Life goes on here in Maryland with higher prices not only at the gas pump but on the grocery and other store shelves. We're getting an education, in case we missed the memo, that everything still gets delivered mostly on the wings of gas or diesel. And the global price for petroleum, much of it bottled up in the Strait of Hormuz, goes higher this morning as the hopes for an agreement to stop the guns and open the strait look shaky as of this morning. As noted above, the timeline for our needs here in Maryland is extending in both directions. Early childhood education (and caregiving!) is more and more critical to the flexibility households and families need to make a sustainable life. At the same time, Maryland's caregivers in health care areas are ageing and not being replaced as quickly as is needed. This two-way stretch can be crucial to the state's overall social and economic health, and this is not a problem to put off for a decade or so -- it is here, staring us in the face. There's not a whole lot that is clear yet about how the growth of Artificial Intelligence will change our collective and individual relationship to work, employment and compensation, but it is for sure that it will affect the two caregiving stages we are discussing -- so AI has got to be proactively harnessed for public provision, rather than enriching the few who possess it now.
Read on: It's News You Can Use
HERE IN MARYLAND
Summaries from Maryland Reporter
‘Aging Workforce’ in Healthcare Presents Challenges, Opportunities: A recent report from the Maryland comptroller says that older workers are a “defining feature” to Maryland’s healthcare system. 11% of Maryland’s healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are 65 or older, compared to 6% nationwide, according to the recent “Maryland Industry Analysis: Healthcare and the Economy” report from Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s (D) office. Maryland Matters. 5/22
New Cash Rounding Law Lets Businesses Adjust Change: Maryland has a new law on the books that impacts cash payments at checkout.The emergency bill gives businesses the option of rounding up or down the amount of change to the nearest nickel. WBAL 11. 5/22
Donors Tied To $70m County Project Gave $41k To Ho Co Executive Candidate: Before a single wall has gone up at The Source, a new community center planned in Columbia, $12 million in public money has been spent. Now members of the nonprofit developing the project have maxed out donations to Vanessa Atterbeary, who leads the Howard County executive field in fundraising and holds an endorsement from Gov. Wes Moore. Kiersten Hacker and Baltimore Sun. 5/22
Harry Dunn, Others, Sue Trump Over $1.77b ‘Taxpayer-Funded Slush Fund’: Retired U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges said in a complaint in federal court that Jan. 6 rioters, nearly all of whom received a pardon from President Donald Trump on his first day back in office last year, could benefit from the fund and use the money to organize more violent activity. Maryland Matters. 5/22
Md, Dc, Rank Among Nation’s Leaders In Academic Recovery: Students across Maryland and the Washington, D.C. region are showing some of the strongest post-COVID pandemic academic recovery in the country, according to a new national education report released this month. 7News WJLA. 5/22
Mountain Branch Owner Continues Push For Data Center Project: As Harford County moves to ban data centers, Bill Vasilakopoulos, the owner of Mountain Branch Golf Club in Joppa, said he is still holding out hope that he can partner with Harford County to ensure his planned “AI Infrastructure Campus” gets built. Aegis. 5/22
Neighbors Push Back On Data Centers At Baltimore County Planning Meeting: Baltimore County residents packed the Jefferson Building in Towson Thursday night to share their thoughts on data center development with the county's Planning Board, as the county weighs what rules should govern where and how data centers can be built. Taylor WMAR 2. 5/22
Texas Powers Past Virginia in Global Data Center Rankings Dallas, West Texas, and Austin-San Antonio climbed Cushman’s global rankings as AI infrastructure chases power and land. 5/26
Ferguson Offers Leeway on Pursuing Redistricting: Senate President Bill Ferguson says Maryland could be dipping its toes into the national redistricting arms race after his months of firm opposition against redrawing the state’s congressional map. WYPR-FM. 5/26
Moore Lets 2 Immigration Reform Bills Become Law Sans Signature: Gov. Wes Moore is letting two major immigration reform bills from Maryland’s latest legislative session go into law without his signature: the Community Trust Act and the Data Privacy Act. Sarah WYPR-FM. 5/26
New Group Pushes Early Childhood Education as Vital Work: A newly formed statewide group hopes to drive home the point that early childhood education matters. The Maryland Early Care and Education Coalition’s “call to action” plan includes development of a statewide early care and education workforce registry, and coordination with the Governor’s Workforce Development Board to help with strategies to grow the early childhood workforce. Maryland Matters. 5/26
