Presenting legislation regarding Maryland license plates.
BUDGET UPDATE

​Thank you for all of the email and telephone call feedback I received on last week's run through of the Governor's proposed budget. That will be the focus of a lot of discussion and work over the next few months.
Some of you have asked for my position on discrete provisions--taxes/revenue, cuts, shifts to the county--within his overall proposal. While I obviously have views on individual provisions, the budget is not just an a la carte menu where we can pick and choose what we like and don't like. Ultimately, the final package must represent a balanced budget and that will undoubtedly involve some tough decisions about what programs will be reduced and how programs are paid for. My approach is to ensure:
1. That we do what we can to protect the most vulnerable who rely on our support to live and thrive;
2. That we remember the need for economic competitiveness as we make these decisions to ensure we can grow and prosper; and
3. That it be a fair deal for Montgomery County and District 16. 
Others have asked for predictions about what will happen with particular proposals. I believe it is really too soon to predict the final outcome and, indeed, there will be other ideas not introduced by the Governor that will enter the conversation.
Please keep hitting reply or calling with your questions, concerns, and other feedback on the budget.

 BRIEFINGS UPDATE

The Environment & Transportation Committee continues its robust schedule of briefings. Last week, we had a lengthy joint briefing with our Senate colleagues on Maryland's zero emission vehicle goals, a briefing on background checks for renters, a briefing on Department of Natural Resources issues including the charter boat industry and Maryland's tree planting goals, and one on avian influenza. So far this week, we have had a briefing on the state of Maryland's agriculture industry.
Separate from my committee work, I would recommend this thorough briefing on the Blueprint for Maryland's future, Maryland's major investment in pre-k through 12 public education reform and improvement.

FEDERAL UPDATE

In the weekly update that I sent around this time eight years ago, I shared my general philosophy that I try to keep my updates focused on the state and local issues that are in my purview. That does not mean I do not have opinions about what happens nationally and, certainly, many federal actions can have a significant impact on our community. The new Administration's war on federal employees and recent decisions to freeze certain spending already agreed to are uniquely bad for Maryland and my district.
That said, we took a number of actions in 2017 and beyond to try and insulate our state from certain actions such as codifying Obamacare protections in state law, funding reproductive health, and more. One of the most significant actions we took was to further empower our state Attorney General to bring suit against the federal government.  Some members of Maryland's minority party disingenuously opposed this stating that the states should not sue the federal government, despite their own cheering at that time for conservative state suits against Obamacare and EPA regulation--cheering that certainly continued in the Biden years when conservative states challenged, for example, student debt relief. I hope that Attorney General Brown actively uses his authority and I will encourage him to do so at appropriate times.

LEGISLATION UPDATE

I continue to introduce the legislation that I announced in my first email of the legislative session. This past week, I introduced two more bills:
Automated Enforcement Privacy Protections (HB 516): This year I am the House cross-file of Senator Sara Love’s bill to set privacy protections around our automated enforcement programs. I believe these programs are important for public safety but there should be clear rules about how our personal data can be used. Senator Love championed this issue for years in the House and I am happy to follow her lead now.
The MARC Rail Authority Act of 2025 (HB 517): Maryland’s commuter rail system—the three lines that make up MARC rail including the Brunswick Line through Montgomery County—has long been the stepchild of the state Department of Transportation. Despite endless initiatives and plans, little seems to change with this system that could be a crucial part of our 21st century transportation network. I believe that part of the challenge is that our Maryland Transit Administration is not built to succeed. Unlike most state transit agencies, it provides the local Baltimore-area transit service (bus, light rail, and subway), similar to WMATA/Metro in our area, while also maintaining control of commuter rail, transit planning and grantmaking statewide, and more. This legislation would separate the MARC system to function more independently. Senator Cory McCray is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill.

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE

A provision of the annual state budget requires the Maryland Department of Transportation to provide bimonthly reports on Purple Line progress. The January report is now available here. The chart below shows the overall progress and progress of specific project elements.

