By EMMA TUFO

ANNAPOLIS – To the relief of most state officials, the Maryland General Assembly ended its tense budget cycle this week and passed a balanced spending plan for the coming year.

Now the question is whether that relief will extend beyond the halls of power to working families and middle-class residents of the state.

The Democratic administration of Gov. Wes Moore and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller argues that it will.

“We know this session has been tough,” Miller said Tuesday. “It’s been shaped by a tough budget, challenging realities and hard decisions. But it’s also grounded in a shared commitment to expand opportunity and invest in our people.”

But Republicans say the budget plan is too harsh on too many Maryland residents. Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick Counties, said the state should have focused more on cutting costs.

“I think we need to have the attitude of being much more willing to reexamine everything that we’re doing in state government long-term,” Ready said, “because we cannot continue to raise the tax burden and the cost of living on working families.”

In the end, Democratic leaders managed to close a significant structural deficit through almost $2 billion in spending cuts and $1.6 billion in tax changes. To help do so, they raised income taxes on Maryland’s higher earners.

Moore’s stated goal at the beginning of the budgeting season was, among other things, to bring about a fairer system of taxation.

“Under current law, our system just isn’t fair,” Moore said in his February State of the State address. “Right now, someone making $30 million a year is in the same tax bracket as a family making $300,000.”

Three months later, the final budget agreement means that 94% of tax filers will be paying the same or less than they paid before, according to a summary report from the budget committee. The structural gap projected for fiscal year 2027 is now under $150 million, down from $2.9 billion.

The budget agreement raises the rate for taxpayers in two new income tax brackets: one for single filers making over $500,000 and another for those earning over $1 million. The budget has gone to Moore’s desk for consideration, and he is expected to sign it in the coming days.

As Democrats see it, their budget strategy prioritizes quality of life for more people.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, says the budget plan works because it invests in education, health care and environmental protection. He said it also offers support for vulnerable communities.

“We are trying to make sure that vulnerable seniors have a place to go to the hospital, that they have care that they need, and that our most disabled are able to get the services that they deserve, in order to live a fulfilling life,” Ferguson told reporters. “The budget as a whole is investing to make sure that people have the quality of life that they deserve.”

At the same time, Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Vice Chair Jim Rosapepe argues that federal politics are to blame for much of the state’s trouble, with declining federal funding and mounting job losses among Maryland-based federal workers.

“It’s been challenging, but we’ve had state budget issues before,” said Rosapepe, a Democrat representing Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties. “We’ve had national recessions before. We’ve never had a president of the United States want to take a chainsaw to our economy and a chainsaw to the American legal system, a chainsaw to veterans benefits and Social Security benefits and Medicare benefits. I’ve never seen that before.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are concerned that new taxes and fees will hit not just high-income earners but also businesses – as well as the people they serve and employ.

The budget now allocates $500 million to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. Revenue for that fund will come from increases to vehicle excise taxes, title fees, registration fees and the new $5 tire fee. Among the largest of the new taxes and fees is a 3% sales tax on technology services, such as software publishing and data processing.

Del. Mark Fisher, a Republican representing Calvert County, argued this week that these fees will hit working-class commuters the hardest.

“When you have a war on cars, you have a war on the middle class,” said Fisher. “You’re waging war on the middle class, waging war on cars, and at the same time saying you’re not getting a tax increase if you’re in the middle class.”

House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, a Republican representing Allegany County, said the budget places too much of the financial burden on Marylanders and businesses.

“We are raising the taxes and fees on every single person and every single business that you know, from the poor to the middle class to the upper middle class,” Buckel told his colleagues  on the floor this week. “This will be the worst vote that almost any of you have ever taken.”

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By EMMA TUFO and JACK BOWMAN

ANNAPOLIS– The Maryland General Assembly just concluded its scheduled spring session, but Democratic leaders are already looking ahead to an uncertain future driven by President Donald Trump’s “chaos.”

In comments to reporters, Gov. Wes Moore boasted about the legislature’s accomplishments – stressing that Trump’s shadow still looms over them.

“You cannot talk about those things without acknowledging the chaos that is taking place in Washington, DC,” Moore told reporters.

Maryland could potentially lose the new FBI building it was supposed to get, while also facing stock market volatility and a tariff policy Moore described as a “national sales tax.”

“While I’m thankful for the progress we’ve made in this session, we know that protecting Marylanders, and caring for Marylanders and defending Marylanders does not happen over 90 days,” Moore said.

To prepare for the work they expect is ahead, lawmakers in the waning hours of the session announced the formation of a Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee. The bipartisan group will be tasked with monitoring the ripple effects of the federal government on Maryland.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, told reporters that lawmakers have spent this spring session bracing for external threats.

