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.
-----
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.

-----
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.
-----
Congratulations to the Walter Johnson boys and girls swim teams, which both won the 4A/3A state swim championships. Congratulations to the Wildcats!
-----
WAMU ran a story about the various dances that take place at Glen Echo Park's Spanish Ballroom. Read it here.
-----
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.

Dear Friend:
Every bill only has one sponsor but no bill is the responsibility of a single person. Each member of the House of Delegates gets their chance to put an imprint on every bill we consider whether that is just their vote for or against it on the House floor, an amendment, helping to persuade a colleague to vote for it, or countless other contributions. My name may not be on the sponsor line of landmark legislation such as the Climate Solutions Now Act--which set our state's ambitious climate goals--or the Built to Learn Act--which amped up our school construction program backed by gaming revenue--but like many other members I contributed to their passage.
That said, for most bills a sponsor has significant involvement in the legislation's trajectory. Because we are organized in committees, sponsors have the best chance of success when it comes to bills in their own committee where you are in the room to promote and prioritize your agenda. But members can have success in other committees and I am pleased that three of my bills are working their way through the Ways & Means Committee and on to the House floor.
The County Board of Education Member Anti-Bias Training Act (HB 324) and Local Boards of Elections Transparency Act (HB 412) were voted out of committee on a bipartisan basis and are on the House floor this week. The Affordable Housing Payment in Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act (HB 390) passed out of subcommittee last week and will be taken up by the full committee soon.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
​In addition to the progress described above, I had three bill hearings last week.
The first was the Franchise Reform Act (HB 992), which is designed to improve the regulatory environment for franchisors and franchisees in Maryland. You can watch that hearing here.
The second was on what I refer to as the Conflict of Interest Act (HB 932), which would strengthen ethics rules for governors. That hearing can be viewed here.
Finally, legislation that Senator Sara Love has championed for years related to privacy standards for our automated enforcement programs also had its hearing. That can be watched online.
-----
Although I am not the primary sponsor of the End-of-Life-Option Act--sometimes referred to as Death With Dignity--I get a lot of questions about it. I am a cosponsor of this legislation and think it is a sensible step forward for end of life care. The full House took up the bill and passed it in 2019 but it has never passed the Senate. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill have hearings in early March but it still does not appear that the votes are there in the Senate.

BUDGET UPDATE
The state budget continues to be one of the major issues of the legislative session. In addition to our projected budget shortfall, the complexity is compounded by actions in Washington, DC. The federal government's current funding runs out on March 14th. While a federal government shutdown is always economically impactful in Maryland, there is also great risk to funding programs Maryland and its people rely on with any deal that is struck. The next meeting of our state's Bureau of Revenue Estimates (BRE) is March 6th and we follow the BRE's guidelines in setting our budget. My prediction is that we will have seen some softening in sales tax revenue at least due to the uncertainty coming out of the current federal administration. Many Marylanders work as federal employees or work indirectly as contractors or in other jobs that revolve around the federal government. Even if their actual job is safe, what the current federal administration is doing with its chaos campaign will make many hesitate before making purchases.
There was some good news on the budget. One of the most controversial cuts proposed by Governor Moore is to the Developmental Disabilities Administration. His proposal was not only to cut the next budget year--starting this summer--but the current budget year as well. However, after significant advocacy, the Administration and House and Senate leaders have agreed to identify other funds to use for the current budget year and delay any cut. Whether or not the cuts take effect next budget year is part of ongoing negotiations.
VISION ZERO DAY
An important issue my committee is dealing with is referred to as Vision Zero. In 2019, Maryland set a goal of reducing serious injuries and deaths on our roadways by 2030. You can track our progress on a state dashboard but, unfortunately, we went from 535 deaths in 2019 to 621 in 2023 (2024 data is still being finalized but appears a bit better). Our committee is making an effort to help achieve the goal and on Friday we heard a number of bills related to Vision Zero, mostly related to improved automated enforcement. You can watch that hearing here. We have had earlier hearings on reckless driving, speed governors, for offenders, and reciprocal automated enforcement with our neighboring jurisdictions. The Washington Post recently quoted me in a story on this topic.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS
On Monday, March 3rd at 7:30am, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club will hear from County Executive Marc Elrich. Email [email protected] for the meeting link.
-----
On Tuesday, March 4th at 7pm, County Councilmember Andrew Friedson will hold a public safety meeting at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School cafeteria.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Congratulations to Jane Fairweather on her reappointment to the Board of Directors of the Bethesda Urban Partnership.
-----
Last week the Governor delivered what are called his Green Bag appointments through which he nominates members of various boards and commissions (as well as other offices). I am pleased to see 11 District 16 residents appointed or re-appointed including:
Don Stanton, Aviation Commission
Eileen Levitt, Commission on Civil Rights
Leslie Hale, Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors
Marcia Mintz, Montgomery College Board of Trustees
Benjamin Klubes, Morgan State University Board of Regents
Swati Agrawal, Morgan State University Board of Regents
Micha Weinblatt, Public Private Partnership Marketing Corporation Board
Phillip Singerman, Technology Development Corporation Board of Directors
Meena Seshamani, another District 16 resident, has also been nominated by Governor Moore as the new Secretary of Health
Fiona Oliphant, Maryland Commission for Women
Kati Penney, Maryland School for the Blind Board of Directors
Daborah Jarvis, Washington Suburban Transit Commission
If you are interested in serving on one of these state boards and commissions, please visit https://govappointments.maryland.gov/instructions-for-filling-out-the-general-application-form/.

