One of my roles as House Majority Leader is to help lead debate on the House floor. Last week, I participated in the debate on a bill to allow non-citizens honorably discharged from our nation's armed forces to qualify for law enforcement positions in Maryland. You can view my comments here. The bill ultimately passed with bipartisan support. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
My first bill of the legislative session passed the House of Delegates unanimously last week. The Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Sunset Act would require a sunset review of this forty year old authority created to build incinerators and was unanimously voted out of the Environment & Transportation Committee. Three more of my bills are poised to pass the House of Delegates this week: The Maryland State Agency Transparency Act, which would expand certain Open Meetings Act requirements--including web streaming of meetings--to the State Ethics Commission; The Young Readers Program Expansion Act, which would build on a program created last year to support county-based programs that send books to young Marylanders; and the Board of Public Works Public Comment Act, which would bring new transparency to items voted on by the Board of Public Works. ADMINISTRATION UPDATE The Washington Post ran a deep dive over the weekend on most of Governor Wes Moore's cabinet. If you are interested, check it out here. ----- I always try to keep you up to date on the Maryland budget, as that is the one bill we are constitutionally required to pass each year. Governor Moore recently sent down a "supplemental budget" in addition to his January budget request. Supplemental budgets are routinely used as additional needs or unnecessary expenditures are identified and is especially sensible here, when Governor Moore's budget proposal was due two days after he took office. The largest changes in this supplemental relate to education funding and some adjustments now that better tax data is available. We expect further supplemental or changes in the weeks ahead. TRANSPORTATION NEWS Montgomery County Parks has provided an updated schedule regarding their analysis of the Little Falls Parkway pilot project. A briefing and public hearing will occur on March 30 in the evening. More information is available here. Because the Planning Board directly oversees Montgomery County Parks, if you have feedback on the current pilot I would encourage you to contact the Planning Board here. ----- The Maryland state budget requires the Maryland Transit Administration to submit bimonthly reports on Purple Line progress. The report includes the percentage of completion across 10 categories of work. The report also publicly acknowledges the concessionaire's (contractor's) view that the project will not be completed when currently planned, which the state disputes. You can review the report here. COMMUNITY NEWS State legislators have the opportunity to award scholarships to our constituents for their higher education. If you are interested in a scholarship, please visit https://www.marckorman.com/scholarship.html for further information about how to apply. ----- Congratulations to two District 16 residents recently appointed to county positions:
UPCOMING EVENTS
If you know of an upcoming District 16 event or a District 16 resident who merits recognition or condolences, please email [email protected]. Comments are closed.
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April 2024
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