The one piece of legislation that we have to pass each year is a budget. And unlike what legislators at the federal level deal with, our budget must be balanced. Early in the legislative session, my weekly email provided a primer on the budget and some history as to how we got to this current moment. That email was sent two days after the current president was sworn in and the challenges have mounted from there with both direct federal funding and the economic impacts of federal actions causing us severe harm.
Some of you have written to me asking for a cuts only approach to balancing our budget. Others have suggested much more in taxes to address the current deficit and prepare for future federal actions, such as significant rollbacks to Medicaid (healthcare for those in need). My own view is that the best approach is a combination of both and I was pleased to see the House, Senate, and Governor announce a compromise balanced budget plan last week. I provided a brief summary of this budget deal via video a few days ago which you can watch here. That video focused on specific budget elements I have heard from you about and what is in and what is out of the final budget deal. To summarize:
Out
-Significant cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
-Lowering the estate tax exemption from $5 million to $2 million and eliminating the inheritance tax.
-Lowering the corporate tax rate from 8.25% to 7.99%.
-Online retail delivery fee.
-Entirely eliminating the itemization of tax deductions.
-Broad-based Business-to-Business Services Sales Tax (not proposed in the Governor's budget but discussed).
-iGaming, which is online gambling (not proposed in the Governor's budget but discussed).
In
-$1.6 billion in budget cuts across a wide range of programs (a full list is linked below).
-Increase the sports wagering tax rate from 15% to 30%.
-Increase the recreational cannabis tax rate from 9% to 15%.
-Increase the income tax for income over $500,000 from a tax rate of 5.75% to 6.25% ($500,000-$1,000,000) and 6.50% (excess of $1,000,000) (income thresholds vary for joint filers).
-Phase out of itemization for incomes over $200,000.
-3% services sales tax on Information Technology, something a wide range of states do including Pennsylvania and Texas.
A link to the state budget bill is here. A summary report is here. A link to the bill that accompanies the budget to make statutory changes necessary to balance it--known as the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act--can be found here. And a summary report is here. The summary includes a list of budget cuts on page 10. The summary reports have a lot more information, but if you have any specific questions please feel free to reply to this email or reach out in other ways.
With these actions, the state will have $2.4 billion in reserves including both a cash balance and a Rainy Day Fund and a structural balance next budget year.

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE
​As part of the annual budget, the Maryland Transit Administration has to submit bimonthly reports on Purple Line progress. The most recent report--which does not change the date for the Purple Line opening--can be read here.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
I have shared before that one of the bills I am sponsoring this year is the Local Boards of Elections Transparency Act, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Cheryl Kagan. This legislation requires our local boards of elections to livestream their meetings and post their agendas. One thing I have not mentioned is that Montgomery County has led the way in already doing this work and we want to see other counties' boards follow our county's lead.
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Bills that have crossed from one chamber to the other will begin to move quickly through the legislative process, particularly when they are identical to other bills that have moved. One of my bills has already moved through the Senate, the Maryland State Mineral Act, which makes chromite the state mineral (an issue brought to me by a constituent).

LEGISLATIVE SCHOLARSHIP
State legislators award higher education scholarships for those attending Maryland institutions or non-Maryland institutions with unique majors (not available in Maryland).  Learn more about my office's program at https://www.marckorman.com/scholarship.html.

COMMUNITY NEWS
​Congratulations to Bethesda's Daniel Schlaff, who has been re-appointed to the Bethesda Urban Partnership Board of Directors.
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Congratulations to Sue O'Hara (Individual Hero) and the Bethesda Central Farm Market (Community Hero) on their Heroes Against Hunger recognition from Manna Food Center.
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One of the amazing aspects of our district is the many authors who live there. Today I want to shout out Josh Silver and his new book, Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act. I first learned of the book through a Baltimore Sun op-ed he authored.

COMMUNITY EVENTS 
On Thursday, May 8th at 6pm, the Maryland Transit Administration will host the latest Bethesda Chevy Chase Purple Line Community Action Team meeting. The meeting is virtual and can be accessed here.

OFFICE CORNER
Tomorrow is Major League Baseball's Opening Day. We live in challenging times, but as former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent said, "This is not a day for concerns. This is a day for pleasure. There are concerns in baseball but they get dissolved in the bright sunshine." In honor of Opening Day, here is a look at some of the Baltimore Orioles memorabilia in my office. I grew up in Montgomery County in the 1980s and 1990s when the Os were the home team and I have stuck with them through thick and thin--and wow has it been a lot of thin!

