​Ever since I first ran, oversight of--and investment in--our regional Metro system (the Washington Metropolitan Transit Administration or WMATA) has been a major priority. So I was thrilled that last week the House of Delegates passed Maryland's part of a regional Metro funding agreement on a bipartisan basis. The legislation now awaits action in the State Senate. 

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 
A few of my other bills are working their way through the legislative process. The Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act has been voted out of subcommittee and will be before the full House Environment & Transportation Committee this week. And the Senate version of the Franchise Reform Act was voted out of committee on a bipartisan basis. Finally, my late legislation to reform the Village of Drummond's charter has passed out of the local Montgomery County committee and will be before the full Montgomery County Delegation on Friday. Because the bill was late, it also needed to be voted out of the House Rules Committee which occurred earlier this week.
 
BUDGET UPDATE
The Governor has released his first supplemental budget. The good news is that he corrected some issues in his original budget, specifically those related to behavioral health. Unfortunately, it compounded an issue with a phonics reading program I worked with a constituent to create. I am advocating with my colleagues in the General Assembly to fund the program.
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One of the biggest issues we are trying to address in the Governor's budget is funding for some of our most vulnerable Marylanders through the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). The budget analysis for DDA is now available and can be found here.
 
DELEGATION UPDATE
On most Fridays during the legislative session, the Montgomery County Delegation meets to go over local legislation. This past Friday, we were joined by Montgomery County Public Schools. You can watch the meeting here.
 
POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
As a reminder, we send out a Potomac Interceptor-specific email multiple times a week. If you would like to be added, please just reply here. One good piece of news this past week is that DC Water added two testing sites in response to community advocacy (and advocacy from elected officials) at Sycamore Island and the Feeder Channel at Lock 6.

 COMMUNITY NEWS
 
Congratulations to District 16's Susie Turnbull on being named to the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.
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Congratulations to Jack Deutsch and Bobby Pestronk on their volunteer recognition from the Little Falls Watershed Alliance.
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Save the date! The Nesfield Performance Foundation is hosting its Metro Move Fest on Sunday, May 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School. Come out for a day of family-friendly fitness activities brought to you by local vendors and nonprofit organizations. Please direct questions to Tiffany Nesfield ([email protected]). 
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This summer, the Red Line will be shut down between North Bethesda and Friendship Heights stations for significant maintenance and Purple Line work at Bethesda. Metro is working with state and local officials to create a bus bridge between the stations and the County held a briefing on the plan which you can read about here.
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The next Purple Line Community Action Team Meeting for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area will be on Thursday, April 23rd at 6:00pm and will be held virtually. 

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
March is Women's History Month and I want to recognize the incredible women leaders who have represented District 16.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
 
Each week this legislative session, I am profiling non-Montgomery County legislators. This week, in honor of Women's History Month, I am highlighting Delegate Dana Jones. Dana is chair of our legislative Women's Caucus and represents Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. She joined the General Assembly during the height of COVID. We also have a shared love of books and libraries.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Last week, I had five bill hearings on the Co-Op and Condo Energy Refund Equity Act, the Franchise Reform Act, Large Buildings for Tomorrow Act, the Land Transfer Accountability Act, and the Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act. These bills cover a range of topics including affordability, economic development, the environment, pushing back on what the federal government is doing, and transportation. And I will note that several of these proposals were developed with the assistance of constituents.
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Working with the rest of the District 16 Delegation, I have also gotten an additional bill introduced on behalf of the Village of Drummond to update their out of date charter. The bill will have a virtual hearing before the Montgomery County Delegation later this week.

DELEGATION UPDATE
On most Fridays during the legislative session, the Montgomery County Delegation meets to go over local legislation. This past Friday, we were joined by Senator Chris Van Hollen. You can watch the meeting here.
DISTRICT 16 NIGHT IN ANNAPOLIS
The District 16 Delegation is hosting District 16 Night in Annapolis on this upcoming Monday, March 9th, starting at 6:00pm in the Lowe House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, just click reply to this email.

POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
DC Water, WSSC, Maryland Department of the Environment and others held a public meeting last week regarding the Potomac Interceptor. You can watch the public meeting here.
As a reminder, we send out a Potomac Interceptor-specific email multiple times a week. If you would like to be added, please just reply here.

APPOINTMENTS NEWS
District 16 has two appointees to the Montgomery County Building Performance Improvement Board. Kevin Walton has been reappointed and Bill Bien has been appointed to the board.
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The Governor sent down his "green bag" appointments last week. These are his appointments to multiple state boards and commissions. District 16 appointments include:
-WIlliam Zeid, Architectural Review
-Aslim Abdullah, Dental Examiners
-Cedric (Henry) Watson, Elevator Safety Review
-Robert Bajefsky Hangun Roster
-Paula Collins, St. Mary's College Board
-Ryan Frederic TEDCO Board of Directors
-Bei Ma Venture Fund Authority Nichelle Schoultz Commission for Women 

COMMUNITY NEWS
​The next Purple Line Community Action Team Meeting for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area will be on Thursday, April 23rd at 6:00pm and will be held virtually. 

