State Roundup: Longtime U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer announces retirement; Maryland loses 10,000 more federal jobs; taxpayer-funded nonprofit sector under a veil of secrecy

STENY HOYER WON’T SEEK REELECTION, ENDING 46 YEARS IN THE U.S. HOUSE: Rep. Steny H. Hoyer will not run for reelection and end a nearly six-decade career in elected office that spanned his rising-star days in Maryland government to a two-decade run as the No. 2 U.S. House Democrat. Paul Kane/The Washington Post.

• Hoyer, an ambitious leader and a onetime political rival to Nancy Pelosi who ultimately became her second-in-command, worked for much of his career in her shadow. In 2022, after Democrats lost control of the House, he waited for Ms. Pelosi to announce that she would step down from leadership before putting out a statement saying that he would do so. Annie Karni/The New York Times.
• First arriving in the House in 1981 after a special election, Hoyer’s reach extended beyond his Chesapeake Bay-area district, and he quickly climbed the leadership ranks to become the No. 2 Democrat. He served as majority leader after Democrats swept to power after the 2006 election, and again in 2019 after they regained control during President Donald Trump’s first term. Associated Press and Lisa Mascaro/The Baltimore Banner.
• Hoyer’s departure could open up a free-for-all among state Democrats who are now free to run for a seat that was considered Hoyer’s, a well-funded, well-liked and well-connected incumbent who proved impossible to unseat by the few Democrats, and decades of Republicans, who tried. William Ford and Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
• Tributes poured in for Hoyer, who is the third-longest-serving member of Congress. Only Reps. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Chris Smith, R-N.J., have served longer — and only by a few months. A mainstay within party leadership across multiple decades, Hoyer held top Democratic posts in the House from 1989 through 2023. Brian Carlton/The Baltimore Sun.

MARYLAND LOSES 10,000 MORE FEDERAL JOBS SINCE NOVEMBER: State officials are decrying new federal jobs numbers that show Maryland lost more than 10,000 federal jobs over two months at the end of last year, bringing the total jobs lost for the year to 25,000. The report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that Maryland lost more federal jobs since President Donald Trump took office than any other state in the nation. The situation brought sharp comments from Gov. Wes Moore. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

MOORE SEEKS MORE AUTHORITY FOR STATE HEALTH SECRETARY: In another move away from federal health agencies under President Donald Trump, the Moore administration wants to authorize the state’s health secretary to recommend vaccine schedules for Marylanders. Health Secretary Meena Seshamani said legislation that would grant her that authority is a direct response to “the endless changes at the federal level around vaccine policy,” including recent changes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surrounding childhood vaccinations. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

TAXPAYER-FUNDED NONPROFIT SECTOR STAYS UNDER VEIL OF SECRECY: For years, Maryland’s sprawling nonprofit sector has operated behind a veil of secrecy that state leaders praise publicly but struggle to explain under scrutiny. That opacity was on full display this week when Spotlight on Maryland, yet again, attempted to obtain basic answers from one of the organizations that state agencies routinely cite as a source of data and information: Maryland Nonprofits. Garry Collins/The Baltimore Sun.

B’MORE DETENTION CENTER CONDITIONS WORSEN, REPORT SAYS: Conditions at a decrepit detention facility in downtown Baltimore had grown so dire that detainees were able to dig through the walls of their cells, and the plumbing was so shoddy that human waste was dripping from the ceilings, according to an independent safety report released Wednesday by the state corrections department. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.

COMMENTARY: WES MOORE RUNS INTO THE FERGUSON WALL: For two years, Gov. Wes Moore has projected the image of a rising national figure: disciplined, charismatic, and broadly popular. But in Annapolis — the only arena that truly matters for governing Maryland — Moore has run into a wall. And that wall has a name. Bill Ferguson. The Senate president has executed one of the most decisive power plays in recent Maryland political history, quietly but unmistakably asserting that he, not the governor, controls the pace, scope and boundaries of the state’s legislative agenda. The flashpoint is redistricting, but the implications run far deeper. Barry O’Connell/The Maryland Wire.

REPORT CLEARING UM PRESIDENT OF PLAGIARISM WON’T BE RELEASED: On the last Friday evening of fall classes, the University System of Maryland released a one-page letter announcing the president of its flagship campus was cleared of allegations he plagiarized portions of a paper he co-authored in 2002. The investigation, led by an outside law firm the university paid up to $600,000, produced a report on research by Darryll Pines, who’s served as president of the University of Maryland, College Park since 2020. That report, officials said, will not be released because it’s a personnel record and exempt from public disclosure under Maryland law. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.

CITY SCHOOL CONTRACT WITH NONPROFIT DRAWS SCRUTINY: Baltimore City Public Schools has an agreement with the nonprofit Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center to pay up to $7.5 million for arts education services — an arrangement that has sparked scrutiny and new questions about how the district oversees taxpayer-funded partners. Tessa Bentulan/The Baltimore Sun.

DHS RELEASES U.S. CITIZEN FROM DETENTION AFTER 25 DAYS: The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday released a Maryland woman who was held for 25 days despite evidence that her lawyers say proves she was born in the United States and is a citizen. Joe Heim/The Washington Post.

B’MORE COMMUNITY ZONING FIGHT EXPOSES NEW YORK INVESTOR: Benjamin Eidlisz had big plans for Southeast Baltimore. The New York businessman had amassed an empire of rowhouses throughout much of the city’s east and west sides. Now he wanted to transform a 1-acre industrial lot into a six-story apartment complex. All he needed was the Patterson Park community association to sign off on a zoning change. But Eidlisz rubbed residents the wrong way, they said. He pressured them; he didn’t answer “low-stakes” questions; he omitted key facts. That community group decided not to back his apartment plan, killing it. And then his Baltimore houses started going into foreclosure. Hallie Miller and Giacomo Bologna/The Baltimore Banner.

HARFORD SCHOOL BOARD PUTS SUPER ON LEAVE: The Harford County school board placed Superintendent Sean Bulson on temporary paid leave, the board president announced Wednesday evening. The board also “ordered an independent investigation into the entire matter.” An audio clip that spurred the action is from April 2024 during a school-related conference in New Orleans, during which Bulson reported $8,000 worth of items, including a laptop, wallet and cellphones, stolen from a hotel room. In the audio clip, the caller said he suspected a woman whose name he did not know stole his property while he was sleeping. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.