We are now past "crossover day," the day by which bills have to pass from one chamber to another. This email includes an update on the bills of which I am the primary sponsor. But we also had significant floor debate on a few other issues that I wanted to share information about.
The Maryland Second Look Act (HB 853) allows a subset of incarcerated Marylanders--those who were between 18 and 25 when convicted, were not sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, is not a sex offender, and have been imprisoned for 20 years--to petition a court and consider a sentence reduction if the individual is found not to be a danger to the public and the interest of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence. This provision applies to approximately 350 incarcerated individuals and does not mean that they will be released early, but they will get a process to do so if it is safe. Victims or their representative will be provided notice and can submit victim impact statements and take part in the process.
The Maryland Values Act (HB 1222) nullifies Maryland counties' 287(g) agreements with federal immigration officials and sets a statewide policy for when local law enforcement should communicate and cooperate with immigration officials.
-The Tenant Possession Recovery Act (HB 767) responds to a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision by setting a 10 day time period for an evicted former tenant to recover their personal property (instead of having it placed right on the street corner).
These all involved serious, sober debate and I think it brought out the best of most of my colleagues, even when I disagreed with their views.
Early on crossover day, I provided a brief video update that you can view here.

BUDGET UPDATE
​The budget continues to be one of the major issues we are dealing with. The Trump Administration did not cause the original budget deficit but their actions over the past few months have immeasurably exacerbated the challenges to Maryland and our residents. That's not a question of ideology or how you voted, it is just a reality.
One issue I have heard from many of you on is concern about broad business-to-business services sales tax one of my colleagues has proposed. Like almost any impactful proposal we consider, this one will certainly not pass in whole or without changes but it is one of the options--at least in part--on the table to help us balance our budget and fund priorities like public education (the largest component of our state transportation budget). Indeed, the Governor has made clear that he does not support the full proposal and will not sign a bill that includes it. There is much more to come on the ongoing budget negotiations and debate.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Here is an update on the status of legislation I primarily sponsored.

County School Board Member Antibias Training Act (HB 324): This bill expands on an existing anti-bias training program, which includes training related to anti-Semitism, for school board members. The bill has passed the House on a bipartisan basis. Senator Brian Feldman is the Senate sponsor and his version has already passed that body.
Affordable Housing Payments in Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act (HB 390): This legislation would expand an existing state program that allows housing projects meeting certain affordability requirements to pay no or discounted property taxes. This bill allows that policy to apply, if the County chooses, to projects that maintain affordability for existing naturally occurring affordable housing that would otherwise be redeveloped to higher market rates. Senator Shelly Hettleman is the sponsor in the Senate and both of our versions have passed our respective chambers.

Specially Designed Vintage Reproduction Registration Plates (HB 313): This bill has passed the House unanimously and allows Marylanders to purchase vintage plates that were in use 100 years ago. The Senate sponsor is Senator Folden and his version has already passed that chamber.

State Mineral Act (HB 411): This legislation is a 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. The bill has passed both chambers. Senator Craig Zucker is the Senate sponsor. You can read more about the bill here.
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 bill would expand those requirements to local Boards of Elections. It has passed both chambers on a bipartisan basis.

Metro Funding Modification Act of 2025 (HB 467): The 2018 regional capital commitment to our regional transit system of $500 million--of which Maryland contributes $167 million--has not grown to keep up with inflation. This bill re-sets the amount to account for inflation and sets a future 3% growth factor, all contingent on Washington, DC and Virginia doing the same. The bill has passed out of the House and is sponsored in the Senate by Senator Malcolm Augustine.
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. The bill has passed the House on a bipartisan basis and Senator Love's bill has also proceeded in the Senate.

The MARC Rail Authority Act of 2025 (HB 517): As introduced, the bill would have set up an independent authority for Maryland's commuter rail system. It has been amended in the House into a workgroup to study the restructuring of the Maryland Transit Administration more broadly. The bill has passed out of the House. Senator McCray is the sponsor on the Senate side.