Caregivers In Tailspin Over Rules Changes, Wage Cuts: Advocates for people with developmental disabilities warn that upcoming rule changes and wage cuts this summer will be detrimental – particularly for those who self-direct their Medicaid services and have family members help with care. Maryland Matters. 5/26
Maryland Trails In Oversight Of Grants To Nonprofits: Maryland is lagging behind a growing number of states that have implemented uniform safeguards for overseeing billions in taxpayer-funded grants distributed to nonprofits and outside organizations, according to financial experts, lawmakers and state grant management policies reviewed. Baltimore Sun. 5/26
1,500 State Loans to Federal Works Remain Unrepaid: Maryland distributed more than $2.5 million in no-interest loans to federal workers during recent government shutdowns, aiming to provide short-term relief to employees required to work without pay. More than 1,500 remain unpaid as repayment deadlines arrive. State economists say that this raises questions about whether the program reflects financial hardship among federal workers or could become a costly collection burden for taxpayers. Baltimore Sun. 5/26
Researchers: Look for a smaller dead zone in the Chesapeake Bay this summer
The drought that has plagued much of the Chesapeake Bay’s watershed during the first half of this year is causing strains to drinking water supplies, hurting crop output and leaving many rafters and boaters high and dry. But there’s an upside. Low river flows during the late winter and early spring led to reduced amounts of nutrient pollution flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. As a result, scientists say, the Bay’s annual “dead zone” could rank among the smallest on record. Bay Journal 5/26
THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49
States that cover healthcare for immigrants scale back
Federal Medicaid cuts, end of Obamacare aid force tough decisions. Stateline Daily
TRANSPORTATION: The Teamsters Union is emerging as a key opponent of driverless vehicle legislation. The labor group helped defeat bills to allow autonomous vehicle operations in Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, and it’s working to kill legislation in Illinois ahead of the end of session. The union backed a Colorado bill, approved last week, that would require a human driver in commercial autonomous trucks. Similar bills have been introduced in California, Delaware, Massachusetts and Tennessee. (Pluribus News) [paywalled]
Private equity companies buy more apartment units
More than two-thirds of units owned by the firms are located in 10 states. Stateline Daily
Indiana: Following a state Supreme Court decision, an advocacy group must drop its 27-year legal effort to sue gun manufacturers for contributing to gun violence in the city of Gary. News from the States
GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS
Data center battles started in the states. Now it’s Congress under siege.
WASHINGTON — Higher electric rates? Massive data centers looming over neighborhoods? Ugly political fights over what to do about them? The future of data centers and their huge appetite for electricity is quickly escalating as a political flashpoint from coast to coast, moving from cities and states now to the nation’s capital. Bills are under debate in Congress. The Trump administration has weighed in. Lobbying is intensifying. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing changes. But finding consensus on how to proceed in D.C. is tough, with the industry spreading around millions to make its case, some lawmakers pushing a moratorium, and others looking for ways to ease the burden on Americans without halting development. News from the States
Spiritual intervention: The engine driving construction of data centers (being fought in Maryland and elsewhere is AI and its need to hoover up the internet. As the technology cycle in overdrive threatens workers’ lives again, a robust historical echo comes from two Popes named Leo.
With the release of his encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV has signaled that he wants the church to respond to artificial intelligence much as a predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, responded to upheavals during the Industrial Revolution over a century ago. Since the first act of his papacy – choosing his name – the current pope has repeatedly invoked the earlier Leo’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. That document, which waded into the political and economic debates of the time, denounced the excesses of the Gilded Age and pointed toward a more just social order. Now, Leo XIV has used his first major statement to the world to present a new Rerum Novarum for the age of AI. Rerum Novarum was more than just a theological text. It helped reshape economic policy around the rights of workers, serving as a spiritual foundation for European social democracy and the 1930s New Deal programs that still undergird economic life for working Americans today. The Conversation
Honoring the warrior: Special courts helps veterans stay out of jail - but staffing losses at VA and cuts to government programs are threatening their work
Many veterans struggle with addiction, mental health conditions and homelessness after military service. Veterans Treatment Courts aim to help – but they need stable funding to do so. The Conversation
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