The General Assembly is wrapping up its first (partial) month of a 90-day session trying to manage a state budget crisis while weathering a worse-than-even-expected flurry of incoherent opening salvos from the new passel of gangsters downtown. Maryland's federal workers are eyeing the costs, financial and otherwise, of long commutes if the back-to-the-office trend doesn't seem to have immediate work-arounds. The state's school systems are trying to prepare for promised schoolday raids by ICE. Maryland was already behind on beefing up its capacity for renewable power, compared to legislated goals, and the newly confident corporate power systems that supply us and a dozen other states seem to be getting their way on how much we have to pay. It's enough to spur mass pushback, and maybe it will. Progressive Maryland and allied groups will be there to help organize it (that's more than half the battle). Meanwhile it's not great news by any measure, but it's News You Can Use for this week.
HERE IN MARYLAND
The General Assembly is wrapping its first (partial) month in session and the hearing schedule is bulking up. Here are the latest schedules (and asks) from our allies at the Maryland Legislative Coalition (see also our Progressive Maryland asks in the Weekly Memo).
Educators Prepare for Potential ICE Raids at Schools: Maryland education leaders are preparing for potential immigration raids in previously protected spaces, including schools, under the new Trump administration. The Maryland State Department of Education sent guidance to local school districts Thursday clarifying that student data is largely confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and state code. WYPR-FM via Maryland Reporter
Moore Admin Bill Would Slow Per-pupil Spending: A comprehensive education bill unveiled last week by the Moore administration would slow the growth of per pupil spending beginning next year and continuing for the next eight years, raising concerns among advocates and lawmakers. Instead of growing between 4% and 5% a year for the next eight years, the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act calls for growth from 2% to 3% in the same period. Maryland Matters
>>Moore’s bill would also put a two-year pause on increases in the grants each community school receives for fiscal years 2027 and 2028. The funding increases would resume in 2029 at the level calculated for what they would have received during the 2027 fiscal year. Baltimore Sun.
End to Inheritance Tax Would Kill Funds for 24 Register of Wills Offices: Moore administration officials are vowing to find a way to fund the state’s 24 register of wills offices, after an “oversight” led to the accidental elimination of their funding with the plan to do away with the state’s inheritance tax next year. Maryland Matters
Moore Tax Plan Could Go Further, ‘Fair Share’ Advocates Say: Gov. Wes Moore’s tax reform plan that would raise hundreds of millions of dollars more from Maryland’s wealthiest earners does not go far enough to offset cuts to education, child care and other programs, a growing coalition of advocates and lawmakers say. Legislation they’re introducing, called the Fair Share for Maryland Act, would expand corporate taxes in multiple ways, while hiking the highest income tax brackets even further to raise between $1.6 billion to $2 billion annually. Baltimore Sun
Moore Admin Touts Progress On EVs But Say Road Will Get Bumpier: Top Moore administration officials told state lawmakers last week that they’re committed to implementing aggressive mandates for the sale of electric vehicles in the years ahead. But they acknowledged that the push to put more battery-operated vehicles on the road faces multiple challenges — and that the task just became harder now that President Donald Trump is back in office. Maryland Matters.
Renter Advocates Urge Passage of ‘Good Cause’ Bill: Advocates For Renter protections braved frigid morning temperatures last Tuesday for a rally urging lawmakers to finally pass “good cause” evictions legislation to protect tenants from being kicked out without a justified reason. Maryland Matters.
Maryland Challenges Trump Over End of Birthright Citizenship: The lawsuits against the new Trump administration have begun. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Tuesday that he was joining 22 other states to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship — the constitutional guarantee of citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. Baltimore Banner.
>>The ACLU and immigrant rights groups sued the Trump administration in U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire shortly after Trump signed the order. On Tuesday, 18 state attorneys general sued in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Those states include New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Maryland Matters.
Layoffs Loom as Trump Administration Orders Leave for Federal DEI Workers: Employees of diversity, equity and inclusion programs were to be placed on administrative leave by 5 p.m. last Wednesday. Agencies were told to make plans for layoffs. WaPo
End Of Remote Work Means Long Commutes For Marylanders: Federal agencies are supposed to submit plans to the Trump administration for how they will return federal workers to their offices full time by 5 p.m. on Friday and employees will likely have to return to the office within 30 days. That’s bringing up a lot of questions for federal employees who live outside of Washington – including in Maryland, particularly about how long their commute will be and if going into the office five days a week is worth the job. WYPR-FM
‘Ticking Time Bombs’: Nearly 100 Coal Ash Dumps Pepper Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Next door to North Keys Community Park in Brandywine, MD, sits a 140-acre landfill where millions of tons of coal ash have been dumped [in the largely Black Prince George’s community] since 1970. Toxic chemicals in the ash have seeped into the groundwater beneath the site and at one time ran off into a nearby creek. … groundwater contaminant levels beneath the landfill remain unsafe — and in some cases are still rising, according to Maryland Department of the Environment records. The amount of coal being burned to produce power in the U.S. has sharply declined over the last two decades as utilities switch to natural gas or renewable energy. But in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, as in many other parts of the country, the ash remains. Bay Journal
THE OTHER 49
WY: Wyoming House committee advances bill requiring ultrasounds before medication abortions | Wyoming Public Media Stateline Daily
Housing advocates and experts anticipate the surge in camping bans to continue in 2025. Supporters of the bans argue that homeless encampments endanger nearby residents and businesses. Critics say the prohibitions will just criminalize visible street homelessness and move it somewhere else. Stateline Daily