“We have been working this year to protect the state of Maryland against the draconian slash and burn actions of the Trump administration,” Ferguson said. “And with Elon Musk, who has been talking about efficiency, but really destroying Marylanders’ lives.”

Ferguson and other Democratic senators told reporters that Maryland will continue to be uniquely affected across a spectrum of concerns, ranging from the dismantling of federal agencies to the removal and detention of suspected illegal immigrants.

Fear of Trump and Musk’s plans also loomed large in the minds of Democrats on the Senate floor, as debate heated up in advance of Monday’s midnight deadline for adjournment.

In a conversation about how to help laid-off federal workers, Sen. Jim Rosapepe argued that it’s hard to work out cost estimates in the current political climate.

“It’s hard to estimate this because we don’t know how much damage Mr. Musk and his merry band are going to do,” said Rosapepe, a Democrat representing Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties.

Senate Republican Leader Stephen Hershey Jr., of the Eastern Shore, interrupted to say, “I know, you’ve said that a few times.”

Rosapepe raised his voice.

“That’s the important point here,” he said. “It’s unclear what these people in Washington are doing to our state.”

“We know it’s bad,” he said, “but we don’t know how bad it’s going to be.”

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By SOFIA APPOLONIO and MARISSA YELENIK

Capital News Service

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers passed a budget this week, concluding their spring session after months of grappling with a tough fiscal reality and new federal policies coming down from President Donald Trump.

The end-of-session agreement hikes taxes and cuts programs to balance the spending plan for the 2026 fiscal year, assuming the federal funding picture does not change radically in the months to come.

Lawmakers made the budget work partly by trimming back the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the ambitious 2021 education reform plan meant to improve public schools. Architects of the deal said the changes will preserve the Blueprint’s priorities.

“We present a budget that puts Maryland in a strong fiscal position and faces the challenges ahead while protecting our shared values and priorities,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone, a Democrat from Howard County.

But House Minority Whip Del. Jesse Pippy, a Republican who represents Frederick and Carroll Counties, argued that the plan unnecessarily burdens taxpayers.

“A majority of my colleagues feel very strongly that we could have balanced the budget without raising taxes,” Pippy said. “I don’t think the direction of the state is the direction that most Marylanders want to go in.”

Republicans made their mark on legislative work in the opening months of the new Trump administration, which helped give rise to the newly formed Maryland Freedom Caucus.

Still, the Democrat-controlled legislature generally opposed new Trump-era policies. And now the state – home to the most federal workers in the country outside of Washington, D.C. – likely faces continuing challenges with the Trump administration’s mass government layoffs. At present, one Democratic leader said, the number of fired workers in Maryland stands at about 11,000.

“We expect that number to climb to 30,000, and there are many more contractors, probably at least double that amount,” said Sen. Katie Fry Hester, a Democrat representing Howard and Montgomery Counties.

The legislature might have to reconvene at some point this year to cope with unemployment and changes in federal policy affecting Maryland. As of Monday night, though, the General Assembly has settled a range of issues affecting Maryland’s six million residents.

BUDGET

The $67 billion spending plan addresses a significant deficit through approximately $2 billion in spending cuts and $1.6 billion in tax changes.

The budget raises income taxes on the state’s higher earners, extends the sales tax to certain technology services and introduces a $5 tire fee. It includes two new tax brackets, increases the standard deduction, phases out itemized deductions for those in higher tax brackets and includes tax hikes on individual goods and services.

Many lawmakers celebrated its passage, but some said increasing the standard deduction would lead to service cuts in lower-income counties that rely on the income tax of low- and middle-income residents. The finalized plan will now go to Moore for consideration.

ENERGY BILLS

Energy was a hot topic this session, with multiple bills going through the legislature as lawmakers worked to address high energy prices. They passed a three-bill package on Monday.

The package focuses on new in-state energy generation, ratepayer protections and reforms, solar siting and permitting and the creation of a state energy planning office. It outlines procurement processes for nuclear, battery storage and dispatchable energy, and removes trash incineration from the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.

“I think, on balance, it’s a good package,” said Sen. Brian Feldman, a Democrat from Montgomery County and chair of the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment committee.

The package initially drew criticism from environmental advocates, who were concerned that one of the bills would lead to new natural gas development in the state. But the Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund praised the bill as passed, saying in a statement that it “will likely reduce the chance of new gas plant construction in the state and … will advance a host of clean energy priorities,” including battery storage.

Republican critics worry that the package doesn’t do enough to help ratepayers.

EDUCATION 

Blueprint funding was the subject of debate during the legislative session. In January, Moore proposed short-term cuts to mitigate the cost of the massive education plan, pushing back and pausing funding for different programs.

The education budget came under even more scrutiny late in the session, after an expected $418 million in government funds was suddenly in jeopardy. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced the end of a pandemic-era fund for state educational spending.

