The Playbook: These issues could cause headaches for employers in 2023

Given the tumultuous state of the economy, employers have plenty to be concerned about in early 2023. Recession fears are swirling. The job market remains extremely tight. Inflation is still a concern. But experts say businesses shouldn’t let those obvious challenges distract them from several under-the-radar obstacles that could trip them up in 2023. One of the big ones? The intersection of remote work and pay transparency. We’ve already touched on the increase in pay transparency laws, but attorneys say the combination of those laws and the ubiquity of remote work is causing headaches for employers.

Perspective: How the Eubie Blake Center saved one 16-year-old

Have you ever visited the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center? I have. Do you know who Eubie Blake was? I didn’t. That is, not until his life story would significantly impact my own. This experience began at age 16, when I was in desperate need of a summer job. In my search for that job, I was directed to apply for work through the Mayor’s Office of Art and Culture, back when there was such an office. t was there that I met a rather stern, yet gregarious, woman named Hattie Harrison. Ms. Harrison was an esteemed member of the Maryland legislature and a Baltimore public school teacher. I remember sitting in her office undergoing an examination of sorts, as if she were trying to determine if I would be a good fit for what was to come.

The history of fudge: Did a mistake create a sweet treat?

Food historian Joyce White says fudge is based on a recipe for chocolate caramels, which was very similar. “What probably happened is that there was someone in Baltimore, messed it up, or ‘fadged’ it,” she said. “Fadge is a word that means you messed up. I fadged it, or I fudged it. Nowadays, we use a different F-word to say that, right?” By 1888, that Baltimore recipe was passed along to a student at Vassar College (then all women) in Poughkeepsie, New York. “Women would make fudge in their dorm rooms,” said White, “doing something against the rules, in the late evenings and trying to get away with something not condoned in the rulebook.”

Virginia built 86 miles of express lanes. Will Maryland follow?

The drive on Virginia’s northern stretch of the Capital Beltway can be painful. Approaching the chronically congested Potomac River crossing, drivers meet a construction zone with shoulder barriers, overnight lane closures and the cutting of trees to make way for new highway lanes and ramps. The temporary work is advancing a 2.5-mile extension of the 495 Express Lanes, a widening project that will bring the state’s growing network of high occupancy toll lanes to the foot of the American Legion Bridge. Those lanes, set to open in 2025, are planned to connect to an expanded bridge and a toll system in Maryland, providing congestion relief at one of the biggest traffic chokepoints in the Washington region.

In battle for new FBI headquarters, Maryland and Virginia differ on criteria as they prepare to make final cases

Virginia lawmakers are making their final push to build a new FBI headquarters in their state, while Maryland officials try to persuade the federal government to put it in Maryland. The Washington Post reports that the jockeying is happening as the General Services Administration gets closer to a decision in the decade-plus-long effort. In a letter to the GSA and FBI submitted Feb. 3, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, and most of the Virginia congressional delegation made a detailed case in hopes of swaying the federal government to prefer a site in Springfield, Virginia, instead of locations in Landover and Greenbelt in Maryland.

Moore’s juvenile justice pick comes with record of reform after attempt to turn around notorious NY jail

As Maryland Gov. Wes Moore begins to put his imprint on state government agencies, he’s picked a nationally recognized criminal justice reformer to run the state’s juvenile services system, pleasing advocates and state watchdogs who hope the changemaker will advance recently enacted reforms. Vincent Schiraldi, a justice policy researcher and seasoned public official, is the Democratic governor’s choice for secretary of juvenile services. He begins his confirmation process in the state Senate on Monday. Schiraldi comes to Maryland with more than 40 years of criminal justice reform experience. He’s known for remaking Washington, D.C.’s juvenile system into a national model and retooling New York City’s probation department. But he also brings with him humility and reflection after the recent sting of trying and failing to implement reforms at one of the most notorious prisons in the country — Rikers Island.

Rift over planning reform process frustrates Montgomery County leaders

Montgomery County’s elected leaders agree that something must be done to revamp a sluggish development review process and restore public trust after scandal and infighting last year imploded the county’s powerful planning board. They also agree that politics shouldn’t block the path to accomplishing these goals. But a state lawmaker’s effort to create a nonbinding work group focused on county planning has exposed simmering tensions among Montgomery’s power centers, leading the county council to request more representation after being left out of the negotiations to create the group. The final version of the group announced last week shocked council members, who received no advance notice of the specific plans despite holding oversight powers over the planning board.

Unnecessary gas investments set to raise rates; Maryland regulator must intervene

It’s time for a reality check in Maryland. The state’s gas utilities are making massive long-term investments in their gas delivery systems, even though gas use must decline rapidly to meet Maryland’s aggressive climate goals and electric technologies are outperforming fossil fuels. Ultimately, customers could be on the hook for these investments. Yet the Public Service Commission, which regulates the utilities, has taken no action to steer these companies in a different direction. The reality is that action is needed immediately to protect gas utility customers from looming massive rate increases and to meet Maryland’s climate goals.

Maryland tourism leaders want to nearly double state’s tourism budget

Maryland tourism leaders are looking to nearly double the state’s tourism budget as the industry continues to make a comeback following the pandemic. The Maryland Office of Tourism Development currently receives $15.3 million through the state’s budget, according to Maryland Tourism Coalition (MTC). But tourism leaders, including chair of the Maryland Tourism Development Board Judy Bixler, pointed out that figure is “way behind” compared to the surrounding states. West Virginia has a $25.4 million budget, Virginia has a $78 million budget and Pennsylvania’s tourism budget is $35.1 million, according to MTC. State officials, legislators and tourism leaders made a push for more funding during the annual Maryland Tourism Day on Friday. The main topic of discussion was why the state should invest more money into the industry.

Women lost more jobs early in the pandemic. They’re also returning faster.

After five years at home with her six kids, Tiffany Feliciano often daydreamed about returning to work. But it wasn’t until a few months ago that rising grocery costs and readily available jobs finally lured her back to the workforce. In December, Feliciano took a job in health-care administration, returning to the field she’d left before the pandemic. The years in between were a blur of virtual schooling and caring for her kids, now ages 6 to 14, while her husband traveled for his sales job. But with their weekly grocery bill approaching $400, and savings beginning to dwindle, she decided it was time to rejoin the labor force.