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
​Each week this legislative session, I am profiling non-Montgomery County legislators. This week is a two-for-one because these two members work closely together as Chair and Vice Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and the Environment: Courtney Watson and Mark Edelson.
Delegate Watson is from Howard County and previously served on their County Council. She served as my Vice Chair when I was chair of what is now her subcommittee. Delegate Edelson is from Baltimore City and we actually know each other from law school predating our service together. Together, these two Delegates have been leaders in the House on transportation funding and oversight--with the occasional assist from me.

​Dear Friend:
I always describe the job of a state legislator as having three components: legislating, as in writing and passing new laws; constituent service, which is helping anyone who reaches out to us navigate a problem; and oversight, to ensure the government is operating properly. But even just on the first component, legislating, there are different ways to achieve a goal. This year, Senator Shelly Hettleman and I had introduced the Board of Public Works (BPW) Climate Transparency Act (HB 1161), to ensure that the BPW--made up of the Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer--has information regarding the impact of state contracts on our ambitious climate and sustainability goals. But last week, without the House bill even having a hearing, the BPW adopted an advisory implementing the law, which you can read starting on page 42 here. With our mission accomplished, Senator Hettleman and I plan to withdraw the bill. Watch my short video on this topic here.
I also recently had the chance to participate in an interview with Professor John Dedie about the legislative session. You can watch it here.
 
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
The Ways and Means Committee voted the Local Boards of Education Transparency Act (HB 154) to the floor unanimously. It will pass the full House of Delegates later this week.
Last week, I had no bill hearings on my legislation. But this week, I am in the midst of hearings on five bills I have sponsored in three separate committees. It is a busy week!
In the Environment and Transportation Committee last week, we had testimony from two District 16 residents.
Burning Tree Elementary School student Lucy Goldband traveled to Annapolis to testify in support of the Clear Before You Drive Act. The bill would follow the practice in other states of requiring drivers to clear their car roofs and hoods of snow and ice before driving. You can watch her testimony here.
And Donna Berry testified virtually in support of HB 646, legislation to improve the Motor Vehicle Administration process for dealing with certain medical conditions.
I am a cosponsor of both of these bills and have worked with the sponsors and constituents to advance them.

BUDGET UPDATE
The budget committees in the House and Senate are in the midst of their detailed work hearing the budgets of individual state agencies. Before each hearing, the Department of Legislative Services prepares an analysis of the agency's budget. If there is an area of government that is of particular interest to you, you can find the analyses here. Analyses continued to be added as the hearing date for that agency approaches.
 
DISTRICT 16 NIGHT IN ANNAPOLIS
The District 16 Delegation is hosting District 16 Night in Annapolis on Monday, March 9th starting at 6:00pm in the Lowe House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, just click reply to this email.

​POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
 
Despite a sharp uptick in political rhetoric around the Potomac Interceptor break, real progress continues to be made. As I write this, there have been no overflow events since Super Bowl Sunday. DC Water--which owns and controls the pipe--expects to return full flow to the pipe (and out of the canal) by mid-March. DC Water is working with the National Park Service on plans to clean and fix the canal once that occurs. There are also odor mitigation efforts underway. As noted previously, DC Water has a landing page on the situation which you can access here. My office continues to email regular updates on the situation and you can just reply if you would like to be added to the list. Those updates are more thorough than this weekly check-in.
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments held a briefing on the situation earlier this week. You can watch it here.
In addition, DC Water--which owns the pipe--will be holding a public meeting on Thursday (February 26th) at 7pm at Whitman High School to discuss the situation.
 
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS NEWS
As many of you know, Montgomery County Public Schools has been undertaking a boundary study, in part to account for the soon to reopen Woodward High School. The opening of Woodward is a positive development to ease crowding at Walter Johnson High School, but any new lines have pluses and minuses. You can read more about the Superintendent's recommendations here. Remember, you have an independently elected school board and if you have feedback on the recommendations, you should advocate to them.
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One thing related to MCPS we are dealing with at the state level is the requirement for schools to have a minimum of 180 school days and 1,080 school hours. The long closure from snow and ice earlier this year and the crunch of various holidays is putting significant pressure on the school calendar. Although I agree that the school system needs to get better at mitigating impacts from weather events, I am supporting legislation to give Montgomery County some flexibility. The bill is on the House floor this week.

