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I spend a lot of time in this weekly newsletter talking about the work of the House of Delegates. No surprise there. I am a Delegate after all and, these days, House Majority Leader. But this is the time of the year that members of the House and members of the Senator quickly remember that like 48 other state legislatures--all but Nebraska--Maryland has a bicameral legislature. The story goes that George Washington said that the U.S. Senate's purpose was to "cool" U.S. House legislation just as a saucer is used to cool hot tea. I do not think it works quite the same way in Maryland where the Senators and House members represent the same constituencies and serve the same overlapping terms, but each chamber does bring different perspectives to bills.
This is the time of year we are all reminded of the other body because members from each are marching across the hall (really between our separate legislative buildings) to present our bills that passed our own chamber to the other. For example, last week I presented the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Sunset Act to the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Unlike most of my other bills, this one had no "Senate cross-file"--an identical bill introduced by a Senator--so it was the first time any Senator was really hearing or thinking about my bill. And earlier this week I presented the Teacher Pay Parity Act to the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee. BUDGET UPDATE Earlier this week, the Governor sent down a supplemental budget making various changes to the proposed operating and capital budgets. You can review it here. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am also part of the "conference committee" on the budget when the House and Senate budget leaders get together to sort out differences. As I draft this, I am between meetings of the conference committee. COMMUNITY NEWS Condolences to the Temple Beth El community on the passing of Rabbi Emeritus William Rudolph. ----- Three District 16 residents were recently nominated to state boards and commissions by Governor Moore:
Two District 16 residents were also nominated to County Boards and Commissions by the County Executive:
District 16's Dr. Kevin Cullen has been added to the Baltimore Sun's Business and Civic Hall of Fame for his work on cancer care. 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]. Just before I finalized this weekly newsletter, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee selected Sarah Wolek to fill now Senator Kelly's unexpired term as Delegate for District 16. Sarah's name now goes to Governor Moore for appointment to join Delegate Sara Love and me in representing you in the House of Delegates. Congratulations to Sarah! Monday was the so-called "crossover deadline," the date by which bills need to move from one chamber of the Maryland General Assembly to the other to avoid being sent to the Rules Committee (significantly harming the chance of final passage).  The Maryland General Assembly deals with thousands of bills each year and as House Majority Leader, I am proud to be in the mix on many of them related to choice, healthcare, firearm safety, the environment, the economy and more. But the crossover deadline is a good time to assess the status of the ten bills of which I am the primary author.
The State and Federal Transportation Funding Act (HB 51) allows so-called GARVEE and GAN financing for certain transportation mega projects. It has passed the House. The Maryland State Agency Transparency Act (HB 58) applies certain Open Meetings Act requirements including web streaming of meetings to the State Ethics Commission. It has passed the House and the Senate version has passed that body. The Net Metering Flexibility Act (HB 68) makes net metering for home solar panels more consumer friendly. It is still in committee but the Senate version has passed. The Maryland Rail Investment Act (HB 74) to create a state rail authority funded by tolls on existing tolled facilities is stuck in committee. The Board of Public Works Public Comment Act (HB 498) will bring more transparency to that unique body. The House and Senate version have each passed. The Teacher Pay Parity Act (HB 448) reforms special needs school teacher pay. The bill has passed the House. The Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act (HB 380) would allow binding arbitration for our collectively bargaining state employees. It is stalled in committee. The Young Readers Program Act (HB 243) expands a program created last year to support books for those under 5 years old. It has passed the House and the Senate version has passed that body. The Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Sunset Act (HB 161) requires a sunset review of that quasi-governmental agency. It has passed the House. HB 377 is a Montgomery County Delegation bill I am championing with Senator Ariana Kelly and Delegate Sara Love to reform procurement policies for the Village of Friendship Heights in District 16. COMMUNITY NEWS District 16's Anna Palmisano is the recipient of the Robert Wears Award for National Leadership in Patient Safety in the volunteer category. I have seen Anna up close advocating for patients' rights and improved healthcare in Annapolis. ----- Congratulations to District 16's Robert Chanin and Judith Rivlin on their reappointment and appointment, respectively, to the Maryland Public School Labor Relations Board. ----- Congratulations to District 16's Judith Hallett, whose book Ancient Women Writers of Greece and Rome, has been selected to receive the 2023 Bochazy Pedagogy Award from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. ----- Condolences to the family of Norman Knopf on his passing. Norm was an attorney who had long been active in county land use issues. ----- 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. 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]. The one piece of business the General Assembly is required to address each year is the annual budget. This year's budget originates in the House of Delegates. As I have shared before, the Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, considers the budget through different subject matter subcommittees. I chair the Subcommittee on Transportation and the Environment. Last week, each subcommittee made its recommendations to the full Appropriations Committee which passed the budget on a bipartisan basis. You can read the reports of each subcommittee here:
