SENATE PANEL FINALIZES $71 BILLION SPENDING PLAN: The Maryland Senate released its state spending plan for next fiscal year, accepting the majority of budget proposals from Gov. Wes Moore but also reducing and swapping some proposed cuts. The state expects to spend around $70 billion next fiscal year with around $250 million to spare. There are no proposed tax or fee increases. Staff/WYPR-FM.
- Gov. Wes Moore delivered a $70.8 billion overall budget in January. The spending plan closed a surprise $1.5 billion structural gap with a series of one-time fund transfers including nearly $300 million diverted from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund. The plan also contains some cuts and swapping cash for bonds. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
DESPITE CUT REDUCTION, DDA ADVOCATES CALL BUDGET ‘PAINFUL:’ Despite being “extremely thankful” that state leaders worked with them to reduce cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, advocates say this year’s budget is still a “painful” proposal to a community that already absorbed steep cuts last session. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
PUSH IS ON TO OPEN TRANSITIONAL FACILITY FOR WOMEN INMATES: Monica Cooper is one of the driving forces in a yearslong campaign to get Maryland’s state government to open a correctional facility for women ending their sentences and preparing to return to the community. She helped pass a law and overcome a prior governor’s veto. Now she’s pushing the state to follow through. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
BILLS PROPOSE $150 ANNUAL UTILITY SAVINGS: Maryland households will see at least $150 a year in utility bill savings from a package of bills unveiled late this week, the governor and legislative leaders promised Friday. Low-income households could see even greater savings from Utility RELIEF Act, the wide-ranging energy bill that is expected to hit the House floor Monday, with some savings kicking in as early as this summer if the bill passes. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
WHERE TO GET HELP WITH HIGH UTILITY BILLS: Before their family of seven moved to Baltimore, Megan and Shawn Hafele asked Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. for an estimate of their monthly utility bill. They were told $300 to $500 a month. This winter their bill has been more than double that — and they can’t afford to pay. The Hafeles are among a record number of Marylanders who feel financially crushed by utility bills and are turning to assistance programs administered by the state and BGE. Bria Overs/The Baltimore Banner.
WITH AI SURGING, MARYLAND STEPS UP TO REGULATE: An AI generated video reposted by Republicans uses real images of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, highlighting one of many issues prompting Maryland lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence, even as President Donald Trump urges states to exercise restraint. “It’s an amazing, powerful technology,” said state Sen. Katie Fry Hester, a Democrat whose many AI bills include one criminalizing the use of “deepfakes” to impersonate someone or cause serious harm. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
PITCHES FOR OFFICIAL ‘THIS AND THAT’ DON’T ALWAYS LAND: It was a good pitch, and heartfelt. Unfortunately for 9-year-old Preston Milloy, who wanted to make the Natural History Society of Maryland the state’s official natural history museum, and supporters of a dozen other bills to designate an official state this or that, the General Assembly’s one and only requirement during the legislative session is to approve a balanced budget. It’s not hopeless: Lawmakers last year designated chromite as the official state mineral, but that took eight years to win passage. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
THIRD BALTIMORE AREA BRIDGE SHEDDING LEAD PAINT CHIPS: State environmental regulators have opened up another investigation, this time in Baltimore County, after tests confirmed lead-contaminated paint chips are falling from a section of Interstate 95 in Halethorpe. This is the third aging bridge in the region found to be shedding paint chips since February. Karl Hille and Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
WITHOUT TAX CREDITS, ACA COSTS TRIPLED: Michael Zabetakis’ monthly health insurance premium nearly tripled when the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expired in January — rising from about $500 to nearly $1,500 as he waits to turn 65 in July and qualify for Medicare. By his birthday, the Glen Burnie native will have shelled out $6,000 for his health care. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: A MONEYBALL FOR PRIMARIES: The typical argument about who should run and who the Republican Party “should” coalesce around, who “has the best shot,” who “connects with voters,” is mostly vibes. Name recognition dressed up as analysis. Past titles are mistaken for present value. The candidate who ran before, and lost, and is running again, is treated as the experienced hand rather than the demonstrated loser they actually are. Candidates and activists needed a better framework. Now, we have one. And it tells us that the Republican candidate in Maryland with the best odds of winning in November is……John Myrick?!? Brian Griffiths/The Duckpin.
COMMENTARY: A FIX FOR BALTIMORE COUNTY COUNCIL’s PENSION GRAB: The Baltimore County Council has sunk to a new low in its discussion of two bills responding to the backlash over the scheme to give themselves extraordinarily large, unearned increases in their pension benefits. Some council membersare trying to undo the consequences of the scheme while trying to persuade the public that those eye-popping pension windfalls for incumbents who leave the council at the end of this year were the unintended result of a series of unrelated actions. David Plymyer/Baltimore Brew.
DEBATE OVER IGs GROWS AS THEY CLASH WITH POLITICAL LEADERS: Across Maryland, inspectors general are tasked with rooting out government waste, fraud and abuse. But their ability to do that job may depend on whether they can operate without political pressure. Recent disputes in Baltimore City and Baltimore County have prompted debate about how independent those watchdog offices are and whether government officials should have the power to influence or remove the very investigators tasked with scrutinizing them. Tessa Bentulan/The Baltimore Sun.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXEC CANDIDATES ADDRESS DATA CENTERS, TAXES: Data centers and taxes topped the list of issues discussed by three Democratic candidates for Montgomery County executive during WMAU’s The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi on Friday afternoon. The debate over how to regulate data centers in Montgomery County is ramping up as the California-based Atmosphere Data Centers moves forward with plans to construct a 300-megawatt facility at the former site of the Dickerson Power Plant. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
- Kojo and WAMU Maryland reporter Jenny Abamu were joined by Andrew Friedson, Evan Glass and Will Jawando, all Montgomery County councilmembers running for county executive. They were asked for their takes on a range of topics, including housing, federal immigration enforcement, and increasing taxes, as they made their cases to voters ahead of the Democratic primary on June 23. Click the blue listen button to hear the show. Kojo Nnamdi and Jenny Abamu of The Politics Hour/WAMU-FM.
ELRICH PROPOSES 6% PROPERTY TAX HIKE FOR MONTGOMERY: As part of his final budget proposal, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is recommending a 6% property tax rate increase he says is needed to fully fund Montgomery County Public Schools in the upcoming fiscal year. Ceoli Jacoby and Ashlyn Campbell/Bethesda Today.
$500,000 STATE GRANT AIDS B’MORE SKATING CENTER: Though the long-term future of the Mimi DiPietro Family Skating Center in Baltimore remains in question, it will be receiving temporary relief in the form of a $500,000 grant from the state of Maryland. Shortly before dropping the puck on Saturday, Senate President Bill Ferguson made the announcement, calling it “absolutely essential that we find a way to keep this rink open.” Paul Mancano/The Baltimore Banner.
EPSTEIN’s REACH EXTENDED INTO MARYLAND: In addition to the specific revelations in the files released by the Department of Justice on the Jeffrey Epstein case, another takeaway emerges: the sheer breadth of the convicted sex offender’s reach. The millions of documents released to date contain references to individuals and groups from seemingly everywhere, including Maryland, where some are as obscure as a girl’s soccer team in Crofton, and others as well-known as Johns Hopkins Medicine. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