 COMMUNITY NEWS
Each year, the county's planning staff releases a monitoring report on the Downtown Bethesda sector plan. This year's report is now available online and it will be presented to the Planning Board tomorrow. A few highlights:
-The County’s Commuter Survey Report for the AM peak period (7-9am) in the Bethesda Transportation Management District indicates an Employee Non-Auto Driver Mode Share (NADMS) of 51.4% and a Residential NADMS of 65.2%, resulting in a Blended NADMS of 54.2%, which is just below the Blended NADMS Goal of 55%.
-In the 2030-2031 school year, the cluster-wide utilization rate is expected to drop to 80.8%, which is barely within the 80 to 100 percent utilization rate range that MCPS considers efficient for an individual school to be operating at.
-However, as my Bethesda Elementary (BE) Third Grader knows, there is one school in the cluster that remains over capacity and that is BE. 
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The next Purple Line Community Action Team Meeting for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area will be on Thursday, April 23rd at 6:00pm and will be held virtually. 

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The Greater Bethesda Chamber was in Annapolis last week and we honored their 100th birthday with a floor resolution.

​MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Each week during the legislative session, I plan to spotlight a non-Montgomery County Delegate colleague. This week, I want to highlight Delegate Scott Phillips from Baltimore County. Delegate Phillips is an attorney who previously chaired the Baltimore County Planning Board and now serves on the Judiciary Committee. But as we observe Black History Month, I want to lift up Delegate Phillips' role as chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, the largest state black caucus in the country.

Dear Friend:
According to the House rules, the 31st day of the legislative session is known as the "Introduction Date." Bills introduced after that date are referred to the Rules Committee--instead of their committee of jurisdiction--and are not guaranteed a hearing. With the Introduction Date now passed for both chambers, there are 960 Senate bills and 1,585 House bills (many duplicate each other). 251 of the House bills are pending in the Environment and Transportation Committee. Eight of the bills are ones I have introduced as the primary sponsor and can be viewed here.
Since my last update, I introduced one bill: The Board of Public Works Climate Transparency Act (HB 1161). The legislation ensures that when our state agencies are bringing contracts to the Board of Public Works, they will be consistent with our state's climate and environmental policies.
 
GOVERNOR'S HOUSING PACKAGE UPDATE
I have received many questions regarding the Governor's housing package and its potential impacts on District 16. The Governor has described three different bills as part of his housing package:
1. The Maryland Housing Certainty Act is actually sponsored by members (not formally by request of the Governor) and focuses on what is called "early vesting," as well as impact fees. Early vesting relates to when the existing set of rules and regulations apply to a project. The hearing for the bill is on February 19th.
2. The Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act focused on transit-oriented development in Maryland. A version of this bill passed the House last year and my own view is the that impact on Montgomery County is fairly limited, as we have already prioritized transit-oriented development around our fixed rail transit stations. That is something that has not happened all across the state. The hearing for the bill is on February 26th.
3. The Silver and Starter Homes Act is--in my view--by far the most controversial and far reaching. The bill would preempt a good deal of local rules about set backs, minimum lot size, and where town houses can be placed. As I have shared with those who have asked, I think the proposal is extremely aggressive and would need a lot of work to earn my support. Although the state has occasionally preempted certain local zoning to prioritize specific types of growth, this proposal is far reaching with a one size fits all structure. But I know the committee of jurisdiction will be working on the bill in the weeks ahead. You can watch the bill hearing online.
 
GOVERNOR'S STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
The Governor delivered his annual State of the State Address one week ago. You can watch the speech here.

​DISTRICT 16 NIGHT IN ANNAPOLIS
The District 16 Delegation is hosting District 16 Night in Annapolis on Monday, March 9th starting at 6:00pm in the Lowe House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, just click reply to this email.

POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
 
Work continues to mitigate further leaks from the Potomac Interceptor sewage leak. As noted last week, DC Water has a landing page on the situation which you can access here. My office continues to email regular updates on the situation and you can just reply if you would like to be added to the list. The sewage is no longer regularly leaking into the Potomac River but when bypass pumps go offline or other variables occur, some spillage may occur.
The Utilities Subcommittee of the Environment and Transportation Committee held a briefing on the breach with DC Water, Maryland Department of the Environment, Potomac Riverkeepers, and others last week. You can watch that here.

 COMMUNITY NEWS
The National Park Service is seeking public input on potential changes at Glen Echo Park. Learn more and comment here.
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A community meeting about the potential project on the Friendship Heights GEICO property will be held on Thursday, February 19th at 7 pm, in the Westland Middle School cafeteria (5511 Massachusetts Avenue, Bethesda, MD). RSVP at [email protected]. 
 
