State Roundup: Maryland ACA premiums to jump 15%; Cuts to federal ed dept spurs complaints about special ed; What laws go into effect Oct. 1

MARYLAND’s ACA TO SEE AN ALMOST 15% JUMP IN PREMIUMS: Marylanders who purchase individual health care plans on the state’s insurance marketplace will see a second year of double-digit increases to their monthly healthcare costs, after state insurance officials said Friday they have approved a 14.6% average premium rate increase across plans in 2027. For the 274,000 Marylanders who purchase plans on the state’s insurance market under the Affordable Care Act, called the Maryland Health Connection, the new approved rate increases will compound on last year’s 13.4% rate hike following the expiration of federal tax credits. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

• The rates for 2027 are even higher than what insurance companies had initially proposed in June. MIA also approved a 10.2% increase to small market plans. “That increase is driven by changes from H.R. 1 as well as rising hospitalization and pharmaceutical costs,” said MIA Commissioner Marie Grant, referring to the Republican spending and tax law dubbed the Bill, Beautiful Bill. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.

CUTS TO FEDERAL ED DEPT SPUR MORE PARENTS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SPECIAL ED: Maryland parents and advocates filed roughly 630 state complaints about special education last year, a more than 200% increase since 2022. This spike tracks with a national trend and comes as the Trump administration has gutted much of the federal education department, choking one of the avenues parents have historically turned to when they believed a school violated their child’s rights. Talia Richman/The Baltimore Banner.

ADVOCATES RALLY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REDISTRICTING AMENDMENT: Democratic lawmakers, labor union officials and nonprofit leaders rallied in Baltimore on Friday to drum up support for ballot Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would remove state standards for drawing congressional districts. The event came the same week that supporters and opponents of the measure released competing polls that showed mixed support for it. Backers at Friday’s event said it is time to step up and start fighting for Question 3. William Ford/Maryland Matters.

OFFICER MASKS AND MORE: WHAT NEW LAWS GO INTO EFFECT OCT. 1: Hundreds of bills passed by Maryland lawmakers earlier this year will become law come Oct. 1. From legislation surrounding masked police to rap lyrics. Lawmakers passed a bill that will prohibit law enforcement officers working in the state, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from using face coverings or masks. And there is more … Clara Longo de Freitas and Max Schaeffer/The Baltimore Banner.

• Eight laws taking effect Oct. 1 could affect consumers, renters, gun owners and people seeking health care. Those eight laws come from the governor’s main legislative priorities for 2026, controversial bills that attracted attention beyond the General Assembly and potentially impactful legislation seldom highlighted in political conversation. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.

LAWMAKERS CONSIDER EXTENDING FLUSH TAX: Since its enactment in 2004, Maryland’s “flush tax” has raised $2.3 billion from property owners, funding pollution-saving upgrades at scores of wastewater treatment plants in the state and keeping hundreds of millions of pounds of nutrients out of the Chesapeake Bay. This fee for the Bay Restoration Fund is set to be cut in half in 2030, but a group of state legislators and Chesapeake Bay advocates want to step and head that off, possibly making it a subject of discussion in the 2027 legislative session. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.

FIVE SUICIDES OF FORT MEADE WORKERS ALARMS MARYLAND LAWMAKERS: Five people whose work supported missions at U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency at Fort George G. Meade died by suicide within a month of each other this summer. The unusual cluster of suicides follows efforts at the country’s top cyber warfare units there to address the mental health of its 18,000 service members and 41,000 civilian employees. Lawmakers, including both of Maryland’s U.S. senators and U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, are asking questions and calling for action to prevent further tragedies. Matti Gellman/The Baltimore Banner.

MOORE’s DATA CENTER EO SEEKS TO CURB CLOSED-DOOR DEALS: Gov. Wes Moore (D) issued an executive order Sept. 23 establishing a state task force that will compel data center developers to stop closed-door dealings and minimize their projects’ adverse impacts on local communities, ecosystems and energy infrastructure. Moore also promised to roll back state tax incentives for data centers but stopped short of pausing new data center development, much to the dismay of Maryland environmental groups. Emmett Gartner/The Bay Journal.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT DATA CENTERS IN BALTIMORE: The proliferation of energy-guzzling data centers across the region has left local leaders scrambling to come up with solutions and safeguards, and Baltimore is no exception. Earlier this year, the Baltimore City Council approved a temporary moratorium on the computing complexes, forbidding them from being built in the city for one year. The council also ordered up a study to look at the potential impact of data centers in the city, which is currently underway. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.

BA CO COUNCIL CONSIDERS $69,000 PAY HIKE FOR MEMBERS: The Baltimore County Council is considering hefty pay raises for both the members of that body as well as for the county executive. Legislation would raise the county executive’s pay nearly $50,000 to $240,000. An additional bill calls for council members’ pay to be increased from $69,000 to $119,000. The chairman’s salary would go from $77,000 to $129,750. John Lee/WYPR-FM.

SMITHSONIAN STUDIES STORM SURGE EFFECTS ON FORESTS IN EDGEWATER: The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater is where hundreds of yards of hoses pump tens of thousands of gallons of water on the ground over the course of days. It’s a research project called Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments — or TEMPEST — an annual experiment to study how forests will handle storm surges in the future. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.

EDITORIAL: TIME FOR B’MORE TO EMBRACE IG’s OVERSIGHT: Baltimore’s inspector general should not have had to go to court to regain access to the city’s own records. On Friday night, the Appellate Court of Maryland rejected the city’s latest effort to freeze an order requiring that access be restored, finding that the city had not shown it would suffer irreparable harm without a stay. The city says it must screen records first to protect attorney-client communications, confidential personnel information and other legally protected material. Those are serious concerns, but they do not justify making the city the gatekeeper of an independent watchdog’s investigations. Editorial Board/The Baltimore Sun.

LONGTIME DENTON POLICE CHIEF KILLED IN THREE-VEHICLE ACCIDENT: Denton’s Police chief was killed Friday morning and a second man injured in a three-car pileup after police said a delivery truck crossed the center line in Talbot County. George William Bacorn Jr., 62, who had served as Denton police chief for 36 years, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The truck driver, Antonio Jaquan Handy, 31, of Salisbury, was transported to a local trauma center with unspecified injuries by the police department’s aviation command unit. Gov. Wes Moore ordered the state flag to be flown at half-staff to honor Bacorn, who also was acting president this year of the Maryland Municipal League Chiefs and Sheriffs Association. Mary Carole McCauley/The Baltimore Sun.

• Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement Friday that Bacorn “embodied the meaning of serving others and dedicated his life to keeping communities safe for everyone.” Sheriff Matt Crisafulli, president of the Maryland Sheriffs’ Association, said Bacorn’s “leadership, dedication, and commitment to the residents he served represent the very best of our profession.” Sara Ruberg/The Baltimore Banner.