Immigration: The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to allow Iowa to implement legislation allowing state and local officials to arrest and prosecute undocumented immigrants. The court said federal law preempts states from enforcing immigration codes. (Des Moines Register) via Pluribus
HOUSING {Next Door]: Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer (D) has signed an executive order creating a working group to streamline the housing permit process. The panel has until April to come up with recommendations for a one-stop shop in each county to make permitting run faster. (Delaware Public Media)
Power costs by the numbers : 38%: The estimated growth in electricity demand for the largest grid in the country as the artificial intelligence boom expands, according to PJM Interconnection, the firm that manages a 13-state system from Illinois to Washington, D.C. [and including Maryland]. Hartford Courant) via Pluribus
NATIONAL AND THE FEDS
The alcohol industry is increasingly reliant on the heaviest drinkers for its profits. A fifth of adults account for 90% of sales in the US, research suggests, and that share is growing as alcohol consumption in the rich world declines, thanks to health concerns, government measures, and higher prices. Washington plans to add cancer warnings to alcohol packaging and lower the recommended daily limit, likely squeezing the industry further. Semafor
This is probably not related to: Nobody tell the president! “A peak of 34.4 million people tuned in live to watch Mr. Trump’s lunchtime swearing-in on the major TV networks, according to statistics from Nielsen,” the NYT reports. “The peak TV audience was down from the nearly 40 million viewers who watched former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s speech in 2021, and [even] the 38.3 million who watched Mr. Trump’s first inaugural speech in 2017.” POLITICO Playbook
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Here is Megan E’s weekly wrap/forecast on Trump’s rampage in DC, however long it lasts. She is federal affairs director for our national affiliate, People’s Action:
The House is in recess this week and Congressional Republicans are meeting at Trump’s resort in Doral, FL this week (I guess now that Trump has immunity, the emoluments clause of the Constitution means nothing). There is some reported grumbling in the House conference as Speaker Johnson has set a deadline for the House budget committee to release a blueprint of the budget of the massive budget reconciliation bill (to cut taxes for the rich and spending on the programs for the rest of us) next week while the government shutdown deadline is March 14th and the debt ceiling must be lifted sometime before summer. Funding the government and the debt ceiling will be dealt with separately from the budget reconciliation bill, which will begin budgeting from FY2026 through FY2035.
Punchbowl News reports that Johnson’s already hearing concerns from some Members about big cuts to Medicaid and the ACA. This is a key opportunity for us to drive a wedge between Republicans in order to stop or slow their agenda.
What to expect: Republicans will try to obscure their cuts. Because massive cuts are likely to be unpopular, we expect that the budget instructions may direct committees to cut at least X amount when they intend to cut more. For example, the instructions could direct the Energy & Commerce committee ( with jurisdiction over Medicaid in addition to energy) to cut at least $10 billion from the committees it oversees, when they really intend to cut $100 billion from Medicaid and billions more from the Department of Energy. They will also use funny math when it comes to deficit spending. I’ll explain that at a later phase.
Johnson also wants both Houses of Congress to pass the budget resolution by February 24th. That formalizes topline budget numbers and instructions for agencies to draft the actual text of the budget reconciliation. I expect the House may meet that deadline but the Senate has not agreed to this process and is focused on confirmations of Trump’s appointments.
The Trump administration has started nationwide immigration enforcement raids, including in Chicago and Texas. Local officials slammed the Trump administration for conducting a workplace raid in Newark, NJ, which included detaining U.S. citizens, including a veteran.
Pete Hegseth’s confirmation for Defense secretary squeaked through last week with Vice President Vance having to break a 50:50 tie vote. Hegseth is a former Fox News host with allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and inexperience. He doesn’t think women should fight in combat and is anti-diversity measures in the military. He’s also expected to implement ant-LGBTQ policies. All Democrats and three Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (who is retiring) voted against him.
Gazans are returning to razed homes as the ceasefire appears to be holding. Trump made a statement to “just clean out” Gaza, which has been condemned as ethnic cleansing.
Egg prices are soaring as Trump seems to have forgotten his campaign promise to lower the cost of groceries. [He appears to also be ignoring the threat of bird flu, which is affecting egg supplies].
ISSUE UPDATE: CLIMATE
“Trump declared a national energy emergency to help increase production of fossil fuels on the same day that he withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement and ordered a halt to new permits for offshore wind projects. He said he was stopping the release of any unspent federal money for EV charging and canceling an “EV mandate,” even though no such mandate exists. He also reversed a series of Biden orders that sought to make environmental justice a key factor in federal policymaking.”
“The climate crisis is an affordability crisis,” said Eunice Ko of New York’s Environmental Justice Alliance. “It is a cost of living crisis. It will mean more rising grocery prices because of droughts and shortages as a result of that, it’s going to mean an increase in medical costs. There’s going to be increased energy bills if we continue to rely on fossil fuels.” Inside Climate News
ISSUE UPDATE: HEALTHCARE
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and the HELP Committee on Thursday.
People’s Action mention: WaPo reporter, Dan Diamond’s substack, “A few thoughts on the shock killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO - and the fallout”
ISSUE UPDATE: IMMIGRATION
Trump threatened big tariffs on Colombia for refusing to accept military planes with deportees. The Columbian president quicky caved but accused Trump of violating the rights of the deportees.
From Punchbowl News: House members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus criticized two Senate members — Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) — for voting for the Laken Riley Act, and urged that the CHC come together for a unified agenda. Gallego’s response: “If CHC is concerned about the view of Latinos on immigration, the way I’m voting is exactly where the median Latino voter is voting and how they feel about the border,” Gallego told us. “They can debate all they want but the Latino voters in the country have spoken.”
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