakers are continuing to throw their ideas into the ring. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
HOUSE OKS THREE CHILD-CARE BILLS: The House approved three child care bills Wednesday, including measures to lift a yearlong freeze on enrollment in a state child care scholarship program for as many as 3,700 families on a 5,000-family waitlist. Some Republicans pushed back on the bills, arguing that it would be better to offer families tax credits to allow them to choose their own child care rather than depending on assistance from the government. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
LAWMAKERS URGED TO STOP LETTING DRUG FIRMS WRITE OFF ADVERTISEMENTS: Activists are urging Maryland lawmakers to prohibit drug corporations from writing off advertisements as business expenses, an act that they say would funnel millions of dollars to the state’s health care initiatives. Maryland would be the first state to eliminate state tax deductions for pharmaceutical ads. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
PARK POLICE HELPING ICE ARRESTS ON PARKWAYS: On national parkways – including the Baltimore-Washington, Clara Barton and George Washington Memorial – immigration agents are arresting drivers at “routine” traffic stops with the help of Park Police. Haley Parsley of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
MARYLAND DEMS TO RUN IN EVERY ASSEMBLY RACE: Maryland Democrats have fielded a candidate in all 188 General Assembly races as the party tries to run up the score in its dominance of state politics. The goal is part of the Maryland Democratic Party’s “Contest Every Seat” initiative, something the party hasn’t done since 1974. Sometimes it was an easy ask, other times, prodding and cajoling was necessary, said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Steuart Pittman. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: THE TENUOUS, TENURELESS LIFE OF AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR: I am a dance professor at Towson University. I have been teaching here for 26 years, and I wake up most mornings genuinely excited to go to work. In 2008, a full-time position opened up, and I went for it. They hired me. Then the economy crashed, and they rescinded due to a moratorium on full-time hiring, they said, and quietly filled that one position with five adjuncts instead. So I kept signing the semester contract. And I kept telling myself it was fine. It was not fine. Jayne Bernasconi/Maryland Reporter.
VETERANS SERVICE CENTER OPENS IN FREDERICK COUNTY: Frederick County’s MVA location opened a Veterans Service Center Wednesday, to help connect members of the military and veterans, as well as their families, to special programs. Nathanael Miller/WYPR-FM.
FORMER LT GOV STEINBERG DIES AT 92: Former Lt. Gov. Melvin “Mickey” Steinberg, who served in state government for nearly three decades and later worked as a lobbyist, died Tuesday after a short stay in hospice. He was 92. Kayla Harris/The Baltimore Banner.
- Sen. Shelly Hettleman, who represents the district once represented by Steinberg, described her predecessor as “a thoughtful conciliator who preferred bringing people together to resolve differences than allowing disputes to divide them.” He parlayed that approach into a career in politics that began in 1966, when he was first elected to the Senate. It ran through 1994 when, after two terms as lieutenant governor to Gov. William Donald Schaefer, Steinberg lost his own bid for governor to Parris Glendening in 1994. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
Moore doesn’t want an IG because he hired a firm to do it. Gee I wonder why. Because the IG will do a better job and not be beholden to a financial contract. What happens when there is a new administration. Are they going to hire a firm too? Like come on, here’s a cookie Moore, now get out of the way of having an IG. Is he afraid another thing is going to come out about these departments that make him look bad? Probably.