COMMUNITY NEWS

​The Planning Department's annual Downtown Bethesda Annual Monitoring Report has been released and will be discussed at this week's Planning Board meeting.
OFFICE CORNER

Last week I shared my office's Metro stuff. This week, I want to share a few Maryland Transit Administration maps I obtained and had framed (at my own expense) and placed in the outer office of the Environment & Transportation Committee. These show some of the other current and future transit options around the state beyond WMATA.

In last week's email, I noted that the Governor's budget would arrive later that day. I have spent the past week parsing through the budget and want to offer some initial thoughts here.
But first, a brief primer. The annual budget--the only bill we are constitutionally required to pass each year (and it must be balanced)--is actually three documents:
1. The Operating Budget: This is the cost of personnel and programs including aid to local school districts and other local aid programs. You can dig into the proposed operating budget here.
2. The Capital Budget: This is the state's construction budget which funds school construction, state buildings, and assistance with local construction projects. You can review the capital budget here.
3. The Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BFRA): This is legislation that accompanies the budget and makes changes to law necessary to balance the budget--a constitutional requirement--such as adjusting a funding formula. You can read the 2025 BRFA here.

The projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2026--the subject of the Governor's submission--was $3 billion. Before discussing more about what is in the budget, it is worth discussing how we got here. It is a fair question and I wish some of those opining on it would actually ask about it and examine the issue.
Structural deficits--future year shortfalls based on current spending--are not new in Maryland and have existed as long as I have been in the General Assembly with the exception of a few years when the state was flush with COVID-19 aid from the federal government. That money was used for several different purposes: a number of aid and rebate programs; saving in the Rainy Day Fund which starts this year at 10% of the General Fund, whereas pre-COVID that was typically 5%; savings in the Blueprint Fund to pre-pay public education costs; significant one-time construction/capital expenses; and some ongoing programs such as the state's new tax credit for those over 65, expanding the state Earned Income Tax Credit, and providing some dental benefits via Medicaid.
So what is driving the fiscal year 2026 deficit? It is actually not public education, which is often casually blamed. The Blueprint for Maryland's future is an ambitious, and frankly expensive, revamp of our pre-k through 12 education programs but because of savings made during the COVID-era budget surpluses driven by federal assistance, it does not contribute to the structural deficit until after fiscal year 2027. But three programs have driven shorter-term costs up: higher than expected Medicaid enrollment and expenses; high participation in the state's childcare subsidy program; and significant expenses at the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
By the way, everything I have written about above relates to the so-called General Fund. Regular readers know that I spend a lot of time on issues related to the separate Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The TTF is largely funded by its own sources such as motor fuel taxes but there are some cross-subsidies. For example, work to expand the Howard Street Tunnel to support the Port of Baltimore is being paid in part by General Fund resources although it is a transportation project.
With that significant--but still abbreviated--background provided, what is in the Governor's budget?
It tackles the $3 billion projected General Fund deficit with approximately $1.3 billion in revenue raisers (taxes and fees), $630 million in fund transfers, and over $1 billion in budget cuts. On the transportation side, it also raises approximately $420 million in revenue (taxes and fees) to hold the transportation budget essentially harmless and able to meet its prior commitments.
What always makes the news are tax changes. The Governor proposes to:
-Consolidate the bottom four tax brackets with a 4.7% rate;
-Increases taxes on two new top income tax brackets ($600,001-$1,200,000 and more than $1.2 million);
-Add a temporary 1% capital gains surcharge for those with income over $350,000;
-Increase the standard deduction to $5,600/$11,200 (single filer/joint return) but eliminate itemization of deductions;
-Lower the estate tax exemption to $2 million but eliminate the inheritance tax;
-Lower the corporate income tax rate from 8.25% to 7.99% but adopt the combined reporting approach to corporate income taxes;
-Increase sports wagering tax rate from 15% to 30%, table game tax rate from 20% to 25%, and increase the cannabis tax rate from 9% to 15%; and
-Increase the assessment on hospitals to cover Medicaid costs.
On the transportation side, the Governor proposes to:
-Add a $0.75 retail delivery fee;
-Limit the trade-in exemption on vehicles when the vehicle being purchased is over $15,000;
-Raise the vehicle emissions inspection program fee from $10 to $30;
-Quicken the pace of forthcoming registration increases.
On the cuts side, the Governor proposes to:
-Permanently reduce support for behavioral health services in our schools, slow the phase-in of teacher collaborative time, and pause extra support for so-called "Community Schools" with a high concentration of poverty (remember, none of these pre-k through 12 reductions help the immediate budget deficit);
-Reduce support for the Developmental Disability Administration by changing the self-directed care program and eliminating another program for those with developmental disabilities;
-Cap the enrollment in our childcare subsidy program; 
-Decrease funding to the University System and assumes a 2% tuition increase; and
-Reduces future expenditures to many other smaller programs.
The Governor's proposal also shifts various costs to county government (meaning county taxpayers) including certain pension costs, operational costs of the State Department of Assessment and Taxation which handles local property tax assessments, and special needs teacher pay.
There are also various fund transfers, including using $180 million from the state's Strategic Energy Investment Fund to support climate programs.
A lot more information is available in the fiscal briefing prepared by the Department of Legislative Services which was presented this past Monday. The briefing can be viewed here and the meeting materials accessed here.
In addition, each specific agency will be the subject of its own Department of Legislative Services budget analysis and hearing in both the House and the Senate. The hearing dates can be viewed here, where the analyses will also be posted as they become available.
There are some capital projects in District 16 funded in the Governor's budget that I would like to highlight, including funding for HVAC systems at Whitman High School and Westland Middle School; funding for the renovation and expansion of the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health; and funding for the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park.