As it stands, state lawmakers agreed to postpone the Blueprint requirement that teachers receive a set amount of planning every school week, delaying it for three years. Additional Blueprint funding was also decreased through freezes and cuts.

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Lawmakers passed a bill to let prisoners access medical or geriatric parole more easily by allowing them to prove they are no longer a threat to others. It would not apply to those serving life sentences without parole or those on the sex offender registry. Geriatric parole would only be available to those over 65 who have served at least 20 years of their sentence.

Lawmakers also approved the Maryland Second Look Act, which aimed to reduce the sentences of some inmates with good behavior credits.

A proposal to scale back the state’s practice of automatically sentencing teen offenders as adults in violent crimes stalled in committee. The bill faced pushback from law enforcement over concerns that the Department of Juvenile Services couldn’t accommodate juveniles with “complex problems.”

TRANSPORTATION

Baltimore’s Red Line project, a long-awaited east-west light rail line, will keep chugging along. The new budget sets aside funding from the state’s Transportation Trust Fund to continue project planning in anticipation of a future, more transit-friendly administration that might help finance the Red Line’s construction.

But most transit agencies, both large and small across Maryland, are straining to keep up with rising costs. Requests for inflation relief stalled in the hands of this year’s cost-shy General Assembly.

For transit agencies in rural Maryland, that means yet another year of belt-tightening, even as ridership – particularly among seniors – rebounds.

PRIVACY

Concerns over the Trump administration’s immigration policy encouraged some lawmakers to propose the Maryland Data Privacy Act to prevent law enforcement and other local officials from sharing sensitive data with immigration officers. However, the bill failed to receive enough support.

Despite concerns about unregulated police drones, lawmakers decided not to advance a proposal to set guidelines for law enforcement uses of aerial surveillance.

DISABILITIES

Lawmakers passed Eric’s ID Law – a measure allowing individuals with invisible disabilities to include a sticker on the bottom of their license, identification or moped operator’s permit. The notation is meant to improve interactions and communication with law enforcement.

REPARATIONS

Maryland lawmakers approved the creation of a commission to study the impact of slavery after years of debate and consideration. The Maryland Reparations Commission would make recommendations to the state legislature, providing guidance on what, if any, benefits should be given to those impacted by “historical inequality” by November 2027.

SEX ABUSE

After emotional deliberation, lawmakers voted to downsize the monetary compensation the state can provide for sexual abuse lawsuits, amending the amount survivors can file for under the 2023 Child Victims Act.

GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE

The legislature chose not to roll back rights for trans people. Republicans introduced a bill that would have made it a felony for a healthcare provider to give hormone replacement therapy to any minor, but the measure did not pass.

If passed, the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act would have required both public schools and the nonpublic schools that compete against them to separate sports teams based on the team members’ sex assigned at birth. Similar legislation has been introduced since 2022.

But the General Assembly also rejected an attempt to expand rights for trans people, turning away a bill to allow “X” as a sex designation on birth certificates for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

HEALTH

The legislature considered restricting the distribution of veterinary tranquilizers after neighboring Delaware and Pennsylvania moved to restrict access to the drugs, but the idea failed to garner support.

CNS reporters Emma Tufo, Sasha Allen, Rachel McCrea, Paul Kiefer, Adriana Navarro and Jack Bowman also contributed to this piece. 

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By SASHA ALLEN

ANNAPOLIS – Maryland lawmakers are scrambling to figure out their education budget this spring after learning that $418 million they’d been expecting for public schools from the federal government may not come through.

Senate President Bill Ferguson says the state had already spent approximately $300 million of the money when they learned a few days ago that President Donald Trump’s education department may not reimburse them as previously planned. The money was supposed to come from a special pandemic-era fund.

Senate Democrats had already proposed cuts to the state’s education plan, known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, but now Republicans say it’s even more important to make significant trims to it.

“We don’t have an extra $300 million to spare, and it is foolish to double down on Blueprint spending when there are obvious accountability issues coupled with the concerns of our local school districts who are struggling to meet both the financial and the policy mandates,” said Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, a Republican representing Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties.

Word of the $418 million gap came late last week in a letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, informing states that the fund’s liquidation period would be coming to an end that day. Extensions of the pandemic-era fund, she said in the letter, were “well past the period of performance” and were “not justified.”

The letter specified that there may be exceptions on an individual basis, and Office of the Attorney General Spokesperson Jennifer Donelan said in a statement they are “reviewing the matter and weighing our options.”

“Protecting the state’s schools and Maryland students is a top priority,” read the statement.

Carozza introduced an amendment Monday to the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, a bill aiming to reduce Blueprint funding, to pause the implementation of the plan for the next two years.