OFFICE CORNER
Spring training is now in full swing with exhibition games starting. That means it is a good week to share my Maryland minor league baseball team foam finger collection. From top to bottom, I have foam fingers for the Orioles' affiliate-Single A Delmarva Shorebirds, the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Orioles' affiliated-AA Bowie Baysox, the now independent Frederick Keys, the Orioles-affiliated single A Aberdeen Ironbirds, the independent Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, and the now defunct Hagerstown Suns which were a Single A affiliate on of the Washington Nationals.

As regular readers of this email know, the structure of our legislative session is built around time: we start on a specific date, bills need to be introduced by a specific date, bills need to pass from one chamber to the other by a specific date, and we adjourn on a specific date. Between this weekly email and the next, we will pass the halfway point of the 90 day 2025 legislative session. That means we will have 45 days and counting to work on several major issues before us including, most notably, the annual budget and energy issues. The countdown clock will have an impact on my personal legislative agenda as well. As one of my favorite movie characters--Rocky Balboa--explained in the 2015 film Creed--"Time's undefeated." The legislative sessions always start a little slow but, at this point, we start to feel time slipping away as we work on complex and important issues.
As if on cue when I was drafting this, the clock in my office stopped working which must be some type of metaphor for how time looms over us during the 90 day legislative session. So here's a bonus "Office Corner" showing where my clock used to be--and hopefully will be again soon!

DELEGATION UPDATE
Our Montgomery County House Delegation meets most Fridays during session. The main event last Friday was hearing from our Congressman, Jamie Raskin, about the situation in Washington. For those who want a deep dive, my legislation on the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission was also considered and passed by the Delegation. Watch the meeting here.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
Since my last email, one of my bills had a hearing: the MARC Rail Authority Act (HB 517). The bill would separate the MARC commuter rail system from the rest of the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). As I explained at the hearing, I do not think the MTA is organized in a way that makes sense for our state and I am open to other ways to improve its structure. You can watch the hearing here.
-----
I have additional bill hearings today, tomorrow and Friday on legislation to reform our state's franchise laws, a bill to reform conflict of interest laws for governors, and a proposal for privacy standards for our automated enforcement systems.

BUDGET UPDATE
The budget continues to get a lot of attention and is one of the major issues of the legislative session. I have heard from many of you opposed to specific cuts or tax increases. As a reminder, the Department of Legislative Services' detailed analysis of each agency's budget can be found here. Federal uncertainty is also clouding the budget debate as the federal government's current funding bill expires in March and the current administration and Elon Musk continue to make radical changes such as clawing back already appropriated funding, freezing National Institutes of Health and other grant funding, and mass firing employees at federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and other agencies where a more refined approach would be much more appropriate than the current actions.
If you are one of those affected, be sure to check out the resources page launched by Governor Moore as well.

PRESIDENTS' DAY UPDATE
This past Monday we honored Presidents' Day in the House chamber. As we do every year, we heard from a member about the continued importance of George Washington. This year's speaker was Delegate Palakovich Carr from Montgomery County. I had the honor of delivering the address in 2018 and you can listen to it here.

OFFICE CORNER
​In honor of Presidents' Day, this week's highlight from my office is one of my more off-beat items, a campaign poster for Estes Kefauver. Kefauver ran for president in 1952 and 1956 and was actually the Democratic nominee for Vice President that year (he edged out JFK for the spot). Kefauver was a Tennessee Senator and is a personal hero of mine.

