The GOP House in Congress, we see below, is still struggling to pass a tax and spend bill -- question is how mean can they be without being too mean for GOP "moderates" feebly protecting Medicaid funding but definitely fighting for more tax breaks for the owners of pricey houses in high-tax Blue states, where their reelection footing is precarious. How will this turn out? Megan E, federal affairs expert for People's Action, follows the play-by-play below. Failure is not an option for Speaker Johnson and his minions but (considering the bill hits lower-income families hard and enriches the already wealthy) would be a pleasure for us.

Here in Maryland, the federal fund cuts (and state cuts) are hammering universities with layoffs and food programs like food banks with a millions-of-meals deficit and hundreds of thousands of families short of food. The tariff effect is predicted to devastate the Port of Baltimore in the very near future, with empty-shelf effects on our supply chain. Other states are doing no better, as we'll see.

It's bad news for sure, but News You Can Use.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Indigenous Conservation Council  asks for role in Chesapeake Bay Program: The Indigenous Conservation Council, which is made up of representatives from all federally recognized tribes in Virginia, sent the Chesapeake Bay Program a resolution in January calling for a seat at the table. Many critical restoration goals in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement will not be met by the 2025 deadline. “This is the chance for the tribes to be heard … to say we need to be a part of this,” said Jessica Phillips, tribal citizen and environmental director of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe/Eastern Division. Bay Journal

Medical examiner audit reclassifies dozens of police-restraint deaths as homicides

Possible racial, pro-police biases led former medical examiner’s office to list cause of death in those cases as unknown or accidental, four-year review finds. Dozens of police-custody deaths that were ruled accidental or of unknown causes have been reclassified as homicides after a four-year review of more than 1,300 cases handled by former Maryland State Medical Examiner Dr. David Fowler. The results of that review, announced Thursday, also highlighted potential racial and pro-police biases in the medical examiner’s office at the time that may have contributed to the mischaracterizations. Fowler, who resigned in 2019, was widely criticized for his pro-officer testimony in the death of George Floyd at police hands. Maryland Matters

Baltimore region’s water quality is worse than year before and in overall decline since 2013, watchdog group finds: The annual report by Blue Water Baltimore is out, and the news is “disappointing” for Baltimore Harbor and local waterways. Baltimore Brew

Maryland Utilities Must Disclose PJM Votes :Maryland public electric utilities must disclose how they vote at PJM Interconnection stakeholder meetings under a law signed May 13 by Gov. Wes Moore. Sponsors said it would save money for ratepayers, including a separate provision forbidding utilities from charging their lobbying costs to ratepayers. PJM is the largest transmission grid in North America and similar bills are under consideration in PJM states Delaware, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Summaries from Maryland Reporter:

Trump Tariffs' Impact On Port Of Baltimore Expected To Hit In June: It is still too early to gauge the impacts of President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs on imported goods on the Port of Baltimore, despite other ports experiencing changes. “We expect to see impacts with our container business, especially from China,” Richard Scher, director of communications for the Port of Baltimore, said in a statement to Capital News Service. “But those impacts will likely not show until June.”  Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

 Land Access Case For Electric Grid Project Begins: A federal court case that would allow the company hired to build the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project to survey properties on the project path will begin Monday morning, with opening arguments from attorneys representing both sides. Carroll County Times.

130,000 Marylanders Nearer To Losing Some Federal Food Benefits: The U.S. House Agriculture Committee approved last Wednesday its portion of Republicans’ major legislative package that includes a provision that would shift to states some of the responsibility to pay for a major nutrition assistance program. Close to 130,000 Marylanders could lose some amount of Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, benefits under the plan, according to one estimate, with 71,000 at risk of losing benefits entirely. Maryland Matters.

Food Banks Lose Million-plus Meals After USDA Cuts: The region’s three main food banks — Blue Ridge, the Capital Area Food Bank and the Maryland Food Bank — together lost more than 1.4 million meals with the March USDA cuts, according to interviews and information provided by the three nonprofits. The Trump administration additionally ended or defunded at least two other programs relied upon by food banks, including funding to purchase food directly from local farmers and to provide food for hungry seniors. WaPo

Moore Vetoes Reparations Study Bill: Gov. Wes Moore on Friday vetoed a bill that would have required the state to define the economic harms to Black descendants of enslaved people and recommend remedies, dealing a blow to reparations supporters who counted on the only Black governor of a U.S. state to be an ally. WaPo

State's Largest Active Underground Coal Mine Sold: Maryland’s largest active underground coal mine changed hands last month after its previous operator, Canadian firm Corsa Coal, filed for bankruptcy and auctioned its assets to pay creditors. The new operator, Pennsylvania-based Rosebud Mining Co., will not inherit the dozens of delinquent fines levied by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for safety violations at the Casselman mine in Garrett County. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

Colleges Lay Off Workers, Freeze Hiring After $155m State Cut: At the University of Maryland at Baltimore, administrators are laying off about 30 people and eliminating about 30 vacant positions. Towson University is implementing a hiring pause. And Morgan State University is consolidating some programs in addition to cutting jobs and vacancies. WaPo

Prince George's Has Highest Number of Road Fatalities: Prince George’s County has had the highest number of road fatalities of any Maryland county this year and in recent years. As of Thursday, there had been 34 traffic fatalities this year in Prince George’s County. Baltimore County, which has the next highest total, reported 12. And Montgomery County reported only 10 crash fatalities this year. The number of fatal crashes in Prince George’s rose nearly every year between 2019 to 2023. Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.