“It’s never been more clear that we need a pause in the Blueprint when it comes to affordability and implementation,” Carozza said.

To balance the state’s budget and bridge the structural deficit, the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act would make numerous cuts to the state’s plan for hiking the investment in public education. While many Democrats still believe the Blueprint is necessary for the future of Maryland public schools, Republicans like Carozza are pushing for further cuts.

“There’s no question that we’ve increased spending dramatically in education for the last 25 years, and our SAT scores are worse, our reading scores are worse, math is worse,” said Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick Counties, on the Senate floor Tuesday. “While we’re not suggesting you want to cut education from where you are now, we are saying we should slow down how fast we’re going and not raise taxes on working Marylanders for a little while longer.”

Ready and numerous other Senate Republicans fought against tax increases in the budget bill, and many advocated instead to cut education even more.

But cuts have already been proposed. Senate amendments to the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act include pausing for four years the requirement for “collaborative time,” or the allocated period each day when teachers get for planning. The act would also maintain some reduction in funding for the Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, a program providing mental health support in schools under the Blueprint.

Some Senate Democrats, however, are in staunch disagreement with Republicans regarding the bill. Sen. Jim Rosapepe, a Democrat representing Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties, was the first to speak about the budget on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.

“We’re not rolling over for the attacks on Maryland,” Rosapepe said. “We’re protecting health care, we’re protecting education, we’re protecting public safety, we’re protecting transportation … We’re making the tax system more fair.”

Like Rosapepe, many senators mentioned the necessity of education funding. State Democrats pushed to protect funding for low-income students and English Language learners.

Sen. Guy Guzzone, a Democrat representing Howard County, echoed Rosapepe on Tuesday.

“We could cut the Blueprint in half,” Guzzone said. “Why don’t we do that? We do it because we still have hope that we can accomplish those great goals that we established, because we decided that every child deserves a world-class education.”

These debates and federal cuts, however, extend beyond just education.

Attorneys general from 23 states, including Maryland, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Trump administration’s decision to cut $11 billion in “critical public funds.” The money was previously going toward pandemic initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services.

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By Emma Tufo

ANNAPOLIS – Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly have passed their versions of a new state budget for the next fiscal year, setting the stage for a potential agreement in the coming days.

During months of negotiations, lawmakers have tried to balance protecting key services like healthcare and education while responding to fiscal hardship and shifting factors at the federal level. Through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes, officials appear on track to pass something before the scheduled end of the session on Monday.

Senate Vice Chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee Jim Rosapepe, a Democrat representing Prince George’s and Anne Arundel Counties, defended the Democratic spending plan.

“It shows that we’re not rolling over. We’re not rolling over for the attacks on Maryland,” Rosapape said. “We’re protecting health care, we’re protecting education, we’re protecting public safety, we’re protecting transportation … we’re making the tax system more fair.”

But Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey Jr., a Republican representing Caroline, Cecil, Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties, criticized the tax hikes on higher earners and blamed Maryland’s dependence on government employment and funding.

“People that do well aren’t just born well. They’re not just doing well because I have a certain job. People that do well, do well because they work hard,” he said. “And the governor’s saying, well, you’re fortunate, so we’re going to tax you a little bit more.”

The state was facing a $3 billion deficit when the budget process began in January, a gap that grew as President Donald Trump’s federal budget cuts and workforce reductions started to affect Maryland. Since then, debates have arisen over some of the key actions that would make this deficit smaller.

One option is tax increases, including a proposed hike in income tax rates on individual earnings. Specifically, rates for those earning above $500,000 could increase by up to .75%. These proposed increases are expected to help close the state’s budget gap.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, stressed the urgency of making difficult decisions.

“At the end of the day, unlike the federal government, the state of Maryland must balance its budget,” Ferguson said. “We don’t have the luxury of printing our own money and pushing problems down the line. We have to make hard choices to get through this year to balance the budget.”

After Trump announced new tariffs for imported vehicles and auto parts, the Senate moved to trim back the tax increase Democratic officials had been weighing for vehicles.

But they didn’t propose doing away with the hike, and some lawmakers are voicing concern over the long-term effects of new taxes on Maryland businesses. The budget includes a 3% sales tax on data and IT services – an area critics say is crucial for economic growth.

Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick County, criticized the approach and said it would cause businesses and information tech professionals to leave the state.

“We still have the largest combined tax increase in the history of the state, including a new tax on computer and IT services, which is the very industry we’re trying to get more of in the state,” Ready said. “There’s an income tax increase on the so-called high earners, and yeah, they are high earners, but they also are incredibly mobile that we’ve seen in our state’s history. It doesn’t take much for folks to just transport themselves when they’re making several $100,000 or over a million dollars a year.”

