Like the rest of us, the Assembly members must be looking over their shoulders at the US's impotent thrashing in the Persian Gulf and the wreckage it will bring to state budgets everywhere -- let alone Congress. Unless they hustle, Maryland's legislators are heading for a sorry record, with only 600 (0f 2600 filed) bills passed to Gov. Moore by Sine Die Monday compared to "nearly 900" last year with the same number filed. The results -- and the good, pro-working family bills falling by the wayside -- still reflect the grip of moneyed interests on the legislators, especially that of developers and landlords as well as the big power companies. And in an election year, that influence is aggravated as those seeking election or re-election vie for the funds that should be constrained and limited by state law. But dream on. Limited public financing has been put in place by some counties and cities, but the Assembly members have never felt enough pressure to impose that kind of pro-democracy yoke on their own reckless getting and spending. Those campaign-finance bills have been filed every year, every session, and left stuck in committee.

News You Can Use, as typically on Sine Die, features the modest successes and glaring failures of an Assembly with both eyes focused on the elections, plus the pathetic attempts of the Trump administration to find a way to weasel out of a clueless war of choice that has left it -- and us -- isolated from the rest of the world. Good luck to all of us; we will need it.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Summaries from Maryland Reporter

Majority Of Bills Will Remain Unpassed: Over 2,600 bills were introduced during Maryland’s 2026 legislative session, but as the Monday midnight deadline nears, fewer than 600 have reached Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. That gap raises two central questions: How much did lawmakers truly accomplish, and how much will ultimately pass?  Baltimore Sun.

Lawmakers OK Housing Bills with Last-Minute Changes: Lawmakers gave final approval Friday to part of Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) package of housing reform bills, but another ran into a last-minute snag between chambers while a third languished in committee without a vote. The bills delay the payment of certain fees to county officials for the development of new housing and create the assurance that a project would be subject to the local regulations in place at time of its completed application and not subject to later changes. [The two chambers are at odds over a Project Labor Agreement requirement in other development regulatory bills]. Maryland Matters.

House Passes Senate Bill to Fix Procedures For Those With Disabilities: The House, in a near-unanimous vote Friday, approved a Senate bill aimed at cleaning up administrative procedures that have caused headaches and disenrollments for people seeking Medicaid waivers for coverage of developmental disabilities. It would be a small, but welcome, win for a community that faces a second year of massive cuts to state funding for those services. Maryland Matters.

Senate, House Pass Trust Act On ICE Enforcement Cooperation: The Maryland Senate passed a bill Friday barring informal state and local police coordination with federal immigration agencies, setting the bill on a glide path through the General Assembly days before the session’s finale on Monday. The Senate voted 29-13 on Friday, sending the bill over to the House of Delegates. Baltimore Banner. >> A day after the Maryland Senate approved legislation to limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the House of Delegates approved the bill as an emergency measure Saturday night. The 92-37 vote in support of Senate Bill 791 came shortly before midnight, capping a 13-hour day in the House and putting the bill one step away from the governor’s desk. Maryland Matters.

General Assembly Wants Energy Competition; Exelon Wants To Expand: In the waning days of the 2026 legislative session, the General Assembly appears poised to slightly alter the rules for retail energy suppliers. But industry leaders say the rule changes are unlikely to bring suppliers back into the Maryland market, after a mass exodus in recent years. The changes are just a small — and rarely discussed — part of the legislature’s sweeping energy package, called the Utility RELIEF Act. Maryland Matters. >> Lawmakers are on the verge of passing legislation that would stop Exelon from underwriting executive salaries with ratepayer money and subject utilities to even more oversight for infrastructure projects that are billed to ratepayers. That bill also projects to save average customers at least $150 a year by cutting energy efficiency surcharges. To Speaker of the House Joseline Peña-Melnyk, actions like these are how the legislature stands up to utilities for Marylanders. Baltimore Banner

Data Center Conundrum: Is the Energy Worth the Money? Commissioner Mike Hart urged his Calvert County colleagues to not be seduced by the promise that the data centers would deliver tens of millions of dollars in fresh tax revenue, a pot large enough to pay for turf playing fields, a new sheriff’s headquarters and a property tax cut. But the proliferation of the energy-hungry facilities, fueled by an explosion in digital demand during the pandemic and the advent of AI, is provoking fierce opposition as concerns mount over strained electrical grids and soaring utility rates. WaPo

Vendors Worry About Impact Of Pending Gun Ban: Firearms vendors and instructors attending a gun show Sunday in Howard County said a pending statewide ban on several popular handguns, such as Glocks, could be disruptive to their businesses. Baltimore Sun.

Lawmakers Likely to Get Automatic Raise Next Year: What if to get a raise you just had to do ... nothing? Such is the design of how pay is set for the General Assembly’s 188 senators and delegates, where lawmaker raises are likely to take effect next year silently and without even a vote. Baltimore Banner.

Wanted: Qualified Lead Paint Contractors To Clean Up City Bridges: Lead paint is falling from six Baltimore-area bridges, contaminating waterways — and officials say fully fixing the problem could take years, in part because they can’t find qualified contractors. Half the bridges under investigation by the state Department of the Environment for polluting waterways with falling lead paint chips are managed by the city of Baltimore, and the others by the State Highway Administration. Baltimore Sun.

