SENATE OKs $71B SPENDING PLAN; NOW IT HEADS TO HOUSE: A nearly $71 billion state spending plan is headed to the House of Delegates after the Senate gave final approval to the package Wednesday. The final vote comes a day after the same chamber gave preliminary approval to a plan that amends the budget introduced by Gov. Wes Moore (D) in January. The spending plans close a $1.5 billion shortfall with no new taxes and limited new spending. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
BPW APPROVES $1.2B FOR GROUP HOME BEDS FOR FOSTER KIDS: The Board of Public Works voted unanimously Wednesday to approve up to $1.2 billion over five years for contracts with licensed group homes, adding bed capacity that state officials hope will end the practice of hospital overstays for foster children. Rhiannon Evans/Maryland Matters.
DEM HOUSE MEMBERS SEEK TO UPDATE GENDERED LANGUAGE IN STATE CONSTITUTION: Two dozen Democratic members of the House of Delegates recently introduced a bill to update gendered language in the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of Rights — a plan some Republican women described as a waste of time. Patrick Hauf/The Baltimore Sun.
SUPER WRIGHT SEES LITERACY COACHES AS VITAL TO CLASSROOMS: Ecaterina Bittner’s formal title is literacy coach, and she is the type of educator that Maryland Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright wants to put in dozens of classrooms across the state next year — if she can wrangle $10.9 million of state funding. Gov. Wes Moore proposed the investment in literacy and math coaches as part of his budget in January, but it will be up to the legislature to decide whether it survives. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.
CRYPTO GIANT, ATTY GEN TUSSLE OVER LEGISLATION: Coinbase, a global cryptocurrency powerhouse, is sharply at odds with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office over legislation the company is pushing to sanction a rewards program that Brown says violates securities law. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
LAWMAKERS HOPE TO CURB STATE RESIDENTS’ REGISTERING VEHICLES OUT OF STATE: Maryland lawmakers are in the final stages of passing legislation that would crack down on residents registering their vehicles in another state. While it is already against the law to seek out-of-state plates if you are a Maryland resident with limited exceptions, Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher says it isn’t easy to enforce. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
LAWMAKERS STEER AWAY FROM GAS TAX AND TOWARD MILEAGE-BASED FEE: Maryland lawmakers are again pushing a bill that would move the state away from the gas tax and toward a mileage-based user fee, an idea that failed in the General Assembly last year but that supporters say may be inevitable. Mallory Sofastaii/WMAR-TV News.
A LOT OF LEVITY IN THE HOUSE: Revenge is a dish served … sweet? For weeks Del. Vaughn Stewart has dished out a series of pranks on unsuspecting colleagues on the House floor. Wednesday night, someone — perhaps a victim of earlier shenanigans — decided to get even. In the meantime, conservative Del. Kathy Szeliga and progressive House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk exhanged some left/right humor. Bryan P. Sears, William J. Ford and Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
GOV HOPEFUL HALE, SHERIFFS DISCUSS CHALLENGES TO LAW ENFORCEMENT: Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ed Hale met with local sheriffs and law enforcement on Wednesday to discuss the growing challenges authorities face, including recruitment and retention issues, after major changes to policing policies over the last three years. During that meeting, sheriffs briefed Hale on the impact of juvenile law changes and ongoing concerns around defending victims’ rights. Staff/WBFF-TV News.
MD ELECTIONS CHIEF: SAVE ACT MAY CREATE BLOCKS TO VOTER REGISTRATION: The SAVE America Act is the subject of what could be days of debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The legislation is a Republican measure that requires proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote — like a passport or birth certificate, and a photo ID, to cast a ballot in a federal election. At the Maryland Board of Elections, Administrator Jared DeMarinis said they have already verified identities. The SAVE America Act would require them to also verify citizenship. “That would possibly create some barriers in that process,” DeMarinis said. Kate Amara/WBAL-TV News.
MARYLAND SHERIFFS’ FIGHT AGAINST BAN ON ICE AGREEMENTS GETS NOTICED: Maryland law enforcement leaders gained some national attention in their fight against a law banning formal agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week. Lt. Col. Allen West, the executive director of the national conservative legal nonprofit American Constitutional Rights Union, met with sheriffs and other officials in Harford and Carroll counties Monday to discuss his concerns about the constitutionality of the bans. Brendan Nordstrom/The Carroll County Times.
FEDERAL PROBE FOCUSES ON B’MORE HOMES SOLD OVER AND OVER: Federal prosecutors appear to be closing in on a real estate investment scheme by a small group of New York businessmen who used loosely regulated commercial loans to quickly build a massive portfolio of rowhomes in Baltimore. A complaint filed last week in the U.S. District Court of Maryland accuses Alexander Schultz, a real estate wholesaler, and Jacob Rappaport, a Towson-based attorney, of misleading lenders. Giacomo Bologna, Sahana Jayaraman and Hallie Miller/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE IG: YOUTH PROGRAM PAID FRAUDULENT INVOICES, HAD A DATA BREACH: New findings on a controversial city-run youth diversion program include thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent invoices and a data breach in which more than 700 names – many of them juveniles – were released to the personal email account of a relative of a city employee. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
Oh the dumb crap Annapolis passes or tries to pass is so unbelievable sometimes. Why do our lawmakers hate the citizens of this state so much.