Despite criticism, Democratic lawmakers defended the tax increases as essential for Maryland’s long-term stability. Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone, a Democrat from Howard County, said the focus must remain on lasting investments.

“We can’t do everything government can’t, but we need to do what we can do to make this state a better place,” Guzzone said. “Healthcare matters. Education matters. Those things matter, and we are sending the message that they continue to matter.”

The House and Senate hope to finalize a compromise and send the budget to the governor by the end of the week.

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By: PAUL KIEFER

ANNAPOLIS–Maryland lawmakers are once again debating whether to scale back the state’s practice of automatically placing teenage defendants in adult court if they are accused of serious crimes.

After more than a decade of deadlock on the subject, advocates for the reforms had begun to worry that the moment for rethinking automatic sentencing had passed, while Maryland’s state’s attorneys remained steadfastly opposed. However, a key Senate Democrat kept the debate alive this session by introducing a pared-down version of the proposal that maintains automatic charging as an adult for the most serious crimes.

“We’re paying more money, getting worse outcomes, and taking a longer time to get there,” said Sen. William Smith, a Democrat representing Montgomery County and the chair of the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Smith argues that even his pared-down version of the bill would spare some juvenile defendants from spending weeks or months in the adult system before their charges are dismissed or dropped. Reform advocates say that exposure increases their risk of committing a new, more serious crime in the future.

Maryland prosecutors, however, contend that lawmakers should be more skeptical of the state’s Department of Juvenile Services, which is responsible for housing and providing services to those in the juvenile justice system.

“It’s unwise to send more juveniles with more complex problems and challenges to a system that has been shrinking for the past three years,” said Wicomico County State’s Attorney Jamie Dykes, alluding to real and planned closures of juvenile detention and treatment facilities.

Now, Senate lawmakers are once again weighing whether the costs of treating some teenage defendants as adults pencil out for the public’s safety.

Smith’s bill would give Maryland’s juvenile courts default jurisdiction over teenage defendants charged with some violent crimes, allowing prosecutors to request that a case be moved to the circuit court to reflect the severity of a crime. That would effectively flip the current system, wherein the circuit court automatically has jurisdiction over juvenile defendants charged with certain violent crimes, and defense attorneys can request to transfer cases to juvenile court.

But the bill would leave the most serious violent crimes, including first-degree murder, in the circuit court’s jurisdiction by default. That exception is an adjustment from past reform bills intended to assuage critics.

“This issue has been studied and debated throughout three governors, and multiple committee chairs,” said Alice Wilkerson, executive director of Advance Maryland and a part of the coalition of advocacy groups backing the bill.

Ending automatic sentencing of juveniles as adults was that coalition’s first policy goal, she added, and years later, it remains “unfinished business.”

That coalition has seen victories on other fronts. In 2022, for instance, Maryland lawmakers voted to generally bar police from interrogating children until they have consulted an attorney.

Dayvon Love, director of public policy for the Baltimore-based think tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and a vocal supporter of automatic sentencing reform, says pushback from law enforcement and prosecutors on recent criminal justice reforms, as well as critical media coverage, seemed to doom automatic sentencing reform.

“We are dealing with what I describe as a backlash,” he told the Capital News Service.

Smith’s emergence as the latest voice of automatic sentencing reform in the Senate, however, may change the reform movement’s outlook. As chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Smith is well-positioned to negotiate a path forward for a pared-down bill.

However, the policy disagreements surrounding automatic sentencing have largely not budged.

Smith underscores that most teenagers charged as adults in the state eventually see their cases transferred down to juvenile court — 79% in 2023 alone, he told his committee on Tuesday.

Awaiting that transfer, he added, “When someone’s languishing in the adult system, they get none of the services and attention that they would get in the juvenile system.” Exposing teenagers to the adult court and prison system, he added, increases their chances of committing more serious crimes in the future.

“Based on my 24 years in both juvenile and adult criminal courts, there is a drastic difference in outcomes [between adult and juvenile court] that should be the elephant in the room,” said retired Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Philip Caroom, who testified in support of the bill on Tuesday.

The additional hearings and administrative costs involved in transferring hundreds of young defendants between the adult and juvenile systems, Smith added, cost the Department of Juvenile Services roughly $12.3 million a year. “What if you have $12.3 million to reinvest into services, into oversight?” he asked.

But Sen. William Folden, a Republican representing Frederick County and a frequent critic of criminal justice reform bills on the committee, was critical of the Department of Juvenile Services’ ability to properly rehabilitate young people placed in its custody by the court system.

“DJS is a mess. DJS is a wreck. DJS has a secretary that spends money on all these shiny new ideas and documented zero of the outcomes,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s someone that can be entrusted with such an important role in molding youth.”