COMMITTEE UPDATEAs I mentioned last week, our committees usually begin each session with oversight briefings as bills are still being introduced. Thus far, my committee has held briefings on the State of Housing in Maryland, our Vision Zero traffic safety goals, housing affordability including insurance, and our state's transit systems. We have several more upcoming briefings which can be viewed here. 

LEGISLATION UPDATEI continue to introduce the legislation that I announced in my first email of the legislative session. This past week, several more bills were introduced including:
Local Board of Elections Transparency Act (HB 412): For several years, Senator Cheryl Kagan and I have advanced transparency legislation including at the State Board of Elections to require public posting of agendas and live web streaming of meetings. This year, we are proposing to expand those requirements to local Boards of Elections including for when they canvass ballots, as was done during COVID. This bill has been assigned to the Ways and Means Committee.
Affordable Housing Payments in Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act (HB 390): Working with our county partners, this legislation would expand an existing state program that allows housing projects meeting certain affordability requirements to pay no or discounted property taxes. In Montgomery County, more of these projects involve maintaining affordability for existing naturally occurring affordable housing that would otherwise be redeveloped to higher market rates. The legislation would allow these types of projects to benefit from the program and keep more housing affordable. Senator Shelly Hettleman is bringing the bill forward in the Senate. It has been assigned to the Ways and Means Committee.
Metro Funding Modification Act of 2025 (HB 467): Regular readers of my updates will not be surprised to see a Metro funding bill included here. In 2018, our region came together to support dedicated capital funding to rebuild our Metro system. And it worked. The system is in far better shape today than it was five years ago. But the regional commitment of $500 million has not kept up with inflation and this legislation would re-base Maryland’s commitment to account for inflation and peg it for future 3% growth increments, all contingent on our regional partners doing the same. Senator Malcolm Augustine is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill. The bill has been assigned to the Appropriations Committee.
State Mineral Act (HB 411): Picking up the mantle from former Delegate Bill Frick, Senator Craig Zucker and I are championing my constituent’s initiative to have Chromite declared the state mineral, adding us to the majority of states with a state mineral. Chromite was first discovered in the United States in Maryland and is an industrial metal. The bill has been assigned to the Health and Government Operations Committee.
Also, the WSSC Transparency and Reform Act was the subject of a committee work session last week which you can watch here.
TRANSPORTATION UPDATEMetro is once again allowing you to check your annual stats. Visit https://metrorewind.com/ and enter your SmarTrip number to see how you did. Drop me a line and let me know how your stats compare to mine.

