|
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. ----- 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. ----- 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.  We get a lot of questions about e-scooters and e-bikes, asking why they are not regulated. Well they are, but enforcement is definitely an issue, so I appreciate the Montgomery County Police Department putting together this explainer. Know the rules!  CAMPAIGN NEWS I am pleased to share that the League of Conservation Voters has endorsed my campaign for re-election.  Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2026
Categories |
RSS Feed