PRESIDENTS DAY
This past Monday was Presidents Day. Each year, the House of Delegates hears an address from a Republican member in honor of President Lincoln and a Democratic member in honor of President Washington. Back in 2018, I had the opportunity to deliver the Washington Day address. You can hear that old speech--it predates video streaming on the House floor--here.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Every week during the legislative session, I plan to spotlight a non-Montgomery County Delegate colleague. This week, I want to highlight Delegate Ashanti Martinez, the House Majority Whip. Prior to becoming a Delegate, Ashanti had a long history of working in local government and on local campaigns--including on the Congressional campaign of our current House of Delegates Speaker. The online Maryland Manual--the state's historic compendium of government--starts listing a Majority Whip for the Maryland House of Delegates about 50 years ago in the 1970s (the first one listed is a Calvert County Democrat named Thomas Rymer). In all of that time, Delegate Martinez is the first to rise to that post in his first term (and the first Afro-Latino). And, importantly for me, Delegate Martinez's mom works at Metro!

Every bill introduced by a certain date is guaranteed a hearing in the appropriate committee of the House of Delegates. Right now, the committee I chair--Environment & Transportation--is holding bill hearings every Tuesday through Thursday (soon to be every Tuesday through Friday). Two of my bills have also had bill hearings already, the Local Boards of Education Transparency Act (HB 154) and the Metro Funding Modification Act of 2026 (HB 386). 

​LEGISLATION UPDATE
 
Since my last update, I have introduced two more bills.
The Large Buildings for Tomorrow Act (HB 870) would ensure that buildings that will need to comply with Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) in the future are built to comply today. BEPS is our state policy to reduce emissions from buildings. It makes no sense for a building built today to not comply with standards that will apply in the future under current law.

​The Land Transfer Accountability Act (HB 1009) sets guardrails around the federal government's ability to own land and buildings it owns in the state. Recall that the current Administration has sought to dispose of federal office buildings and preserved natural resources.

The Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act (HB 1081) would reform the Maryland Transit Administration--which runs Baltimore-area transit as well as statewide commuter rail and commuter bus service--by creating two new boards to oversee these functions and makes other changes to improve MTA's functions. 
 
ENERGY UPDATE
I had the opportunity to discuss energy issues--which is new to the jurisdiction of my committee--with the Maryland Energy Talk Podcast. You can listen to it here.
 
DISTRICT 16 NIGHT IN ANNAPOLIS
 The District 16 Delegation is hosting District 16 Night in Annapolis on Monday, March 9th starting at 6:00pm in the Lowe House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, just click reply to this email.

POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
 This past weekend, I visited the site of the Potomac Interceptor breach. You can get there by parking at Lockhouse 9 and walking towards Lockhouse 10 where you will see an active work site and sewage being pumped from the breached pipe, through the canal, and then pumped back into the pipe. Just a warning that if you do go, the tow path has not been plowed and there is quite an odor.
DC Water now has a landing page on the situation which you can access here. My office continues to email regular updates on the situation and you can just reply if you would like to be added to the list.
The Utilities Subcommittee of the Environment and Transportation Committee will hold a briefing on the breach with DC Water, Maryland Department of the Environment, Potomac Riverkeepers, and others on Friday afternoon.
 
COMMUNITY NEWS
This week's Montgomery County Planning Board is taking up two issues of interest for District 16.
First, the planning staff has released the biennial monitoring report on the implementation of what was called the White Flint Sector Plan. You can review the report here.
Second, the planning staff has provided initial recommendations regarding their update of the Friendship Heights Sector Plan. You can review those recommendations here.
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WSSC has a Customer Notification System that you can sign up for to stay up to date with WSSC issues that may affect you, including leaks and breaks.
 
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
 This week's member spotlight is Delegate Ryan Nawrocki. Ryan is a member of the Environment & Transportation Committee that I chair and represents Baltimore County. I would say that my relationship with Ryan encapsulates the old adage that you can disagree without being disagreeable. Ryan is a member of the Freedom Caucus so there is a lot we disagree on. But we are similar ages, have similar senses of humor, and both have young families--although his is much larger than mine--so we can disagree in a friendly and respectful way. Which is one of the nice things about Maryland's political culture. You can watch us discuss and debate energy issues on Baltimore's local news here.

​Dear Friend:
The deadline to introduce legislation in the House and be guaranteed a bill hearing is Friday, February 13. Between now and then, numerous bills will be introduced. Thus far, I have introduced the following bills:
Local Boards of Education Transparency Act (HB 154): Requiring local boards of education to livestream their meetings and meet other transparency requirements.
Metro Funding Modification Act of 2026 (HB 386): Resets Maryland's regional contribution to DC-area Metro funding to account for inflation and other needs.
Co-Op and Condo Energy Refund Equity Act of 2026 (HB 702): Ensures that co-op and condo residents benefit from any energy rebates the General Assembly passes, including last year's rebate.
Franchise Reform Act (HB 730): Reforms the state's franchising laws to help our small businesses that are trying to use the franchise method.
More to come!

FLOOR UPDATE
Our floor sessions are off to a fast start this year with debate on the redistricting map and a bill to limit county partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) both up for debate at the end of last week and into this week. You can see part of my participation in the map debate here, here, and here.
 