A big part of the job in Annapolis is, of course, to vote on legislation. We took our first votes on legislation on the House floor back on January 30th (it was a maternal and child health funding bill using an existing pot of money) but more committees are now sending legislation to the floor. My committee had its first voting session this past Friday. Those bills--which include an environmental measure on yard waste, a bill on cycling safety, and changes to fishing fees--are on the House floor this week. The rate of committee and floor voting sessions will speed up from here.
Last week was also the deadline to file legislation without it being referred to the Rules Committee (instead of the policy committee of jurisdiction). There are over 1800 bills in the House and over 1300 in the Senate. Currently, the committee I chair (Environment & Transportation or ENT) has the second most amount of bills in the House.

DELEGATION UPDATE
​As regular readers know, the Montgomery County House Delegation--now 26 members strong--meets most Friday mornings for local bills and to consider local legislation. This past Friday included a briefing from Park & Planning which you can watch here. At the briefing, the Planning Director (a District 16 resident!) shared a story map that traces housing development in Montgomery County over the decades. You can review the map and all of the changes in Montgomery County here.

LEGISLATION UPDATEEach bill I am sponsoring has now been introduced and scheduled for a hearing. Yesterday was the hearing on the Metro Funding Modification Act, which grows Maryland's dedicated capital funding for our area Metro system--contingent on Washington, D.C. and Virginia doing the same--because the value of the contribution has eroded since 2018 when it was first enacted. You can watch the hearing online.

BUDGET UPDATE
I provided a broad overview of the Governor's budget submission several weeks ago. The budget process will continue over the rest of the legislative session. A large and, of course, controversial aspect of it relates to tax changes proposed by the Governor. The state's Bureau of Revenue Estimates recently issued its report on the impact of personal income tax changes by tax bracket and county.


BIRD FLU UPDATE
I mentioned a few weeks ago that my committee held a briefing on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (also known as avian or bird flu) which you can watch here.
Since then, bird flu has made its way to backyard birds in Montgomery County. Here are some reminders. The Maryland Department of Agriculture requires all owners of backyard chickens to register their flock with the department. Learn how to register here. In the event of an infected bird, owners should contact the Maryland Department of Agriculture at 410.841.5810 (after hours at 410.841.5971) or send an email to [email protected].
Owners should limit visitation and interaction with their birds from non-essential parties. Any coop and feeding areas should be covered and secured to prevent exposure to wild birds and animals. Food and water should be changed daily to reduce risk. Following interacting with the flock, owners should sanitize their hands and any equipment used as well as dispose of any garments worn when providing care. As we all work to handle the ongoing outbreak, owners can help keep their flocks safe and limit the spread of Bird Flu in Maryland.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Nancy Long, a 51-year Town of Glen Echo Councilmember, recently passed away She was involved in efforts to revitalize Glen Echo Park including the Carousel and protecting the C&O Canal. Condolences to the entire Town of Glen Echo on the passing of this stalwart resident.
-----
If you are looking for tax preparation assistance, AARP tax aide volunteers will be available for low to moderate income taxpayers at the Davis Library in Bethesda numerous times in February including: Friday, February 14th at 10am-6pm; Wednesday, February 19th at 12pm-5pm; Friday, February 21st at 10am-6pm; Wednesday, February 26th at 12pm-5pm; and Friday, February 28th at 10am-6pm.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH
February is Black History Month. The real life inspiration for Harriett Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin lived in Montgomery County and you can learn more about him at the Josiah Henson Museum Park in District 16. You can watch a video about him from Montgomery Community Media.

OFFICE CORNER
The last few weeks I have shown various maps I have around my office. This week I have one last one to share. Several years ago, a then-colleague gave me a copy of the Report of the State Roads Commission of Maryland for the Years 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911. It came with this incredible map in the back that I had framed.

I usually send my weekly email out in the morning. But today was the Governor's State of the State Address, so I waited to send the email so I could link to his speech. The Governor talked about the challenges ahead during this legislative session and beyond as we address our budget deficit but also work with a new and, frankly, erratic federal administration. He called these two storms.
In Michelle Obama's memoir, she described President Obama's approach to his job: "His job, it seemed, was to take the chaos and metabolize it somehow into calm leadership--every day of the week, every week of the year." The current president prefers to catalyze the chaos. In addition to the very real and frightening threats to federal funding and federal workers, this was demonstrated by his offensive response to the tragedy at National Airport, a tragedy where at least eight Marylanders were among the 67 souls lost.
The Governor reminded us that Marylanders prefer for us to "confront crisis with courage, compassion, competence and calm."