Catharine Rosenblatt, deputy chief of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office juvenile division, echoed those concerns. She told lawmakers that her office regularly sees cases transferred from adult to juvenile court on the pretense that the Department of Juvenile Services will provide secure housing or behavioral therapy, only for those services never to materialize.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve found time and time again is that the services available — they’re in name only,” she said.

But neither Rosenblatt nor any other prosecutor who spoke in opposition to the bill on Tuesday expressed enthusiasm for the services available to teenagers in the adult system. Charles County Deputy State’s Attorney Karen Piper Mitchell, for instance, questioned why therapeutic services aren’t available to teenage defendants tried in adult court, even while arguing against the proposed reforms.

The Department of Juvenile Services is supportive of the proposed reforms, and its legislative director testified in support of Smith’s bill, arguing that their agency already serves the substantial share of Maryland’s teenage defendants charged as adults who eventually transfer to juvenile court.

If lawmakers do finally implement the reforms, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger asserted that the forecasted savings on court hearings might not materialize if prosecutors opted to request transfers to adult court in most cases, as public defenders do for transfers to juvenile court in most cases.

“I understand that 80% are being transferred down [to juvenile court],” he told CNS. “If they all started in juvenile, a vast majority of the State’s Attorneys would try to waive many of them up, and I don’t believe it would approach anything near 80% that would be granted.” Nevertheless, he said, lawmakers should not assume that the costs of hearing cases in both adult and juvenile jurisdictions would disappear.

The Judicial Proceedings Committee has yet to vote on the bill.

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By: Emma Tufo

ANNAPOLIS–Maryland lawmakers are considering a measure that would create a new designation of “X” for sex on Maryland birth certificates, a design meant to give official recognition to transgender and non-binary people at a moment of uncertainty for their community.

The proposed Birth Certificate Modernization Act would streamline procedures for amending sex on birth certificates, licenses and IDs, and introducing a gender-neutral designation option. It would also strengthen protections, ensuring documents do not display amendment histories.

“This bill will ensure that people can obtain documentation that matches who they are,” said bill sponsor, Sen. Clarence Lam, a Democrat representing Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.

Current Maryland law allows the Secretary of Health to issue new birth certificates for individuals who have undergone a sex transition or are intersex. Minors or disabled individuals under guardianship can make changes if a parent, guardian, or legal representative submits a written request.

But LGBTQ+ advocates have been looking for a clearer recognition of non-binary and transgender people, at a moment when more are choosing to reveal their gender status and being targeted for derision or violence as a result.

Many are also worried about a rollback of their rights and protections under President-elect Donald Trump, who recently declared that, on his first day back in office, “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” During his first term, Trump restricted transgender individuals’ access to healthcare, rolled back anti-discrimination protections, and barred transgender people from serving in the military.

Lam said many individuals face challenges in aligning state and federal documents, particularly when it comes to updating gender markers. He added that he and other lawmakers are working closely with the LGBTQ+ community on various bills, as many supporters are “concerned about some of the pending changes that might come at the federal level.”

“For example, someone who wants to be identified as ‘X’ in their gender field for a passport can make that choice federally, but they might not even be able to get their birth certificate updated at the state level,” he said.

Under current Maryland processes, individuals could apply to amend their documents, but many face obstacles.

“You can apply, but people were having difficulty getting it changed because they had to provide proof that you had been treated and needed a doctor’s note to say that someone has transitioned to a different sex. That was a big impediment to a lot of people and is not a requirement at the federal level,” Lam told Capital News Service.

Critics argue that the proposed updates prioritize non-urgent issues. Jeffrey Trimbath, president of the conservative Maryland Family Institute, condemned the bill as the “definition of tone deaf” and claimed it ignores Marylanders’ real concerns.

“Maryland citizens are facing increased energy costs, rising prices, schools that aren’t educating our kids, a state government that is clearly spending more than it takes in, and in response to all of those everyday concerns,” Trimbath said. “The authors of this bill are focused on eliminating the definition of sex.”

Lam underscored the importance of swift action on the bill.

“All we can do at the state level is to further uplift and support the rights and priorities of our LGBTQ community,” he said, “to ensure that we continue to take steps to move forward, even if the federal government decides to take steps backward.”

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BPW MEMBERS QUESTION MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LAWSUIT SETTLEMENTS: The state of Maryland is spending millions of dollars to settle lawsuits every year, and top elected officials aren’t happy about it. At a meeting of the Board of Public Works on Wednesday, two officials questioned why the state was being asked to approve yet another payout – this one having to do with strip searches by public safety employees. Although the board approved the $50,000 settlement request, Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck E. Davis questioned the prison agency’s decision to settle instead of heading to trial. Sofia Appolonio of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.