COMMITTEE UPDATE 
The House Environment and Transportation Committee continues a rigorous briefing schedule. Since my last email, we have heard from our regional grid operator (PJM) and our California and Texas energy officials, as well as state transportation officials. Each briefing, hearing or other committee meeting is available on the committee's YouTube page.

DELEGATION UPDATE 
On most Fridays of the legislative session, the Montgomery County House Delegation meets. Last week, we heard from the Department of Legislative Services for our local fiscal briefing and voted on a few pieces of local legislation (bills that only affect Montgomery County). You can watch the meeting here and the continuation of it here.
​
DISTRICT 16 NIGHT IN ANNAPOLIS
The District 16 Delegation is hosting District 16 Night in Annapolis on Monday, March 9th starting at 6:00pm in the Lowe House Office Building. If you are interested in attending, just click reply to this email.

POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS 
As noted last week, the District 16 legislators have been in regular contact with the Maryland Department of the Environment, as well as DC Water (who owns and operates the ruptured line, not WSSC) and Montgomery County government, regarding the major wastewater pipe breach along the Potomac. The good news is that the bypass system is now turned on and is operating well on most days. The bad news is that full repairs on the interceptor will take time and the impact of the sewage leak on the environment is not yet fully known. Please stay tuned for further updates. We have been sending more detailed updates to a list of constituents who have expressed interest. If you would like to be added to that list, please reply to this email.
One thing that challenges the bypass system--and our infrastructure in general--is items going down the toilet or the drain that do not belong there, especially grease and wipes. Please do your part to not put these materials into the system.

​THANK YOU MAYOR SLAVIN 
The Town of Somerset's Mayor, Jeffrey Slavin, has announced that he will not seek re-election. Mayor Slavin has served in that role since 2008 and was on the Town Council before that. Thank you Mayor Slavin for your years of service to our community. You can watch his announcement here.

CAMPAIGN NEWS
Senator Sara Love and I have announced a series of meet-and-greets around the district and have had two thus far. Unfortunately, the one scheduled for February 8th in Maplewood is being rescheduled. Email [email protected] for further information on any of our meet-and-greets.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 
Every week during the legislative session, I plan to spotlight a non-Montgomery County Delegate colleague. This week, I want to highlight Regina T. Boyce. Regina serves on the House Environment & Transportation Committee with me where she chairs the Natural Resources and Open Space Subcommittee. Although she represents an urban Baltimore district, she has become a trusted voice on the committee for rural, agricultural, and sportsmen communities because of her work ethic and diligence. And fun fact, we went to the same elementary, middle, and high schools!

I hope everyone has stayed safe in the weather and is digging out, and hopefully having a little fun too. With more winter weather possible, below is a reminder of handy numbers and contacts during storms.

​BUDGET UPDATE 
The Governor's budget proposal has been released. As constitutionally, it is balanced--addressing a projected $1.4 billion deficit--and reaches that with no tax or fee increases. It achieves that in three major ways: (1) Ongoing spending cuts of approximately $600 million; (2) One time transfers from certain special funds to the general fund, with some back-filled by the capital budget of nearly $800 million; and (3) Revenue adjustments--but not tax increases--including decoupling state taxes from certain federal deductions and adjusting certain special fund programs valued at around $200 million. And it will do all of this while retaining an 8% Rainy Day Fund.
Of course, that quick summary does not capture all of the issues. I have heard from many of you already about the proposed $150 million reduction for supports for the developmentally disabled and a reduction to the projected increase in mental health services for schools. In addition, although we balance the budget every year, there are still long-term deficits to address. And other issues will arise as we analyze the proposal.
The Department of Legislative Services presented their fiscal briefing on the Governor' budget earlier this week. You can watch the meeting here and review the presentation and supporting material here.
Although there will be a lot of work to do on the Governor's budget, I do want to acknowledge some important capital projects in District 16 that the Governor has requested funding for including Suburban Hospital's emergency department expansion, renovations of the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park, a water main replacement in Carderock Springs, and funds for art around downtown Bethesda.

​COMMITTEE UPDATE 
The House Environment and Transportation Committee continues a rigorous briefing schedule with further briefings on energy, as well as the state of agriculture in Maryland, the state of the Chesapeake Bay, and a broader update from the Maryland Department of the Environment. We also had our first bill hearing yesterday. Each briefing, hearing or other committee meeting is available on the committee's YouTube page. 

LEGISLATION UPDATE
Last week, I introduced the Metro Funding Modification Act with Senator Malcolm Augustine from Prince George's County. The bill would increase Maryland's contribution for Metro capital funding in coordination with Virginia and D.C. I provided a short video update on the bill (and the budget) here.
 
DELEGATION UPDATE 
On most Fridays of the legislative session, the Montgomery County House Delegation meets. Last week, we heard from Montgomery County Park & Planning and voted on a few pieces of local legislation (bills that only affect Montgomery County). You can watch the meeting here.
 
