MAJORITY OF BILLS WILL REMAIN UNPASSED: Over 2,600 bills were introduced during Maryland’s 2026 legislative session, but as the Monday midnight deadline nears, fewer than 600 have reached Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. That gap raises two central questions: How much did lawmakers truly accomplish, and how much will ultimately pass? Mennatalla Ibrahim/The Baltimore Sun.
LAWMAKERS OK HOUSING BILLS WITH LAST-MINUTE CHANGES: Lawmakers gave final approval Friday to part of Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) package of housing reform bills, but another ran into a last-minute snag between chambers while a third languished in committee without a vote. The bills delay the payment of certain fees to county officials for the development of new housing and create the assurance that a project would be subject to the local regulations in place at time of its completed application and not subject to later changes. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
HOUSE OKs SENATE BILL TO FIX PROCEDURES FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES: The House, in a near-unanimous vote Friday, approved a Senate bill aimed at cleaning up administrative procedures that have caused headaches and disenrollments for people seeking Medicaid waivers for coverage of developmental disabilities. It would be a small, but welcome, win for a community that faces a second year of massive cuts to state funding for those services. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
SENATE, HOUSE PASS TRUST ACT ON ICE ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION: The Maryland Senate passed a bill Friday barring informal state and local police coordination with federal immigration agencies, setting the bill on a glide path through the General Assembly days before the session’s finale on Monday. The Senate voted 29-13 on Friday, sending the bill over to the House of Delegates. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
- A day after the Maryland Senate approved legislation to limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the House of Delegates approved the bill as an emergency measure Saturday night. The 92-37 vote in support of Senate Bill 791 came shortly before midnight, capping a 13-hour day in the House and putting the bill one step away from the governor’s desk. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY WANTS ENERGY COMPETITION; EXELON WANTS TO EXPAND: In the waning days of the 2026 legislative session, the General Assembly appears poised to slightly alter the rules for retail energy suppliers. But industry leaders say the rule changes are unlikely to bring suppliers back into the Maryland market, after a mass exodus in recent years. The changes are just a small — and rarely discussed — part of the legislature’s sweeping energy package, called the Utility RELIEF Act. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
- Lawmakers are on the verge of passing legislation that would stop Exelon from underwriting executive salaries with ratepayer money and subject utilities to even more oversight for infrastructure projects that are billed to ratepayers. That bill also projects to save average customers at least $150 a year by cutting energy efficiency surcharges. To Speaker of the House Joseline Peña-Melnyk, actions like these are how the legislature stands up to utilities for Marylanders. Adam Willis and Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
DATA CENTER CONUNDRUM: IS THE ENERGY WORTH THE MONEY?Commissioner Mike Hart urged his Calvert County colleagues to not be seduced by the promise that the data centers would deliver tens of millions of dollars in fresh tax revenue, a pot large enough to pay for turf playing fields, a new sheriff’s headquarters and a property tax cut. But the proliferation of the energy-hungry facilities, fueled by an explosion in digital demand during the pandemic and the advent of AI, is provoking fierce opposition as concerns mount over strained electrical grids and soaring utility rates. Paul Schwartzman/The Washington Post.
VENDORS WORRY ABOUT IMPACT OF PENDING GUN BAN: Firearms vendors and instructors attending a gun show Sunday in Howard County said a pending statewide ban on several popular handguns, such as Glocks, could be disruptive to their businesses. Matt Hubbard/The Baltimore Sun.
LAWMAKERS LIKELY TO GET AUTOMATIC RAISE NEXT YEAR: What if to get a raise you just had to do … nothing? Such is the design of how pay is set for the General Assembly’s 188 senators and delegates, where lawmaker raises are likely to take effect next year silently and without even a vote. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
SOME ALLIES NOW QUESTION MOORE’s BACKGROUND: A yearlong investigation by Spotlight on Maryland has found gaps, discrepancies and unanswered questions in the personal and professional story Gov. Wes Moore has used to build his public image. The findings come as criticism of the governor is no longer limited to political opponents. Baltimore pastor P.M. Smith recently described Moore as “pathological” in his handling of the truth, claiming he “lies.” Candy Woodall/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: HARRIS’s LOVE FOR ORBÁN IS BAD FOR MARYLAND: Congressman Andy Harris loves authoritarian leader Viktor Orbán. During 16 years as Hungary’s prime minister, Orbán has stacked the judiciary, changed election rules, replaced the civil service, consolidated news media under state control and rewritten the constitution. He sold state-owned companies to enrich his family. Now that Orbán faces possible defeat in national parliamentary elections Sunday, Harris has been part of the American right-wing rescue effort. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
CECIL KIDS CREATE COLORFUL ‘I VOTED’ STICKERS: What do two crabs — one wearing an Uncle Sam hat — and a U.S. flag inside the geographic shape of Cecil County have in common? Those images will adorn three varieties of “I Voted” stickers that Cecil County voters will get when they cast their ballots in the June primary and November’s general election. Three Cecil County Public Schools students won the art contest. Carl Hamilton/The Cecil Whig.
WANTED: QUALIFIED LEAD PAINT CONTRACTORS TO CLEAN UP CITY BRIDGES: Lead paint is falling from six Baltimore-area bridges, contaminating waterways — and officials say fully fixing the problem could take years, in part because they can’t find qualified contractors. Half the bridges under investigation by the state Department of the Environment for polluting waterways with falling lead paint chips are managed by the city of Baltimore, and the others by the State Highway Administration. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
HARFORD’s FIRST FEMALE COUNCILMEMBER RUNS FOR COUNTY EXEC: Barbara Kreamer served as the first woman elected to the Harford County Council from 1978 to 1982, then as a state delegate for two terms. Now she is running for a different seat representing the county. Kreamer, 77, a 10th-generation resident of Aberdeen, is on the ballot for county executive. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
HARFORD CREATES CERTIFIED LAB TO TEST FOR PFAS: Harford County is cutting the time it takes to test its public water for “forever chemicals” from weeks to days. Harford recently became the first county in Maryland to operate its own state-certified laboratory able to test for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a type of long-lasting man-made chemicals that are difficult to remove from the environment. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
ARUNDEL COUNCILMAN SEEKS TO ADDRESS DISPENSARY LOCATIONS: A dispensary proposed near two churches is meeting pushback from Anne Arundel County Councilman Nathan Volke, who wants to address vague zoning for dispensaries located near religious and child care facilities. The Republican’s legislation, Bill 29-26, would make it harder for the dispensary to open in his district in Pasadena. Tanisha Bhat/The Baltimore Sun.
How much did the legislature accomplish? 600 bills too many.
$150 a year saved in energy costs, my financial problems from energy are solved! This state is a joke.
The amount of push back on Cannabis Dispensaries and their locations are absurd. They act like children are going to walk into these places and buy Cannabis. Or worse, what happens when the church’s followers choose to stop there and purchase the Devil’s lettuce of their own free will?! Oh the horrors! But yet we have liquor stores and bars littered everywhere causing way more destruction to our society than Cannabis ever could. Time after time we find that all of the scaremongering around the opening of dispensaries is wrong every time. End the Reefer Madness mentality. Nathan Volke, sir please go F yourself and educate yourself on the subject.