The Maryland General Assembly responded in this year’s legislative session to public concern about police misconduct, drug crime, domestic violence and more.
Capital News Service
Attorney General’s report on same-sex marriage calls bans hateful
State bans on same-sex marriage are founded on “hate, prejudice, ignorance, fear or moral disapproval,” according to a report issued Thursday by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh.
Md. legislators ‘waiting to see’ what unhappy Hogan does on budget
Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday asked a Maryland Democratic leader to support his fiscal agenda, but by the afternoon, a committee charged with hammering out budget differences appeared to be waiting for him to make the next move.
Uber and taxis duke it out over level of regulation
With standing room only, the battle over the ridesharing “Uber bill” began in the state Senate Finance committee Tuesday.
Sponsored by Sen. Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore, the bill would keep power in the hands of ridesharing companies to conduct their own drivers’ background checks and vehicle safety inspections rather than require state oversight.
Hogan once again grills university system over construction
For the second consecutive meeting, the Board of Public Works on Wednesday criticized the University System of Maryland for vague and confusing language in requests for additional construction funding totaling more than $29 million, but eventually voted to approve the projects.
Happy holidays: 10 Md. school districts recognize religious holidays by name;14 don’t
This school year, 14 of Maryland’s 24 school systems will not recognize any religious holidays — such as Christmas and Rosh Hashanah – by name.
The 14 include every school system on the Eastern Shore, and five others around the state.
These districts instead use secular terms, like “Winter Holiday” or “Spring Break,” to describe the school closings.
Post-season baseball brings limited economic growth
For the bars, restaurants and shops immediately around Camden Yards in Baltimore, playoff baseball means more customers and more revenue. But sports economists argue that while that may be the case, the city as a whole isn’t likely to generate too much additional revenue, in large part because business stays in the areas immediately around the ballpark.
“The economic impact is usually exaggerated and zero sum at best because the baseball fans may crowd out the regular customers and the fans are spending money at Boog’s BBQ (at Camden Yards) instead of somewhere else in the Inner Harbor,” said John Vrooman, a sports economist and professor at Vanderbilt University.
Supreme Court to hear case on right of Maryland to tax out-of-state income
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case involving a Maryland couple who believe their out-of-state income should not be taxed by their state of residence.
Brian and Karen Wynne of Howard County argue the income they earn in several other states through a company Mr. Wynne partially owns should not be taxed by Maryland if they pay the income taxes in those other states.
Maryland has an out-of-state income tax credit that can be used to offset state income taxes. But there is no equivalent credit that can be used to offset county income taxes, so counties can tax the out-of-state income.
New laws Oct. 1 will affect drivers, wilderness, funeral operators and transgender Marylanders
The fruits of the General Assembly’s 2014 session will come into full effect on Oct. 1 as a number of bills passed in the spring become law in Maryland.
Treating Md.’s juvenile delinquents at home more effective, less costly than jails, advocates say
The $225 million set aside to build three new jails for juvenile delinquents and improvements to a fourth in Maryland should be spent on community-based treatment instead, a state review panel found. Putting more money into juvenile jails would lead to less effective treatments, according to a report by the Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit. The budgeted money includes the proposed construction of three new juvenile jails in Baltimore, Prince George’s County and Wicomico County.
Recent Comments