​BRIEFINGS UPDATE
​The Environment & Transportation Committee continues to receive briefings on some of the important issues our committee will deal with even as we take up a full schedule of bill hearings. Last week, we had a briefing on the State of the Chesapeake Bay and our annual fiscal briefing.

LEGISLATION UPDATE
I continue to introduce the legislation that I announced in my first email of the legislative session. This past week, I introduced two more bills (the last two I expect to introduce this session):
Conflicts of Interest Act (HB 932): The committee I chair has jurisdiction over our state ethics laws. Several disturbing stories have come out regarding how the former Governor did not recuse himself from matters that clearly impacted the private business he still owned. This legislation would strengthen the state’s rules around blind trusts and non-participation requirements to ensure our governors are acting on behalf of the state and not their private interests. Senator Brian Feldman, chair of the Senate committee of jurisdiction, is sponsoring the Senate version of this bill.
Franchise Reform Act (HB 992): Franchising is the system by which a successful business can replicate its idea with independent ownership. If you think about McDonald’s, some of the stores are owned by the McDonald’s Corporation but many are owned by individual franchisees who have to follow certain requirements of the Franchisor (the McDonald’s Corporation). Maryland has one of the toughest franchising laws in the country, making it difficult for Franchisors to expand their concepts and for small business owner franchisees to access these concepts. The regulatory regime is well meaning to protect potential franchisees from being taken advantage of, but I believe Maryland can be more friendly to these new business concepts, a concern brought to me by several constituents. The bill would pilot a new system for franchisors to file their paperwork with the state and make other changes to our franchising regulatory regime.
----
Bill hearings are also continuing. Last week, there was a bill hearing on the County School Board Antibias Training Act (HB 324). As as a reminder, last year we required “school employees” to take anti-bias training including to address anti-Semitism. We learned that this did not include school board members and I introduced this bill with Senator Brian Feldman to close this loophole. You can watch the hearing here. Local press also covered the bill.

Yesterday, two other bills I sponsored were heard in the Ways & Means Committee.
The Affordable Housing Payment In Lieu of Taxes Expansion Act (HB 390) would expand an existing affordable housing program to protection naturally occurring affordable housing. You can watch the bill hearing online.
The Local Boards of Elections Transparency Act (HB 412) would expand transparency requirements for our local boards of elections to live stream their meetings and canvassing sessions. You can watch that hearing online as well.

CONSTITUENT MEETINGS
​It is always fun to have constituents visit us during the General Assembly session. This past week's visits included a group of District 16 residents with Moms Demand Action to talk about sensible gun safety and Girl Scout Troop 34148 from Bethesda Elementary School. If you are going to be in Annapolis, be sure to stop by to visit me.

COMMUNITY NEWS
​Congressman Jamie Raskin has launched a new resource page regarding the impact of the federal Administration's policies and actions. You can hear from Congressman Raskin directly at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club on Monday, February 10th at 7:30am (hope the Super Bowl doesn't run too late!). Email [email protected] for the link.
-----
Last week, I mentioned the Montgomery County Planning Board's discussion of the 2024 Bethesda Downtown Plan Annual Monitoring Report. You can watch their discussion here. Also relevant to our area, on Thursday the Planning Board will consider the scope of work for the forthcoming new Friendship Heights Sector Plan.
-----
If you are looking for tax preparation assistance, AARP tax aide volunteers will be available for low to moderate income taxpayers at the Davis Library in Bethesda numerous times in February including: Friday, February 7th at 10am-6pm; Wednesday, February 12th at 12pm-5pm; Friday, February 14th at 10am-6pm; Wednesday, February 19th at 12pm-5pm; Friday, February 21st at 10am-6pm; Wednesday, February 26th at 12pm-5pm; and Friday, February 28th at 10am-6pm.
-----
Congratulations to Ed Krauze and George Zarubin on their appointments to the County-wide Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.

OFFICE CORNER
​Last week I shared the Maryland Transit Administration maps in my office. Keeping with the theme, this is a laser-cut wooden map of District 16 a friend made me. However, District 16 is slightly different today as this reflects the pre-2020 census version where one of the Potomac precincts that is no longer a part of the district today still was.

Presenting legislation regarding Maryland license plates.
BUDGET UPDATE

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

 BRIEFINGS UPDATE

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

FEDERAL UPDATE

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

LEGISLATION UPDATE

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

TRANSPORTATION UPDATE

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

COMMUNITY NEWS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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