Conflicts of Interest Act (HB 932): 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 is sponsoring the Senate version of this bill. The House version has passed the chamber unanimously.
Franchise Reform Act (HB 992): 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. It has passed out of the House.
WSSC Planning and Reporting Act (HB 1195): This legislation is a Delegation bill that I originally sponsored that makes several reforms to our local water utility including place our county Director of Environmental Protection on the Commission, adding transparency provisions and requiring various reviews and reports to make the Commission more efficient. The legislation has passed out of the House of Delegates.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Two District 16 residents are recipients of Montgomery County Women Making History Awards. Congratulations to Santi Bhagat and Lavontte Chatmon.
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Congratulations to two new members of the Friendship Heights Transportation Management District, Julian Mansfield and Efi Pagitsas.
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I previously shared information about the State Highway Administration's MD 190 (River Road) Corridor Safety Study. The Montgomery County Planning Board will have a briefing on the study this week and you can see their read ahead packet here.

COMMUNITY EVENTS
​On Saturday, March 22nd at 3pm, the NIH Community Orchestra and Chorus will Perform at the Potomac United Methodist Church.

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On Thursday, May 8th at 6pm, the Maryland Transit Administration will host the latest Bethesda Chevy Chase Purple Line Community Action Team meeting. The meeting is virtual and can be accessed here.

OFFICE CORNERCrossover week is busy and we are in Annapolis for long hours. Because I have relatively young kids, I go home almost every night so I can see my family either at night or in the morning. But when I do miss them, my office is loaded with reminders of them and I am sharing those reminders for my look inside my office this week.

This week in the General Assembly is known as crossover week. That is because bills that do not pass either the House of Delegates or State Senate by the end of the day on Monday (the 69th day of the legislative session)--meaning they have not "crossed over"--will go to the opposite chamber's rules committee if they do eventually pass. Generally, bills that have not passed one chamber by the crossover have great difficulty making their way through the legislative process.
Practically speaking, that means committees and subcommittees will be working long hours to amend and vote out bills, we will have multiple floor sessions several days during the week, and we will be both in our committees and on the floor on Saturday.

BUDGET UPDATE
​The Board of Revenue Estimates (BRE) held its regular March meeting last week to update its revenue projections for the state. Given the actions by the federal administration, it is no surprise to see an impact on Maryland's economy and, therefore, revenue projections. No matter how you voted in the presidential election, the actions of the White House and its DOGE attack dogs are bad for Maryland. Based on these new realities, BRE has reduced its revenue projections for the current and next fiscal year by a combined $347 million. Note that they are not anticipating an actual reduction in income and sales tax revenue at this time, they are just predicting a lower growth rate.
You can watch the BRE meeting here and review the meeting presentation here.

FEDERAL UPDATE
​Speaking of the changes being brought by the federal administration, I was proud to join so many area residents to protest the cuts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Many years ago, I personally received treatment at NIH because an expert on a medical condition I have worked there. More recently, my colleagues and I have helped secure state support for the Children's Inn, a facility on NIH's campus where families stay with their children receiving treatment. And, of course, we have all benefited from NIH-funded research. The slash and burn approach of cuts and grant freezes is a bad idea and deserves to be protested.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
​Two of my bills are on the House floor this week. Legislation (HB 932) related to conflicts of interest, blind trusts, and non-participation agreements for Governors was unanimously passed by my committee. The Affordable Housing Payment In Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act (HB 390) was also passed on a bipartisan basis.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
March is Women's History Month and I want to recognize all the women who are currently--or have previously--served District 16 in the Maryland General Assembly. It is an impressive array of leaders.

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE
The Comptroller of Maryland launched a new series of research papers on state spending with a look at lessons learned so far from the Purple Line, an in progress but much troubled light rail Public Private Partnership. You can read it here.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Congratulations to Harold Hill on his appointment to the Montgomery County Community Reinvestment and Repair Commission.

OFFICE CORNER
​As part of women's history month, the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame inducted several new members this week including former Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, my colleague Chair Joseline Peña-Melnyk, and my former committee chair, Maggie McIntosh. I keep a few different photos in my office including one of my old committee when it was chaired by Delegate McIntosh, as well as a Montgomery County Delegation photo from when I chaired that group.