THE OTHER 49

By the Numbers: 42%: The decline in visits by Canadian tourists to New Hampshire in April, compared to the same month in 2024. Visits declined 24% in February and 37% in March amid tensions between neighbors. (Boston Globe) via Pluribus

BDS boycott law reversal sought Illinois lawmakers seek to reverse state law penalizing companies that boycott Israel | Capitol News Illinois via Stateline Daily

Too Darn Hot: The Lone Star’s state House passed legislation requiring air conditioning in Texas’s sweltering prisons. The bill still needs a vote in the Senate. Texas Tribune via WaPo

Data Centers Targeted: Lawmakers in 11 states have introduced bills this year to add new regulations on data centers. Bills would require data center operators to disclose power and water usage data and follow climate requirements. Others would set special power rates for data centers to keep costs down for residential consumers. Data centers are expected to drive a sharp spike in demand for electricity of up to 50% by 2040. (Pluribus News) [paywalled]

Build affordable housing or lose state grants: Colorado governor uses state grants to lean on local governments that buck housing policies | Colorado Newsline via Stateline

Splitsville Telecom billionaire Rob Hale surprised graduates of Bridgewater State University with two envelopes containing $500 each during a commencement ceremony at Gillette Stadium on Friday. He told graduates to keep the first $500, and to give the second chunk of change to someone or an organization that would use it well. (The Enterprise) via Pluribus

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

What was that, again? AP: Trump 47 may leave least records in history. “To historians and archivists, it points to the possibility that Trump’s presidency will leave less for the nation’s historical record than nearly any before it and that what is authorized for public release will be sanitized and edited to reinforce a carefully sculpted image the president wants projected, even if the facts don’t back that up.” AP via Semafor

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Here is Megan E’s Monday D.C. report: She is federal affairs director for People’s Action, our national affiliate>>>>>>>>>>

Hello People's Action!

[Clog in the drainpipe is temporarily roto-rooted, “big, beautiful bill” gurgles on…] After all the House committees passed the pieces of the big budget reconciliation bill last week, the House budget committee ran into problems passing the full package. Far right Republicans on the committee voted no on the bill in the budget committee, embarrassing leadership. They’re demanding more spending cuts, specifically moving up implementation of the work requirements. It also sounds like changes in Medicaid ( FMAP) may be back on the table. They’re also looking at cutting more energy tax credits.  After working through the weekend, late last night, the House budget committee managed to move the bill out of committee when the four far-right members, Reps. Ralph Norman of NC,  Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew Clyde of Georgia agreed to vote “present” instead of no. 

Of course that doesn’t solve leadership’s problem as the bill can’t lose four votes on the floor and they are still negotiating over the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction with NY and CA Republicans. Speaker Johnson is supposed to meet with so-called “Main Street” Republicans who are more shy of Medicaid cuts tonight to float proposals for more spending cuts. 

The bill moves to the Rules committee this week where it could face similar problems. Norman and Roy and other far right Republicans are on the Rules committee. Speaker Johnson still says they will pass the bill by Memorial Day. 

Moody’s downgraded U.S. debt rating on Friday from AAA to AA due to the growth of U.S.’s debt and interest ratios, which will offers fuel to the fire for the far-right members concerned about deficit spending (of course, none of them are interested to taxing the rich, the better way to close the deficit than taking people’s health care away). “Of the three major credit rating agencies, Moody’s had been the lone holdout, maintaining its outstanding rating of AAA for US debt. Until now. Moody’s held a perfect credit rating for the United States since 1917.” This could also make interest rates go up. 

New Resource: KFF has state specific numbers out on Medicaid cuts here. 

The Oligarchy’s Crypto bill may Pass the Senate this Week

As if we didn’t have enough to do, Republicans with the help of some Democratic Senators (Gillibrand & Alsobrooks are cosponsors) are trying to jam through the so-called “Genius Act.” The bill they tried to pass last week would have allowed Big Tech behemoths like Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple to own and operate their own stablecoin, allowing them to force customers to use their currencies. This MSNBC oped explains what happened. They’ve made some changes and are trying to pass it again. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) just announced he’s on board. Republicans need 60 votes to pass the bill. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren who is now the Ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee is leading the opposition. Warren argues that at a minimum, crypto currencies should be subject to the same regulations as banks. 

 She says that under the latest version:

• Elected officials and their families, including President Trump and his family, are not prohibited from owning or participating in stablecoin business ventures. Instead, the bill will turbocharge President Trump’s ability to benefit from his crypto deals.
• Big Tech companies are still allowed to issue their own stablecoins.
• Crypto currency is already an easy way for moving illicit weapons and the bill allows cartels to more easily move and access money.
• Consumers are not protected. 

The crypto industry was the largest donor to Trump’s re-election campaign for the one goal of getting more access to financial markets without the regulation that big banks (or anyone else gets). Marylanders note Megan reports: Apparently Sen. Alsobrooks also took money from the crypto industry. Any Kai Ryssdal fans out there? He [the host of American Public Media’s Marketplace financial show] has been saying allowing crypto to become mainstream and traded in mutual funds and pensions is very likely to cause the next financial crisis.