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

Pennsylvania fines company for drilling waste spills, other violations -- The Pennsylvania Department of the Environment (DOE) issued two civil penalties against Eureka Resources for violations at its wastewater treatment facilities in Lycoming and Bradford counties on March 3. Eureka Resources treats wastewater from oil wells and natural gas fracking wells. State agencies fined the company for illegally dumping waste in Williamsport that reached the Susquehanna River and for illegally storing waste without state approval. Bay Journal

“The Alarm Bell”: Arizona’s Drop in SNAP Participation Signals Potential Nationwide Impact of Trump Legislation: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes stricter food stamp work requirements and shifts a larger share of the costs to states. Arizona’s swift implementation has made it more difficult to apply and caused nearly half of recipients to lose benefits. ProPublica

ALSO SNAP work requirements don’t boost jobs, but cut back participation, research finds -- The study comes at a time of major upheaval for states that administer the nation’s largest food assistance program. Stateline

Medicaid expansion boosted access to opioid addiction treatment medication, study says -- Looming Medicaid cuts could cut off buprenorphine access to thousands of patients. Stateline

Drive for more housing sparks rare bipartisanship in statehouses -- Lawmakers are embracing manufactured homes, accessory dwelling units and housing on church-owned land.

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

Here is this week’s report on the feds from Megan E, People’s Action federal affairs director. People’s Action is Progressive Maryland’s national affiliate.

Hello People's Action!

Last week, Trump threatened to commit genocide in Iran if the country didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz. Fortunately, before Trump’s imposed deadline, he announced a two week ceasefire agreement with Iran. [Here in Maryland, we say TACO Tuesday, one more time…]

A handful of Trump media commentators and former sycophants, including  Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, criticized Trump’s statements with Candace Owens and Alex Jones suggesting that Trump be removed under the 25th amendment for incapacitation. 

The US then went into peace talks with Iran, which have failed. Now Trump is saying the US Navy will block the Strait of Hormuz (??) as some sort of punishment to Iran, which caused oil prices to shoot back up and stocks to go down. Semafor reports “Economists warned that US wholesale prices could rise rapidly, suggesting further pain for consumers down the line. The projected rise in the producer price index at an annualized 4.6% in March, up from 3.4% in February, would come after March’s consumer price inflation was already the highest rate in two years, driven by high energy costs.” Mona Ali, in Equator magazine, draws the comparison with the 1956 Suez crisis – both examples of how relatively powerless nations were able to strangle chokepoints of commerce and keep superpowers and their economies at bay.

>>>>>>>>>> 

Last week, Trump sent his proposed budget to Congress that includes a $1.5 Trillion (!!!) Defense budget for Fiscal Year 2027. This is a proposal only, Congress will decide the actual budget. The White House also proposed:  

• billions in cuts to health programs;
• a $1.4 billion decrease at the IRS - which means we’ll lose revenue because IRS staffing recovers money from rich tax cheats;

• slash the Labor Department's discretionary budget by a quarter; and
• continue the administration's longstanding war against renewable energy and climate initiatives.

The Department of Homeland Security is still technically in a shutdown as Congress is just finishing a two-week recess. Trump ordered TSA paid with existing funds which has taken the pressure off Democrats some -- it’s best to force him to spend down existing Homeland Security funding. Trump wants House Republicans to pass the deal that the Senate passed, funding all of DHS except for ICE and border patrol funds. Then Republicans plan to fund ICE & border patrol on their own.

Trump set a June 1 deadline for a reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol, giving up on coming to a compromise with Democrats who have stuck with demanding reforms as a condition of funding immigration enforcement. Budget reconciliation can pass the Senate with a 50-vote threshold so it can pass with Republicans only.

As of last week, it was reported that Republicans will try to include $350 billion for the Iran war in the package.  Trump’s SAVE Act funding may be getting punted to a later bill (in other words, Republicans don’t want to mess with elections and they are kicking the can down the road). 

It will be hard for Congress to meet this timeline as they can only lose one vote in the House. Fiscal hawks will want more budget cuts and members in close Congressional races will oppose more unpopular spending cuts. 

It’s an important to make sure that constituents know what Republicans are voting for in terms of funding an unpopular war, ICE & border patrol and any spending or tax cuts they may come up with to include in the package.  

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. Trump attended the oral arguments, becoming the first sitting president in American history to ever attend an oral argument at the Court. That’s not a good first. The president is trying to influence the Court. However, several conservative justices were skeptical of ending birthright citizenship as the 14th amendment states, as clear as day: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” 

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who was the Democratic frontrunner in the CA Governor’s race, was accused of sexual assault by a former staffer and four other women came forward with sexual misconduct allegations. He dropped out of the race last night but is denying the charges. Congress is considering a vote to expel him which requires a two-thirds majority. Swalwell’s departure from the race is helpful as a recent poll showed that 2 Republicans could advance to the general election. CA has an open (“jungle”) primary which allows any two candidates to advance. There are around 9 other Democrats running, which is spreading Democrats' votes out thinly. 

In good news, the far-right authoritarian leader of Hungary, Victor Orban,  was defeated at the polls after 16 years in office. The Vice President had gone to Hungary to campaign for him. 

In solidarity, 

Megan