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The United States Senate Commerce Committee held a confirmation hearing on Sean Duffy, nominee for Transportation Secretary, last week. Two issues in Maryland--including one in District 16--were brought up by non-Maryland Senators and I wanted to highlight them.
Senator Tammy Baldwin shared the story of Sarah Langenkamp, the District 16 resident killed while cycling on River Road, and asked the nominee for support of flexible funding to protect cyclists and pedestrians. Watch the exchange here.
Senator Shelly Moore Capito referenced the horrific crash on I-695 that killed six road workers when seeking attention for road worker safety and protection. Watch that exchange here.
It is great to see these important safety issues that have obviously impacted Maryland but are repeated elsewhere given attention at this hearing on a bipartisan basis.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Congratulations to District 16's Jeffrey Slavin, who is stepping down from his role as Board President of Montgomery County Media after 10 years.

OFFICE CORNERIn honor of my introduction of the Metro Funding Modification Act and sharing my 2024 Metro stats, here area few of the Metro-related items in my Annapolis office. I framed the map and bought the Bethesda sign at my personal expense.

Later today, the Governor will introduce his annual balanced budget. As regular readers know, the fiscal year that is the subject of these budget negotiations has a large projected deficit and addressing that will be a significant task this legislative session. I will have a lot more to say about the Governor's proposed budget in future emails.
COMMITTEE UPDATEFor the second session in a row, I am chairing the Environment & Transportation Committee. Despite the name, the committee's jurisdiction covers not only environment and transportation but also housing, land, use, agriculture, ethics, and local government. You can watch the organizational meeting I led for the committee here.
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Each year, the committees commence the session with legislative briefings. The Environment & Transportation Committee has numerous briefings scheduled including these meetings on housing and transportation issues.
The State of Housing briefing already occurred and can be viewed here.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
​I have begun to introduce the bills that I previewed last week. Thus far, I have introduced two bills:
School Board Member Antibias Training Act: Last year, the General Assembly passed Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary’s bill requiring school employees to undergo anti-bias training, including training related to anti-semitism. I was surprised to learn that school board members are not considered school employees and, therefore, were not included. This legislation closes that loophole and requires school board members around the state to go through the same training. I understand that our school board in Montgomery County is doing some voluntary training, but this sets the law for all to follow. Chair Feldman is also cross-filing this legislation.
 
Specially Designed Vintage Reproduction Registration Plates: If you ever see me driving, you know I do not even use my special General Assembly plates to say nothing of the plates you can buy with a Baltimore Oriole logo or a nice picture to support the state Agricultural Trust or Bay Foundation. But I believe Marylanders who want to pay extra should have these options and am partnering with Senator Folden to allow Marylanders to purchase a vintage plate design that was in use over 100 years ago and is quite popular with some of our neighbors.
DELEGATION NEWS
The 26 member Montgomery County House Delegation is the largest in the Maryland General Assembly. We typically meet weekly on Fridays during the legislative session. Our first meeting included updates from the County Executive and County Council President and can be watched here.
COMMUNITY NEWS
The Federal government has awarded $24.8m in federal funding for the new North Bethesda Metro station entrance. This is in addition to millions of dollars in state and local funding awarded over the years to put together the funding necessary for this project.

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Former District 16 Delegate and long-time State Treasurer Nancy Kopp was honored with her official portrait unveiling last week. It is a lovely tribute to a tremendous public servant.

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Congratulations to my seatmate, Senator Love, on her elevation to Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Read more about it here.

OFFICE CORNERThis year I plan to share an item from my office in my weekly emails. Because this week's update includes the organizational meeting of the Environment & Transportation Committee--known as E&T--I am sharing a few "ET" items in my office to remind me of the committee I chair. I have shared these as handouts--at my expense--with each of my committeemembers in the years I have chaired the "ET" Committee.