STATE OKs $2.75M SETTLEMENT OVER STATE POLICE DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES: Top state officials approved a $2.75 million settlement on Wednesday after a federal investigation turned up evidence of discriminatory hiring practices by the Maryland State Police. The U.S. Department of Justice conducted a two-year investigation into state police hiring practices for a violation of Title VII, which prohibits discrimination against employees or applicants based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. Marissa Yelenik of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.

• The probe found that the police “engaged in a pattern or practice of unintentional discrimination against African-American and female applicants” for entry-level trooper jobs, through the use of written and physical tests that disproportionately disqualified those applicants. The rejected recruits were applying to police recruiting classes from 2017 to today. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
• “Discrimination in any form has no place within the Maryland State Police and it will not be tolerated,” Col. Roland Butler, the state police superintendent, said Wednesday. He asked the state’s Board of Public Works, which has the final say on state spending, to agree to the settlement. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.

KIDS ONLINE SAFETY LAW GOES INTO EFFECT: Maryland Kids Code, a law sponsored by Montgomery County lawmakers that will require social media companies to do more to safeguard children, went into effect Tuesday. “The biggest tech companies in the country will now be required to innovate in the name of Maryland kids’ well-being and respect their privacy, opening the door to a future where all children and youth can thrive online and parents can rest easier knowing basic consumer protections are in place to protect their families,” the Maryland Kids Code Coalition wrote in a statement Tuesday. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.

NEW FACIAL RECOGNITION POLICY MIRRORS STATE LAW: A new facial recognition technology policy for Maryland law enforcement agencies largely mirrors a state law passed this year, despite a call by the ACLU of Maryland for the inclusion of extra safeguards. Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE DOUBLES HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CHECKS ON I-895: Hazardous materials truck inspections on the Interstate 895 corridor have almost doubled from June to August, according to data from the Maryland State Police. The increase follows a Baltimore Banner investigation published July 8 that found hazmat truckers have illegally been using the city’s tunnels after the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had been a central passage for transporting hazmat up and down the East Coast. Brenna Smith/The Baltimore Banner.

ALSOBROOKS ADDRESSES TAX CONTROVERSY, SHIFTS FOCUS TO HOGAN: Democrat Angela Alsobrooks gave the most detail to date about her recent tax credit controversy on Tuesday, while also taking aim at her Republican opponent’s claim of being independent in their race for the U.S. Senate. At a live event hosted by the Baltimore Banner, Alsobrooks addressed a tax credit she claimed on her Washington, D.C. property. She said it was a mistake made after she assumed her grandmother’s mortgage. Jack Bowman of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.

COMMENTARY: HOGAN NEEDS DEMOCRATS, BUT IS HE REACHING THEM? Dozens of people attended the “Democrats for Hogan” event as Larry Hogan runs for Senate, although it wasn’t clear how many of them were actually Democrats. Men wore Rhoback golf polos and women were sporting bleach-blonde hair. Several old Jewish men engaged in a spirited debate about how President Joe Biden is “such an antisemite,” and at least one woman muttered “Trump 2024” to her friends at multiple points during Larry Hogan’s stump speech. If it was a Democrats for Hogan event, it was aesthetically Republican. Joe Perticone/The Bulwark.

COMMENTARY: ALSOBROOKS’ RECORD VS. SUPER PAC MONEY: Angela Alsobrooks is once again being confronted by “big money” as she works to become the first Black and second woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate. A super PAC supporting Larry Hogan plans to spend at least $18 million on ads hoping to shape how voters see her and the race. Maryland should evaluate Alsobrooks’ exemplary record of service as state’s attorney and county executive in Prince George’s County, they should think about how as senator she will fight to protect Marylanders’ fundamental rights and quality of life and they should be inspired that her barrier-breaking election will mean more diverse representation in Congress. Glynda Carr/The Baltimore Sun.

MORE AUTOMATION WORRIES LONGSHOREMEN: Something happened during the Covid pandemic that deeply troubles the International Longshoremen’s Association. The shipping companies that employ them made an unprecedented amount of money. What if they spend it on automating American ports — and getting rid of unionized dockworkers? Giacomo Bologna/The Baltimore Banner.

PG POLICE CHARGE 10 YOUTHS IN SCHOOL-RELATED THREATS: Prince George’s County police have charged 10 young people, and identified four others, as part of an investigation into nearly four dozen school-related threats a little over a month into the academic year, police said Wednesday. Jasmine Hilton and Nicole Asbury/The Washington Post.

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MOORE TO SIGN SWEEPING JUVENILE JUSTICE LEGISLATION: At what is slated to be Gov. Wes Moore’s last bill-signing ceremony of the year, the Democratic governor will sign sweeping juvenile justice legislation Thursday morning, signaling a win for prosecutors and law enforcement who say crime among Maryland youth is out of control. The legislation will create oversight to ensure the Department of Juvenile Services has clearer communication with police and local prosecutors. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.