REDISTRICTING NEWS
The Governor's redistricting commission recommended a proposed plan for new Congressional district lines in Maryland. The proposal has been introduced in the House and the bill can be reviewed here. Under the bill, new lines would be set for the 2026 general election in Maryland but whether those lines would be used in subsequent elections--until the next census--would be decided by the voters. The House Rules Committee, on which I serve, had a virtual hearing on the bill earlier this week and voted to pass the map, which is now pending on the House floor.
As I have written about partisan mid-decade redistricting previously, "I support Maryland moving ahead absent some halt in the nationwide redistricting wars sparked by the President and a rollback by the states who followed his partisan wishes."

POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR NEWS
Part of the Potomac Interceptor--a DC Water sewer line along the C&O Canal and Potomac River--suffered a break/collapse on January 19th. DC Water has now installed a bypass pump to divert sewage around the break. There is no impact to drinking water because of the placement of the line, but there is contamination of sewage into the Potomac River. District 16 legislators have been in touch with the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has been coordinating with DC Water, WSSC, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Here is the latest update from DC Water.

CAMPAIGN NEWS 
Senator Sara Love and I have announced a series of meet-and-greets around the district. The next one is in the Town of Somerset on January 31st. Please join us if you are in the area (and the weather allows it). Email [email protected] for further information.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
​This year, I am profiling a different non-Montgomery County legislator in my newsletter. This week, I want to introduce you to my friend, colleague, and committee vice chair, Delegate Michele Guyton. Michele represents a district in Baltimore County and is the leading voice in our state legislature for those with special needs differences, something important to me personally. Michele has a Ph.D. in developmental and social psychology, served on the state school board, and established the Maryland state Autism coordinator. She is also an actress and scuba diver (fun facts she wanted me to tell you). Maryland's new House Speaker has organized our House floor seats so that committee chairs and vice chairs sit next to each other, so Michele and I will be spending a lot of time together! 

Dear Friend:
Later today, the Governor will introduce his proposed budget. This is the one item we need to address each legislative session and we are constitutionally required to have a balanced budget. That will be no easy task, as a projected structural deficit is anticipated. Some have asked me why there is a projected deficit--especially after last year's budget cuts and tax/fee increases. While there are several causes, a significant one is the changes wrought by federal reconciliation legislation, which has wonky impacts on our state tax collections. In any event, I will have more to say on the budget in future emails as it winds its way through the legislative process.

​COMMITTEE UPDATE
Each year, the committees commence the session with legislative briefings. The Environment & Transportation Committee has numerous briefings scheduled, including multiple briefings on Maryland's energy landscape. Energy is a new policy area for the committee. Our first briefing was yesterday and you can watch it here. A list of other January briefings is here.
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The committee held its organizational meeting last week, which you can watch here.

DELEGATION UPDATE
On most Fridays of the legislative session, the Montgomery County House Delegation meets. Last week, we heard from County Executive Elrich and County Council President Gonzalez. You can watch the discussion here.
 
TRANSPORTATION NEWS
 Last week, Governor Moore met with the United States Transportation Secretary to discuss, among other issues, the American Legion Bridge. Following the meeting, a Joint Statement was issued raising the prospect of a public private partnership (P3) for bridge reconstruction. Read the statement here.

 COMMUNITY NEWS
Last week, Whitman High School was vandalized with hateful anti-Muslim graffiti. This is unacceptable and should be condemned across the board, just as the anti-Semitic graffiti at Whitman High School a few years ago was. We live in a diverse area and need to be welcoming to our neighbors.
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A District 16 resident, Sosena Audain, is currently serving as the Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate. You can learn about her work here.
 
CAMPAIGN NEWS
 Senator Sara Love and I have announced a series of meet-and-greets around the district. Please join us. Email [email protected] for further information.

​MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
 
Over the last few years, I have tried to include something fun at the bottom of each of these weekly emails. Two years ago it was a discussion of a Maryland politics or history book. Last year it was a look at some of the items in my office. This year, I plan to spotlight a member of the Maryland General Assembly. As many of my readers know other Montgomery County Delegates, my goal is to talk about a non-Montgomery County legislator each week.
This week, I am starting on a bipartisan basis and profiling Delegate Jay Jacobs. Jay was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2006 from a district on the Eastern Shore (Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne's Counties). Prior to that, he had a career in local government in the town of Rock Hall. He is an avid fisherman and has served on the Environment & Transportation Committee during his entire tenure (I am his third chair). He is the senior Republican on the committee--the equivalent of a Ranking Member on Capitol Hill--and included in our leadership meetings,. Of course, we do not always agree, but have found common ground on many issues including cycling safety.