Today marks the start of the 2025 legislative session. Unlike the United States Congress, the Maryland General Assembly is part-time and meets for 90 days each year. After several legislative sessions starting new roles, I am excited to start this session in my second year as chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, one of our six committees.

As I do each year with this first email of the legislative session, I will discuss my legislative agenda—the bills I will be primarily sponsoring—below. But I also have the opportunity each year to work on numerous other issues both as a member of the full House and chair of a committee.  Specifically, in addition to having the usual opportunity to weigh in on the state budget, public education, healthcare (including reproductive health), sensible gun control and public safety, and numerous other issues, the committee I chair has jurisdiction over the environment, transportation, housing, agriculture, ethics, and more.  In fact, as committee chair, I am the sponsor of 21 bills as a courtesy to various state departments and agencies seeking changes to their governing statutes.
 
That said, I currently plan to sponsor the most diverse slate of legislation of my entire career. Here are brief summaries of the eleven bills that I plan to primarily sponsor:
 
WSSC Transparency and Reform Act of 2025: The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is our local water utility and while it succeeds every time clean water comes out of the tap and dirty water goes out with a flush, I am a strong believer in making sure our institutions are subject to strict oversight and review to ensure their continued success. This legislation arose from constituent complaints of varying scales: concerns about unexplainable high bills, exasperation with ever rising rates and add-on charges, and WSSC disregarding its contractual obligations to local communities. The bill puts in place several reforms and transparency provisions while also requiring a full review of WSSC’s performance. As a local bill, this has already been introduced and had local bill hearings (you can watch my testimony here). If it makes it through the local process in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, it will go through the regular legislative process.
 
The MARC Rail Authority Act of 2025: Maryland’s commuter rail system—the three lines that make up MARC rail including the Brunswick Line through Montgomery County—has long been the stepchild of the state Department of Transportation. Despite endless initiatives and plans, little seems to change with this system that could be a crucial part of our 21st century transportation network. I believe that part of the challenge is that our Maryland Transit Administration is not built to succeed. Unlike most state transit agencies, it provides the local Baltimore-area transit service (bus, light rail, and subway), similar to WMATA/Metro in our area, while also maintaining control of commuter rail, transit planning and grantmaking statewide, and more. This legislation would separate the MARC system to function more independently. Senator Cory McCray is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill.
 
Metro Funding Modification Act of 2025: Regular readers of my updates will not be surprised to see a Metro funding bill included here. In 2018, our region came together to support dedicated capital funding to rebuild our Metro system. And it worked. The system is in far better shape today than it was five years ago. But the regional commitment of $500 million has not kept up with inflation and this legislation would re-base Maryland’s commitment to account for inflation and peg it for future 3% growth increments, all contingent on our regional partners doing the same. Senator Malcolm Augustine is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill.
 
Franchise Reform Act: Franchising is the system by which a successful business can replicate their idea with independent ownership. If you think about McDonald’s, some of the stores are owned by the McDonald’s Corporation but many are owned by individual franchisees who have to follow certain requirements of the Franchisor (the McDonald’s Corporation). Maryland has one of the toughest franchising laws in the country, making it difficult for Franchisors to expand their concepts and for small business owner franchisees to access these concepts. The regulatory regime is well meaning to protect potential franchisees from being taken advantage of, but I believe Maryland can be more friendly to these new business concepts, a concern brought to me by several constituents. The bill would pilot a new system for franchisors to file their paperwork with the state and make other changes to our franchising regulatory regime.
 
Affordable Housing Payments in Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act: Working with our county partners, this legislation would expand an existing state program that allows housing projects meeting certain affordability requirements to pay no or discounted property taxes. In Montgomery County, more of these projects involve maintaining affordability for existing naturally occurring affordable housing that would otherwise be redeveloped to higher market rates. The legislation would allow these types of projects to benefit from the program and keep more housing affordable. Senator Shelly Hettleman is bringing the bill forward in the Senate.
 
