ASSEMBLY LEADERS PUT STRICT LIMITS ON SPECIAL SESSION AGENDA: The leaders of the House of Delegates and the Senate are setting strict limits on legislation that can be introduced in the upcoming special session. In a joint letter to delegates and senators Monday, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk made it clear that when they gather next month for a special session on a constitutional amendment on drawing the state’s congressional districts boundaries, no other subjects will be taken up. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND AMID ITS TOUGHEST YEAR FOR HOMEBUILDING IN A WHILE: Maryland could soon record its worst year of homebuilding since the Great Recession, but Capitol Hill has called in the cavalry. In a rare feat for housing policy, Congress passed a sweeping bipartisan bill aimed at jump-starting housing production across the country. The law went into effect earlier this month without President Donald Trump’s signature, yet Democrats and Republicans have hailed it as the most significant housing legislation in decades. Hallie Miller and Giacomo Bologna/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE TAKES BI-PARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL GROUP KEY BRIDGE TOUR: Congress has agreed to fully fund the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild, but it could always change its mind. To that end, Gov. Wes Moore took some lawmakers, including Republicans, on a field trip Monday to the overwater construction site. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Banner.
NEW STATE AIR CONDITIONING REQUIREMENT WILL TAKE A WHILE TO KICK IN: As Maryland bakes under the heat domes of the summer of 2026, a new state law requires some apartment buildings to have air conditioning. However, the bill’s sponsor admits it’ll be a while before a lot of people start feeling relief. Baltimore County State Sen. Chris West, a Republican, said summers are getting hotter and the legislation was just the right thing to do. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
COLUMN: BGE RESUMES SHUTOFFS FOR NONPAYMENT – AT THE WORST OF TIMES: BGE resumed being able to terminate customers’ power for lack of payment last week, just in time for the return of oppressive heat. In a perfect world, you should pay your bills on time, all the time. And BGE isn’t a charity. But this world is so ragingly imperfect. While temperatures are soaring, every single thing from power to gasoline to food is more expensive — not to mention that Maryland lost more federal jobs since 2025 than any other state. Leslie Gray Streeter/The Baltimore Banner.
AUDIT: SNAP BENEFITS WENT TO SOME NOT QUALIFIED: The Maryland Department of Human Services did not ensure that local social services departments properly vetted recipients of taxpayer-funded assistance programs, leading to the state sending out thousands in improper payments of food assistance and other benefits. The July 15 report by the Office of Legislative Audits said some of those improper benefit payments went to a multimillion-dollar lottery winner and to incarcerated individuals who do not qualify for public assistance programs. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: WHY CAN’T MARYLAND BE MORE LIKE TEXAS? Gov. Wes Moore has once again failed to secure a significant opportunity for the workers of the Baltimore area and the taxpayers of his state. Just last Friday the following headline was published in Defense News: “Saronic picks Brownsville, Texas, for $3 billion Port Alpha shipyard” Marc King/Maryland Reporter.
NEITHER COX NOR MOORE RELEASES TAX RETURNS TO SUN: Maryland’s two major gubernatorial candidates are asking voters for their support this fall while withholding a key piece of their financial history from public view: their personal tax returns. Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has repeatedly promoted transparency as a cornerstone of his administration, and Republican challenger Dan Cox, who has campaigned on accountability in Annapolis, both declined requests to release three years of personal tax returns. Tessa Bentulan/The Baltimore Sun.
SUPREME COURT REMOVES ORPHAN’S COURT JUDGE: The Supreme Court of Maryland said it removed Anne Arundel Orphan’s Court Judge Marc Knapp from the bench last month because of conduct that was “fundamentally incompatible with judicial office.” The court’s unanimous 75-page opinion explains the reasoning behind its June 4 removal of Knapp after an investigation that was sparked by a dramatic series of run-ins with Orphans’ Court Chief Judge Vickie Gipson. Will Hammann/Maryland Matters.
TEACHER SUES HOWARD SCHOOLS AFTER HOSTILE ENCOUNTER WITH PARENT: A Howard County math teacher says she had to crawl past a parent to escape a school conference room in 2023 — and that a month later, the stress of the encounter triggered a stroke. Now she’s suing the county school board for $750,000, alleging it failed to protect her and mishandled her workers’ compensation claim. Kiersten Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
OLYMPIAN’s TRIAL SET; JUDGE SAYS REFLECTING POOL REPAIRS COULD HARM GOVT’s CASE: A judge in the nation’s capital has set a trial date in September for a former Olympic canoe racer from Bethesda who is charged with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the site of a troubled multimillion-dollar renovation project championed by President Donald Trump. Michael Kunzelman/The Associated Press.
- In the meantime, a D.C. Superior Court judge warned on Monday that repair work at the Reflecting Pool after David Hearn, 67, was accused of damaging it could jeopardize the government’s case against him. Jasmine Golden/The Washington Post.
The special session sticks to high heaven.
SNAP has problems in doling out to people that need it. I have seen people that should qualify get put through the wringer and asked for more and more paperwork and I know of someone who has recently got a better paying job and as far as I know still uses SNAP. Of course that person could be forced to pay it all back if caught.