Dear Friend:
Today marks the start of the 2026 legislative session. Unlike the United States Congress, the Maryland General Assembly is part-time and meets for 90 days each year. I am excited to once again serve as chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, one of our seven 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, and energy. Energy in particular is a new issue for the committee. The House's new Speaker has created a seventh standing committee and re-organized jurisdiction, resulting in energy being moved to the Environment & Transportation Committee.
 
That said, I currently plan to sponsor eight bills:
Metro Funding Act: As regular readers know, Maryland’s dedicated funding for Metro has not grown since 2018, meaning it has severely eroded in value. This legislation would essentially re-base Maryland’s contribution to Metro and peg it to grow, contingent on our partners in Virginia and DC doing the same. This will allow us to continue critical safety investments in the Metro system. Senator Malcolm Augustine from Prince George’s County is leading the issue in the State Senate.
Maryland Transit Administration Reform Act: I spent the interim on a work group to reform the Maryland Transit Administration. That group’s report can be reviewed here and I am now converting its findings into legislation. Importantly for our part of the state, the proposed new structure would allow increased focus and attention on the MARC commuter rail system, which serves Montgomery County. My partner in the Senate is Senator Cory McCray, who also served on the work group.
Franchise Reform Act: There is no question that our county and state need to grow and diversify economically. One of my proposed changes is to reform our franchise laws—which allow those with business concepts to sell them and prospective small business owners to buy them—to make it easier to have franchise businesses in Maryland. I had similar legislation in 2025 that passed the House but not the Senate. Part of that bill was implemented administratively and the 2026 proposal aims to do even more. Senator Pam Beidle is the Senate sponsor.
Large Buildings for Tomorrow Act: Maryland has ambitious climate goals, but one of the few concrete policies is called Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS), which requires existing large buildings to scale down their carbon emissions and get net zero by 2040. This bill ensures that buildings being built today that will have to comply with BEPS are built to do so, as it is much easier to build a net zero building than to retrofit one.
Board of Public Works Climate Transparency Act: Inspired by former District 16 Delegate and State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, this legislation requires state agencies seeking spending approval before the Board of Public Works—the Governor, Comptroller, and State Treasurer who approve all contracts over a certain size—to share how the contract is consistent with our state climate goals. Senator Shelly Hettleman is the Senate sponsor.
Local Boards of Education Transparency Act (HB 154): Continuing transparency in government work I have done for years with Senator Kagan, this legislation will require each local board of education across the state to video stream their meetings (something our county already does).
Land Transfer Accountability Act: There are many ways our state needs to push back against the current federal administration. One proposal I am sponsoring is to make it more difficult for the federal government to dispose of property it owns in Maryland, which in the case of our area is primarily office buildings. The legislation is a two-pronged approach to require state government to sign off on a sale and disincentivize non-government buyers in the case of a federal fire sale. Senator Jeff Waldstreicher is the lead in the other chamber
Co-Op and Condo Energy Refund Equity Act: Last year, the General Assembly passed rebates for electric customers but those who live in co-ops—and directly pay their electric bills—were left out. This legislation, also sponsored by Sara Love in the State Senate, would ensure co-op owners are treated equally.

STAY CONNECTED
If you click reply to this email, 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), Instagram delegate_marc_korman), Bluesky (@mkorman.bsky.social), 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 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 some of the major issues of the legislative session. You can listen to the episode here. I also joined the Montgomery County Women's Democratic Club to discuss the state budget and you can watch that program 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 56 pre-filed bills.
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I have previously shared the 2026 legislative session issue papers prepared by the Department of Legislative Services, but as a reminder, you can find them here. 
TRANSPORTATION NEWS
As part of the state budget, the Maryland Transit Administration submits bimonthly reports on Purple Line progress. The most recent report is here: https://tinyurl.com/tw7xps28
The big update is they have moved the trail reopening date from spring to summer 2026. The state and vendor also have different views on the opening date (late 2027 versus early 2028).
COMMUNITY NEWS
If you are struggling with bills and have a pet, here are some Montgomery County options to get the food that they need.

CAMPAIGN NEWS
I am pleased to share that the League of Conservation Voters has endorsed my campaign for re-election.

SPECIAL SESSION
​Earlier this week, the Maryland General Assembly held a rare special session. You can see my short video about it here. In the House, we had two main orders of business.
First, we elected a new Speaker of the House, Joseline Peña-Melnyk. Speaker Peña-Melnyk represents a district in Prince George's and Anne Arundel Counties that is connected to our District by the Beltway and, in a few years, the Purple Line. She has the personal background and policy expertise to ably lead the House.