Conflicts of Interest Act: The committee I chair has jurisdiction over our state ethics laws. Several disturbing stories have come out regarding how the former Governor did not recuse himself from matters that clearly impacted the private business he still owned. This legislation would strengthen the state’s rules around blind trusts and non-participation requirements to ensure our governors are acting on behalf of the state and not their private interests. Senator Brian Feldman, chair of the Senate committee of jurisdiction, is sponsoring the Senate version of this bill.
 
School Board Member Antibias Training Act: Last year, the General Assembly passed Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary’s bill requiring school employees to undergo anti-bias training, including training related to anti-semitism. I was surprised to learn that school board members are not considered school employees and, therefore, were not included. This legislation closes that loophole and requires school board members around the state to go through the same training. I understand that our own county school board is doing some voluntary training, but this sets the law for all to follow. Chair Feldman is also cross-filing this legislation.
 
Local Board of Elections Transparency Act: For several years, Senator Cheryl Kagan and I have advanced transparency legislation including at the State Board of Elections to require public posting of agendas and live web streaming of meetings. This year, we are proposing to expand those requirements to local Boards of Elections including for when they canvass ballots, as was done during COVID.
 
Automated Enforcement Privacy Protections: This year I am the House cross-file of Senator Sara Love’s bill to set privacy protections around our automated enforcement programs. I believe these programs are important for public safety but there should be clear rules about how our personal data can be used. Senator Love championed this issue for years in the House and I am happy to follow her lead now.
 
Specially Designed Vintage Reproduction Registration Plates: If you ever see me driving, you know I do not even use my special General Assembly plates to say nothing of the plates you can buy with a Baltimore Oriole logo or a nice picture to support the state Agricultural Trust or Bay Foundation. But I believe Marylanders who want to pay extra should have these options and am partnering with Senator Folden to allow Marylanders to purchase vintage plates that were in use 100 years ago.
 
State Mineral Act: Picking up the mantle from former Delegate Bill Frick, Senator Craig Zucker and I are championing my constituent’s initiative to have Chromite declared the state mineral. Chromite was first discovered in the United States in Maryland and is an industrial metal. 
 
STAY CONNECTED
If you click reply to this email (this email or any weekly email from me), a return message comes directly to me and I welcome your feedback, questions, or comments anytime. You can also email me at [email protected] or call me on my cell phone at 240-447-1175. I post regularly on Facebook (Marc.Korman.Campaign), Twitter/X (@mkorman), and Threads (@marc_korman).
The Maryland General Assembly website has many great resources if you are interested in following our work over the next 90 days.  I will highlight just a few:
The general schedule is available here.
You can look up legislation and track its progress here.  Every bill introduced by the bill introduction deadline is guaranteed a hearing and before the hearing, a fiscal and policy note about the bill will be published.
You can view the Committee Schedule, which will be regularly updated, here.
I also recommend a few different news resources for those of you interested in the legislature.  In addition to the Washington Post and Baltimore Banner, there are three websites that specialize in coverage of Annapolis:
Maryland Reporter: http://marylandreporter.com/
Maryland Matters: https://marylandmatters.org/
Center Maryland: http://www.centermaryland.org/ 

LEGISLATIVE SESSION PREP I joined the I Hate Politics Podcast to preview one of the major issues of the legislative session, the project budget shortfall. You can listen to the episode here.
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Pre-filed legislation--bills introduced before the legislature convenes--are now available online. Find the House bills here and the Senate bills here. This year, the House Environment & Transportation Committee I chair has the second highest number of pre-filed bills assigned to it among the House committees.
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I have previously shared the 2025 legislative session issue papers prepared by the Department of Legislative Services, but as a reminder, you can find them here. 

OFFICE CORNERLast legislative session, I shared a book about Maryland politics and history each week of the legislative session. This year, I thought I would share something from my Annapolis office in each of my emails. This is a bit more self-indulgent compared to book recommendations but after several years in various Annapolis offices, I have some fun stuff on my shelves and walls. You should come visit me in it but, for now, I can share these tidbits. First up is my bookshelf of Maryland politics and history, featuring many of the volumes I shared last legislative session.