BPW OKs HIRING OF 5 LAW FIRMS FOR KEY BRIDGE LEGAL FIGHTS: While President Joe Biden has promised that the federal government will cover 100% of the costs to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Gov. Wes Moore (D) said that the state will not leave taxpayers footing the whole bill. The three-member Board of Public Works, chaired by Moore, unanimously approved contracts Wednesday to hire five firms that will represent the state in what is likely to be a protracted and complicated legal fight as it seeks compensation for the collapsed span. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

CONGRESSIONAL PANEL DEBATES WHO PAYS FOR KEY BRIDGE REBUILD: Conservative members of Congress at a hearing on Wednesday raised questions about using federal dollars to pay for rebuilding a state tollway, as the head of the Federal Highway Administration reiterated that the Biden administration is seeking congressional approval to reimburse 100% of the costs of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge outside of Baltimore. Jacob Fischler/Maryland Matters.

• A day after a preliminary report revealed new details about what happened in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a vessel strike, members of Congress peppered officials behind the federal response with questions about the ship’s power outage, the safety of other bridges and how to pay for a new bridge. Darcy Costello and Alex Mann/The Baltimore Sun.

LESSONS FROM TUESDAY’s PRIMARY: Maryland’s primary results set up what will be a nationally significant U.S. Senate contest in November and all but decided other races, especially in Baltimore City, where Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans. What we know is that money is good but not necessary enough and that women won significant races. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.

BALLOT COUNTING CONTINUES IN MOCO: While many candidates in the U.S. Senate and congressional races declared victory or conceded defeat a few hours after polls closed Tuesday, the 2024 primary election isn’t over. The Montgomery County Board of Elections still has to count thousands of mail-in ballots that were not received before Election Day, and it will be 10 days before the election is certified. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.

WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM THE PRIMARIES: Wednesday dawned with the Senate Majority PAC, a group affiliated with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), hitting former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for being endorsed by Arizona’s leading MAGA Republican, Kari Lake, who congratulated Hogan on social media and said she looked forward to serving with him in the Senate. Hogan later Wednesday announced the formation of a group called Democrats for Hogan, which will be co-chaired by former Baltimore County state Sen. Bobby Zirkin. Who are the real winners and losers coming out of Tuesday’s primaries? Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.

HOGAN FACES NEW CAMPAIGN, NEW CHALLENGES: Republican Larry Hogan proved he can win statewide in deep-blue Maryland, but he has never faced a campaign like the one he is about to undertake. The former governor has not had to run with Donald Trump atop the ballot or with control of the U.S. Senate on the line. Nor has Hogan had to run against a Democrat who has a chance to make history — a Black woman backed by a nationwide coalition eager to defeat him. Paul Schwartzman and Erin Cox/The Washington Post.

ALSOBROOKS COULD MAKE HISTORY: With Angela Alsobrooks’s come-from-behind victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Maryland, voters in November will most likely have the chance to double the number of Black women ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Another Democrat, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, is the odds-on favorite to win her party’s nomination in September for an open Senate seat in heavily Democratic Delaware. If both win in November, for the first time, two Black women will serve in Congress’s upper chamber at the same time. Jonathan Weisman/The New York Times.

TRONE OFFERED ALSOBROOKS SUPPORT; WILL IT BE FINANCIAL? U.S. Rep. David Trone pledged to support Prince George’s County Angela Alsobrooks after losing resoundingly to her in the Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat. What he didn’t say is what that support would look like. Trone famously spent more than $60 million of his fortune on the race, which blanketed the airwaves, roadsides, and mailboxes, making him the largest self-funder of a Senate primary campaign in modern U.S. history. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.

ELFRETH CREDITS CONSTITUENT WORK IN CONGRESSIONAL WIN: After being declared the winner in the Democratic primary for Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth thought about all the work that brought her to this moment — on the campaign trail and in the state Senate. People said “they were voting for me because of the way I’ve represented my Senate district and that’s what they’re looking for in someone representing their congressional district,” Elfreth said Wednesday. “I was really blown away by that.” Dana Munro/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE’s LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS LAW ENFORCEMENT: Maryland has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, which would typically be considered a bright spot for the state’s economy. But for companies and government agencies searching for workers, Maryland’s low unemployment is a problem that’s leading to labor shortages. One of the hardest-hit industries is law enforcement. Henry Brown of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.

CATONSVILLE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO ATTACK ELECTRIC GRID: A 36-year-old Catonsville woman on Tuesday admitted to scheming with a neo-Nazi leader to destroy electrical substations surrounding Baltimore in an attack that she told a confidential FBI source would be “legendary” and “probably permanently completely lay this city to waste.” Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.

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