Second, the House and Senate both overrode a number of the Governor's vetoes from the 2025 legislative session. Some of the notable overridden vetoes include:
The RENEW Act, legislation to study and calculate the impacts of climate change on our state.
The Energy Resource Adequacy and Planning Act, which establishes a new Strategic Energy Planning Office to help guide us through recent energy and electric market challenges.
Data Center Study Bill, legislation to study the potential impacts of new data centers on our state.
Youth-Centric Technology Legislation, a bill from my District 16 colleague, Delegate Sarah Wolek, to publish a technology and social media resource guide to help families make better decisions related to young people and technology.
Reparations Commission, which will study issues related to reparations in Maryland.
As we look towards the regular legislative session, you can get up to date with the Department of Legislative Services Issue Papers for the 2026 session.
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LEGISLATIVE SEND-OFF
And another way to get ready for the 2026 legislative send-off is to attend the District 16 Delegation's send-off at the Bannockburn Clubhouse at 3:30pm on January 10th.

BUDGET UPDATE
The state Board of Revenue Estimates met recently and slightly increased the revenue estimate for fiscal year 2026--the current fiscal year--based on collections and for fiscal year 2027. Corporate income tax and sales tax have come in lower than expected but most other sources have been even or a little higher than estimates. I would not necessarily call it good news, as the estimates have been conservative due to the economic headwinds, but it is not bad news.
Review the Presentation.
Read the Report.
Watch the Meeting.
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The Spending Affordability Committee (SAC)--on which I used to serve as House chair--sets the overall budget guidelines the General Assembly follows each year. SAC recently met and you can watch their meeting here and read their recommendations here. The meeting provided a brief update on the budget situation based on the budget projections described above and the latest school system projections. Both benefited the budget picture but there is still an over $1 billion deficit projected for the coming budget. The main recommendations of SAC are:
-In recognition of the fiscal outlook, the committee recommends that the fiscal 2027 budget, as introduced and enacted, reduce the gap between general fund revenues and ongoing spending by 50% ($600 million).
-A Rainy Day Fund balance of at least 8% of General Fund revenue should be maintained with the possibility of going down to 7.5%.
-Since the federal government appears less likely to provide disaster assistance in the future, the State should maintain a combined balance of at least $15 million in these two funds beginning in fiscal 2027. The Treasurer’s Office should also explore the cost of purchasing disaster recovery insurance to cover at least 
a portion of the cost of assisting communities impacted by natural disasters.
-The committee recommends that the Executive Branch maintain current levels of authorized positions, fill vacancies in mission critical positions, and increase vacancies overall to meet budgeted turnover.
-A fiscal 2027 target closing balance of at least $550 million for the Transportation Trust Fund, which is $50 million greater than the target closing balance assumed by MDOT in its draft September 2025 financial forecast. The committee is recommending a larger TTF fund balance to ensure the continued ability of MDOT to meet its cash flow needs in the case that federal fund attainment, including federal reimbursement for capital projects, is less than currently projected by the department.

DELEGATION UPDATE
Each fall, the Montgomery County Delegation holds bill hearings on local bills that only affect the county or bicounty agencies like Park & Planning. Here is the slate of local bills for the upcoming legislative session.
Click here for the first night of bill hearings. The second night of bill hearings can be watched here.

COMMITTEE UPDATE
The Environment & Transportation Committee, on which I serve, held two recent pre-session briefings. The first was on the Ins and Outs of Residential Development and can be watched here. The second was An Update on Recent Federal Actions Impacting Climate and Energy Policy in Maryland and can be viewed here.

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE
The first bill I passed in the Maryland General Assembly was HB 300 (2015), which requires an annual report by WMATA/Metro regarding Maryland's use of the system. The report is released every five years and the latest report was just released.
Marylanders' Metrorail usage is down from 2020 (135k riders a day now versus 236k pre-COVID), but Metrobus usage is up (133k Marylanders now versus 106k before). This is consistent with the overall post-COVID trend, but Maryland's share of Metrorail riders has dropped from 37% to 30% of overall ridership. Some of this may be attributed to the Silver Line opening.
65% of Montgomery County Metrorail riders get to their stations on foot, compared to 40% of Prince George's riders. I think that says something about land use and has not really changed in five years.
11% of Marylanders' Metrorail trips are from non-Montgomery or Prince George's County residents. Anne Arundel County accounts for a plurality with Howard County coming in second. Frederick and Charles Counties have notable numbers but have less riders than those two counties. A lot are probably arriving at Union Station via MARC Rail, because that is the heaviest used station (end of line stations with a lot of park and ride like Greenbelt are also heavily used) by other Marylanders and 18% of those weekday riders connect to Metro via rail.
Dig into more details here.
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The United States Department of Transportation has issued a Request for Information regarding the American Legion Bridge/495/270 project for which the state already has approved environmental documentation. Review it here.
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Each year, Metro allows riders to look at their ridership profile for the year. Visit Metro Rewind 2025 to check yours. My stats are below.

COMMUNITY NEWS
​I recently had the chance to participate in The Built World Around You Podcast. Listen to it here.
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Congratulations to Miu Edson, on being named to the Citizens Review Panel for Children. And congratulations to Lynn Nozer, on her nomination to the Adult Public Guardianship Review Board.