Commentary

It shouldn’t be controversial to think that absolutely no one deserves to lose their home or be evicted due to an unpaid water bill. Yet, Maryland lawmakers are trying to return to a practice that disproportionately impacts and displaces Black people, who are already underrepresented as homeowners and disproportionately impacted as renters.

Students’ federal financial aid data has begun slowly trickling out to U.S. colleges and universities. That means our University System of Maryland (USM) schools — 12 public universities across the state — should finally get their hands on the amount of federal aid their prospective and returning students will qualify for. Normally, this information would have come in January, but the problematic rollout of a “new” federal financial aid form, the simplified FAFSA, caused significant delays.

In a notable twist of political dynamics, Governor Wes Moore, a fellow Democrat, finds himself at odds with members of his own party in the Maryland House of Delegates over budget priorities. Moore, who has consistently pledged not to raise taxes, now faces the daunting prospect of vetoing a budget bill proposed by fellow Democrats that would do just that. This predicament underscores a deeper rift within the party and raises questions about the alignment of fiscal policies with Democratic principles.

Since the Republicans reclaimed a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the last election cycle, a recurring issue has been the impact of conservative Republican members (notably the Freedom Caucus) on efforts by the House Republican leadership to reach consensus on such issues as government spending, debt limits, aid to Ukraine, and southern border security.

Lobbyists for a small number of immensely powerful multinational corporations are working overtime this week to protect a loophole that makes Maryland’s corporate income tax virtually optional for their clients. They’re worried because the House of Delegates’ just-released revenue package wisely includes a rule — called “worldwide combined reporting” — that will close this gaping loophole and make long-time abusers of corporate power pay their fair share of Maryland taxes.

Imagine for a moment that you are an individual of means who wants to — and let’s be blunt about it — bribe a government employee. There are any number of circumstances where you might find it a profitable, if unethical, act. You might be a contractor seeking preferential treatment on a public works project, for example. Or maybe you have pending legislation that just needs a crucial vote or two to get over the hump.

Almost exactly four years ago, virtually every segment of American life was placed on indefinite hold as our nation and the world fell into a public health crisis. As we navigated those uncertain times, our government leaders repeated the following phrases: Trust the science. Listen to the experts. Indeed, following that advice is surely a sensible way to approach any situation, certainly one for which data is still being collected and analyzed.