General Assembly leaders postpone May special session

General Assembly leaders postpone May special session

The State House in Annapolis (MarylandReporter.com file photo)

@BryanRenbaum

The Maryland General Assembly will not convene for a special session in May due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson announced on Monday.

“Legislators in every community in Maryland are working to help their constituents through this historic pandemic — and that’s where their focus should remain,” Jones said in a joint statement. “After consulting with health experts, this is the best course of action at this time. We will get through this together — with every branch of government working as a team until we can safely return.”

“This decision to not meet in May was not taken lightly,” Ferguson said. “This is a matter of balancing the safety of staff, legislators and the public, while ensuring that Legislators can continue their daily focus on serving their constituents and public in battling this virus, and preparing for the Recovery effort.”

Jones and Ferguson will “continue to work with legislators and their respective leadership teams to continue to evaluate the need and timing for a future special session,” the statement said.

The General Assembly adjourned Sine Die on March 18 amid concerns about the virus. The 2020 session had been scheduled to adjourn on April 6. This is believed to be the first time since the Civil War that body adjourned prior to its scheduled date. Three days prior to adjournment, Jones and Ferguson held a news conference in which they announced that the lawmakers would return to Annapolis during the final week of May for a special session. The Joint COVID-19 Legislative Workgroup has continued to meet each week while the legislature is not in session.

There are 13,684 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Maryland as of Monday morning, according to the state’s Department of Health, while 516 people in Maryland have died from the virus.

About The Author

Bryan Renbaum

Bryan@MarylandReporter.com

Reporter Bryan Renbaum served as the Capitol Hill Correspondent for Talk Media News for the past three-and-a-half years, filing print, radio and video reports on the Senate and the House of Representatives. He covered congressional reaction to the inauguration of President Donald Trump as well as the confirmation hearings of attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William Barr and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He also filed breaking news reports on the 2017 shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three others. Previously Bryan broke multiple stories with the Baltimore Post-Examiner including sexual assault scandals at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a texting scandal on the women’s lacrosse team at that school for which he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He also covered the Maryland General Assembly during the 2016 legislative session as an intern for Maryland Reporter. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from McDaniel College. If you have additional questions or comments contact Bryan at: bryan@marylandreporter.com

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