On Monday, Senator Sara Love and I filed for re-election and released the below statement. There will be plenty of time for politics next year but I did want to let you know that I am seeking another term. I hope to earn the support of District 16's residents once again.
District 16’s State Senator Sara Love and Delegate Marc Korman File for Re-election
Pair once again running as a team
State Senator Sara Love and Delegate Marc Korman announced today their intention to run for reelection as a team and ask the voters for an opportunity to continue representing Maryland's state legislative District 16 in Annapolis. The legislators have committed to continue to advance a robust and effective agenda for District 16.
"Together, Delegate Korman and I have fought for our constituents, both in tandem on environmental and transportation issues and as a complement bringing our individual expertise in areas such as the budget and criminal justice,” said Senator Love. “As a team, I am confident that we can continue to work together in both the House and the Senate to best serve our constituents."
"Senator Love and I have worked together since 2018 on such issues as public school funding, investing in major transportation projects and systems, and working to meet our ambitious environmental goals. As we face the uncertainty of a new federal era, that work is more important than ever," said Korman. "I look forward to four more years of collaboration on behalf of our District 16 constituents."
“It’s a dark time in the federal government and that has serious consequences for us in Maryland. While I’m fighting for the rule of law in Washington, I am always grateful for the steady and principled leadership of Senator Sara Love and Delegate Marc Korman in Annapolis helping to guide our state and our democracy through the turbulence,” said Congressman Jamie Raskin.
"As a District 16 resident, I am proud to be represented by Senator Sara Love and Delegate Marc Korman. I worked closely with both of them when I was Attorney General on our shared priorities, including consumer protection, public safety and criminal justice reform, and environmental protection. I am pleased to support them for re-election," said former Attorney General and District 16 Senator Brian Frosh.
“Maryland is in challenging budgetary times but I trust Senator Love and Delegate Korman to do what is both right for our state and in the best interests of District 16,” explained Nancy Kopp, former State Treasurer and District 16 Delegate.
“As long-time District 16 residents and activists, we appreciate and applaud how knowledgeable, accessible and responsive Senator Love and Delegate Korman have always proven themselves to be. We have fortunately worked with them for years on a range of issues including social justice, criminal justice, and reproductive health. They are talented leaders," said District 16's Susie Turnbull, 2018 Lieutenant Governor nominee and Bruce Turnbull, community activist
“Senator Love and Delegate Korman are the strong and steady Democratic Party and county leaders we need to keep leading us through these uncertain times,” stated Karen Britto, former District 16 Delegate and Montgomery County Democratic Party Chair
Senator Sara Love is serving her first term in the Senate where she sits on the Judicial Proceedings Committee. This follows her successful tenure in the House where she chaired the Motor Vehicle and Transportation Subcommittee on the Environment and Transportation Committee.  While in the House she led on privacy issues, including authoring the country's strongest online data privacy protection law, and on environmental issues, including cleaning our Bay and updating our forest conservation law to preserve more trees. Learn more at saralove4md.com.
Delegate Marc Korman serves as chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, one of just six standing committees in the House of Delegates. He previously served as House Majority Leader and in the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee.  He is the author of Maryland's dedicated funding for the Metro program and has sponsored successful bills related to environmental sustainability, government transparency, education funding, and more. Learn more at marckorman.com.
The District 16 legislative district is represented by one State Senator and three Delegates. At this time, no decisions have been made regarding other campaign team members.

BUDGET UPDATE
One of the components of the Governor's budget proposal is called the Budget Reconciliation of Financing Act, known as the BRFA (pronounced BUR-FA). This legislation accompanies the budget and makes any necessary statutory changes for the budget to balance. For example, if state law requires community college funding to grow by 2% a year but there is only enough funding for 1% in fiscal year 2026--the BRFA amends state law to say only 1% will be provided for 2026. Although we nip and tuck the budget almost every year with BRFA-related changes, the size of the anticipated budget deficit makes this BRFA a hotter topic than in most years. The Governor presented the bill in legislative hearings last week and you can watch the one on the House side here. The Department of Legislative Services (DLS) provided an analysis of the BRFA and some of its own recommendations here.
I will note that DLS recommended changes to one of the Governor's proposals that many of you have written about: eliminating state Arts Council funding. DLS recommends reducing the program but not eliminating it entirely.
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The Governor recently released a supplement to his budget making adjustments to spending, budget cuts, and transfers. The spending includes restoring $300 million for developmental disabilities programs that the Governor had proposed to cut.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
​Two of my bills passed the House of Delegates on a bipartisan basis last week. The Local Boards of Election Transparency Act (HB 412) will improve transparency at local boards around the state with the live streaming of meetings. The County Boards of Education Anti Bias Training Act (HB 324) will expand anti bias training previously passed for school system staff to the school board members as well.

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Legislation regulating conflicts of interests of Maryland Governors that I introduced with Senator Brian Feldman was written up by the Baltimore Sun. Read the article here.

