Frederick County and the city of Frederick should look at how to make existing homes cheaper to buy, to help ease the problem of affordable housing in the county, a city alderwoman said Wednesday. Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak said during a meeting between the aldermen and the Frederick County Council that making it easier for people to buy current houses would help more than for the county or municipalities to waive fees on new construction.

Despite recent fiscal challenges, Gov. Wes Moore’s $63 billion budget plan remains largely intact under legislation approved unanimously Thursday in the Maryland Senate. The measure makes reserves available if needed to cover a miscalculation in Medicaid costs that was discovered after the governor submitted his budget to the General Assembly in January. The legislation now goes to the Maryland House, where majority Democrats haven’t been shy in voicing support to raise significant revenues this year to help address deficits in future years, pay for a major K-12 education funding overhaul and fund ambitious plans to fight climate change.

 

Baltimore’s most powerful political offices are exclusively held by men, but women fueled the campaigns that got them there. A handful of women are the most sought-after — and effective — campaign fundraisers for races in Baltimore and across Maryland. That several Maryland women represent most mainstream Democratic city and state officials is unusual, said Martha McKenna. The communications consultant advises federal and local campaigns, including Sheila Dixon’s current mayoral bid.

About 200 miles of Baltimore city roads need to be repaved, but funding cuts at the state level may put the projects in jeopardy. Senate lawmakers approved Senate Bill 362, which includes potential long-term cuts in transit funding that are intended to address the state’s $3.3 billion budget shortfall. The bill heads to the House for its approval. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is calling on the House to restore the cuts to the city’s highway user revenue.

Juvenile justice legislation moving through the General Assembly is facing opposition from advocacy groups that say the proposed changes would bring a new wave of mass incarceration and criminalize Black children. The proposals still must go through a conference committee to hash out differences between the Senate and House bills, both of which have passed their respective chambers.

Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly face a perpetual funding challenge: balancing the budget and managing revenues while meeting numerous needs and providing services. There are only three possible ways to address this. First, cut spending. However, each individual program and project has value, and its advocates would argue that it is worth keeping and/or should be expanded. Further, state money flows to the counties, especially for education, and so state spending reductions hurt local entities as well.

A Maryland House committee voted Wednesday in favor of a bill that would allow certain renewable energy sources to be built and used on any type of land. Several representatives of Frederick County, as well as county officials, said they are concerned that the bill oversteps counties’ zoning authority and would be expensive for jurisdictions. If passed, House Bill 1407 would prevent all jurisdictions from adopting zoning laws or other regulations that limit or ban the construction and operation of Tier 1 renewable sources under Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).

Nearly a year after Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced plans for a new “iconic lakefront library” in Columbia, the project is essentially back to the drawing board. Ball’s enthusiasm for the proposed $144 million state-of-the-art library wasn’t shared by all last year, with some complaining about a lack of transparency in developing plans for a tiered, glass-enclosed structure along Little Patuxent Parkway and overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi.

 

Rare is the Baltimore commuter who has not had the jaw-dropping experience of seeing motor vehicles flashing by at speeds approaching triple digits or running through red lights or weaving through traffic like it was the final lap of the Daytona 500. That’s why it was heartening to hear Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley reveal last weekend on WBAL NewsRadio that he plans to soon step up traffic enforcement, arguing that it can make driving safer and should reduce “road rage” incidents that can escalate into shootings.

For the first time this year, the county budget includes the value of “in-kind” sponsorships to various agencies that receive county funding. In-kind transactions are not cash payments; they represent material or services the county provides to an agency. In these cases, the in-kind transactions are for the use of county-owned buildings, said Washington County CFO Kelcee Mace. They’re being included in Washington County’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget per Governmental Accounting Standards Board and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles requirements, according to budget document notes.