As I have shared before, this year's budget fully funds the various statutory formulas in law for public education (including $1.1 billion in aid for Montgomery County Public Schools); is balanced, as required by Maryland laws; holds tuition increases at the University System of Maryland to 2% and fully funds the state's community college funding formula; and more. Combined with the state capital budget, it also funds school construction, parks infrastructure, and transportation projects. This action on the budget comes just after our state's Board of Revenue Estimates made some revisions to the current and next fiscal year provisions. They expect less growth in both the income and sales taxes and noted that the state's economic strength was a little weaker than the country as a whole. It's a $477m reduction across both fiscal years (out of an almost $25b general fund). Of course, we have to balance our budget every year so we adjusted the budget described above to account for this. The slide deck from the BRE's meeting is available here. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Three more of my bills passed the House of Delegates last 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. This week, the House will take up my legislation, the State and Federal Transportation Funding Act. The bill authorizes grant anticipation financing (known as GARVEE or GAN) for some of the state's largest transportation projects. ----- Several major initiatives passed the House of Delegates last week: -Family Prosperity Act: Tax legislation that permanently extends the state's Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. -Reproductive Freedom Constitutional Amendment: This will place on the ballot next year a constitutional amendment regarding reproductive freedom. -Cannabis Reform: The bill puts in place the licensing, regulatory, and taxation framework for the recreational cannabis market authorized by the voters last year. And this week we will be taking up firearm safety legislation as the state responds to the Bruen Supreme Court decision. The bill modifies the qualifications for a wear and carry permit in Maryland. TREASURER UPDATE Earlier this week, State Treasurer Davis announced that Maryland had retained its AAA bond rating from all three major ratings agencies. Although these bond rating agencies do not always get it right, their view does impact the cost Maryland pays to borrow for construction projects. The ratings reports also provide a nice little fiscal check-in. You can read all three of the reports here.There's actually a minor error in the Fitch report, as it says that Maryland "established the nation's first taxes on digital goods and downloads, including advertising." That's only half right, the digital advertising was the first in the nation and currently under litigation but many states preceded Maryland in taxing digital goods and digital downloads. The reports all emphasize their appreciation for Maryland's fiscal management policies and that is a big part of why we get strong ratings. TRANSPORTATION NEWS The vendor for the I-495/I-270 private toll lanes project has announced that they are withdrawing from the project. The current Administration has made clear that they plan to continue the project in some form, relying on the environmental documentation and Record of Decision obtained last year. Because of the method by which the vendor withdrew, the state owes them no funds and the vendor owes no funds to the state. Whatever you think of the project or the use of Public Private Partnerships (P3), let me just suggest that large multi-national companies do not just walk away from multi-billion dollar projects without a fight. But the reality of this project has always been that the P3 could not do what the Hogan Administration said it could do: magically solve traffic at no net cost to the taxpayers. This is something even the Hogan Administration acknowledged late in the game when they sought a federal bridge grant (that MD was not awarded) on their way out the door. As I told the media, “I trust we will now have a more honest and cooperative process.” Read an article about the project change. COMMUNITY NEWS In a prior email, I shared the news that former District 16 Delegate Marilyn Goldwater passed away. The Washington Post recently published an obituary on her passing. ----- 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. UPCOMING EVENTS
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]. We are now more than halfway through the 90 day legislative session which means floor sessions are getting longer and committees are voting out more bills. Over the past few weeks, significant public hearings have been held on legislation related to the legalization of cannabis, placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot in support of reproductive rights, responding to the Supreme Court's Bruen decision on firearms legislation, the Governor's proposal to raise the minimum wage and peg it to inflation and more. If there is a legislative issue or bill you are interested in, please just click the reply and I am happy to let you know the status of that particular one.  LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Each of my bills has now had a hearing and several of them are moving through the process. The Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Sunset Act (mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0161?ys=2023RS) 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. The Maryland State Agency Transparency Act (mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0058?ys=2023RS), which would expand certain Open Meetings Act requirements--including web streaming of meetings--to the State Ethics Commission, was voted out of subcommittee. The Young Readers Program Expansion Act (https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0243?ys=2023RS), which would build on a program created last year to support county-based programs that send books to young Marylanders, also passed out of subcommittee. I expect further progress on bills I am working on over the next few weeks. 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]. |
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