MOORE SUPPORTS PROPERTY OWNERS IN FIGHT AGAINST POWER LINE PROJECT: Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday that he is “always going to stand with the people” to support property owners’ rights related to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a proposed 70-mile powerline through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties. Thomas Goodwin Smith/The Carroll County Times.
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS HOLDS LINE IN PROPERTY TAX RATE: Maryland property owners will not see an increase in the state share of the property tax rate next year, when the rate will hold steady at the same level it’s been since 2007. The three-member Board of Public Works voted unanimously, and without debate, Wednesday to approve a recommendation to hold taxes on commercial and residential properties at 11.2 cents per $100 in assessed value. The property tax rate on utilities will remain at 28 cents per $100 of assessed value. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: TECH TAX HITS EVERY MARYLANDER WHERE IT HURTS: Earlier in the session, Maryland businesses, lead by the state Chamber of Commerce had successfully killed a broad sales tax on business-to-business services. But another tax, which every Maryland consumer of information technology will pay, was rolled out late in the session. Legislative leaders and Gov. Wes Moore were unwilling to reduce the state budget by any more than the $2 billion in spending they had already cut. Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.
BOP OKS PLAN TO MOVE HEALTH DEPT EMPLOYEES TO MOVE: State officials approved a new financing plan Wednesday that will let the Maryland Health Department move thousands of employees out the aging State Center complex in midtown Baltimore, part of a larger effort to move state agencies into more modern facilities. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
IT’s HARD TO BECOME A CITY IN MARYLAND: Maryland hasn’t gained a new municipal government in more than two decades. That isn’t especially unusual for the mid-Atlantic, but Maryland’s dry spell is not for lack of trying. Edgewood, a community with some 25,000 residents near the southernmost corner of Harford County, is home to Maryland’s most persistent movement for municipal incorporation. It’s younger and lower-income than much of Harford County, and as of 2023, it’s the county’s only plurality African-American community. Paul Kiefer of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
EDITORIAL: A MINOR ISSUE BLOWS UP IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY: “What’s the big deal?” This was the very pertinent question posed by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. during Tuesday’s oral arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. Why has the defendant — the Montgomery County school district — come before the Supreme Court with what should have been a minor administrative issue? Editorial Board/The Washington Post.
COMMENTARY: AN ATTACK ON BALTIMORE’s WORKING POOR: Because of President Trump’s executive order titled Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders, every bit of aid to poorer people is on the chopping block. Let’s call this policy what it is: an attack on Baltimore’s working poor. It claims to crack down on undocumented immigrants, but in truth, it seeks to eliminate federal funding for any programs that offer “cash or non-cash assistance” to immigrants it labels as “unqualified.” That includes legal permanent residents—people who pay taxes, raise families, and contribute to our city, state, and country every day. Brianna Mijangos-Buiza/Maryland Reporter.
JUDGE TEMPORARILY HALTS ORDER ON ABREGO GARCIA: A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily halted her order requiring the Trump administration to provide information on its efforts so far, if any, to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Ben Finley/The Baltimore Sun.
- Lawyers representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia said in a court filing Tuesday that Justice Department attorneys provided “nothing of substance” in response to requests for information on how the Trump administration is facilitating the mistakenly deported Maryland man’s return. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
COP WHO LABELED ABREGO GARCIA AS GANG MEMBER HAD TROUBLES AS WELL: The former Prince George’s County officer who interviewed Kilmar Abrego Garcia and helped label him as a gang member that eventually resulted with his mistaken deportation, later pleaded guilty to misconduct and was pushed out of the Police Department, records show. John-John Williams IV, Dylan Segelbaum and Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: THE VAN, THE FLIGHT AND THE MACHINERY OF HARM: Freddie Gray and Kilmar Abrego Garcia lived in different worlds—one Black, one Latino; one born in Baltimore City, the other abroad—but the systems they encountered were built on similar foundations: racial inequality, economic injustice, and a deep-seated fear of the “other.” They were not seen as individuals with hopes and histories, but as problems to be managed. Kevin Pacheco-Barajas and Olivia Zepeda/Maryland Reporter.
ENTIRE USDA DIVISION IN FREDERICK PLACED ON LEAVE: A Frederick County resident who works within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Inspections and Investigations said he found out his entire division was placed on administrative leave while he was driving to the office at 5:19 a.m. on April 1. The man is part of the office’s Division of Travel Operations, which handles domestic and international travel logistics for FDA inspectors and consumer safety officers. Gabrielle Lewis/The Frederick News Post.
MARYLAND AID WORKERS CONTINUE TO SEEK SAFETY FOR AFGHAN ALLIES: Sophia Wilcox’s work to bring her Afghan team to the U.S. has always been difficult. Now, the pressure is mounting even more. The Taliban is targeting Afghans who worked with the U.S., including those who worked with the University of Maryland. Neighboring countries like Pakistan and Iran are cracking down on harboring Afghan refugees. At the same time, President Donald Trump is imposing a freeze on admitting refugees to the U.S. Robert Stewart of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