BLUEPRINT UPDATE
​The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is a vast education reform program we passed a few years ago and is currently being enacted. A lot of the discussion around the Blueprint is over its cost. But I saw this update from the Accountability and Implementation Board created to make sure the Blueprint is working and thought it would be good to share. Some of the highlights for me are:
-53% increase in 3- and 4-year olds enrolled in full day pre-K, meaning more students are learning earlier;
-414% increase in the number of teachers statewide pursuing National Board Certification, meaning better teachers; and
-Community schools are now fully phased in with all schools with a concentration of poverty of 55%+ receiving extra funds and support, meaning many needy students are receiving more services and support.

ENERGY UPDATE
Many of you have written to me about energy issues. As you know, we have ambitious environmental goals in the state of Maryland. Under the Climate Solutions Now Act, we are supposed to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. We also have a renewable portfolio standard where we are supposed to use 50% green energy by 2030. I believe in these goals. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions has at least four benefits. First, it is our small part in addressing global climate change. Maryland alone cannot stop climate change but we all need to do our part. Second, many other pollutants accompany greenhouse gas emissions and reducing those means cleaner air and a healthier Maryland. Third, I believe that our transition will ultimately be cost efficient and a savings to many. Fourth, the states are the laboratories of democracy and the actions we take in Maryland can be models for others to follow.
But we face three significant threats to achieving our goals. First, the state budget deficit means we have less resources available to assist with the transition and what are, in some cases, significant up-front costs. Second, energy prices are rising. And third, we now have a completely hostile federal administration with its head in the sand when it comes to combatting climate change. There is no question that we need to adjust our approach in some ways to accommodate these realities.
Regular readers have already heard a lot about the state budget deficit and I am already tired of talking about the new federal administration and it has been less than six weeks since they took office. So let me focus for a moment on energy prices. Some people would have you believe that Maryland has banned gas and coal and this is causing prices to rise. Maryland has no such ban. In fact, there was bipartisan legislation proposed to phase out our coal plants but it never passed. Instead, many energy generators are making the decision to retire some plants and several Maryland coal plants have been retired or are slated for retirement. This is part of a much broader industry trend away from coal. However, obviously the lights need to turn on so any retiring plant needs replacement electrons which is why the federal government has ordered two of Maryland's plants to stay online until replacement capacity is available. However, Maryland is part of a regional electric grid (called PJM) and its complex rules mean that Marylanders pay something of a penalty for those retiring plants.
In the face of all of this, the Senate President and House Speaker are leading a package of bills on energy. The joint hearing was held Friday and can be viewed here. One controversial aspect of the proposal that many of you have written about is related to natural gas. One of the bills requires the Public Service Commission--our state regulator of utilities--to solicit for proposals for new generation and that could include natural gas. Although nothing is stopping an entity from building a natural gas facility in Maryland today, having the government promote it is a challenging proposition for many. Although the legislation is in the Economic Matters Committee, on which I do not serve, I will continue to monitor the issue.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Congratulations to Bama Athreya, District 16's newest Montgomery County Democratic Party Central Committee-member.
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Congratulations to the Walter Johnson boys and girls swim teams, which both won the 4A/3A state swim championships. Congratulations to the Wildcats!
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WAMU ran a story about the various dances that take place at Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom. Read it here.
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The new traffic signal a Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road will be fully activated this week. Since Monday, you may have noted the signal flashing and it will go into full activation tomorrow (Thursday). The 72 hours of flash operations are to notify regular drivers that a new signal is coming.

OFFICE CORNER
​We had a horrible event in the House of Delegates this week with the sudden passing of one of Speaker Jones' sons. Our hearts go out to the Speaker during this challenging time. The Speaker has guided the House of Delegates through challenging times including the pandemic. Before she was Speaker, I served on the Appropriations Committee with then Speaker Pro Tem Jones and was on the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee she chaired when I started in Annapolis. She gave me some of the best advice I have received about serving in the House: always do the reading (meaning be prepared).
Speaker Jones first took over the position when our prior Speaker, Speaker Michael Busch, died the day before the 2019 legislative session concluded. Speaker Busch was the longest serving speaker in Maryland history and I feel lucky to have overlapped with him, especially in his last year as Speaker when I participated in several meetings with him related to school construction and transportation and got to witness his leadership up close
I keep a few Speaker-Busch related keepsakes in my office which you can see below.