Friday, March 29, 2024 | Baltimore, MD
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Commentary

Maryland has a lot of rail plans. These bills could finally make some of them reality.

When it comes to transit, Maryland hasn’t been lacking for studies or plans in recent years. Whether it be the MARC Cornerstone Plan of 2019, the 2020 bill to study extending MARC Penn Line service south to Alexandria and north to Newark, Del., the 2021 bill to study extending MARC Brunswick Line service west towards Hagerstown, or Prince George’s County’s 2021 plan to boost transit-oriented development (TOD) around its four Blue Line stations, the state has had no shortage of schemes to expand and improve its rail lines and the development that springs up around them.

Helping small businesses help their employees: A Maryland bill aims to subsidize health insurance costs; will it survive?

A problem with having a big influx of funds, in this case hundreds of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, is that it’s often accompanied by a long line of organizations with their hands out, advocating for one worthy cause after the other. The needs are almost always greater than the windfall, no matter how large, and many will leave empty-handed, despite the meaningful benefit their projects could offer individuals. One such worthwhile proposal that’s in jeopardy before the General Assembly would provide subsidies to certain small businesses and nonprofits to help them and their employees better afford health insurance plans on the Maryland Health Connection, the state’s health insurance marketplace.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Editorial Advisory Board: Maryland should pass the COAC Act

After years of consideration Maryland should join 38 other states that have laws requiring animal owners, not taxpayers, to pay the cost of care for lawfully seized neglected and abused animals. The Maryland Cost of Animal Care Act “COAC” (HB1062/SB877) is common-sense legislation saving lives and taxpayer dollars and should be passed this session without hesitation. There are currently hundreds of seized animals being housed and cared for in shelters throughout Maryland while their owners await trial. There is no clear legal process for the disposition or assessment of costs of care for these animals.

Read More: Daily Record
man in red t-shirt holding white plastic bottle
Rodricks: Coming out of pandemic, U.S. needs to champion public service and the common good

Two things that seem unrelated — the senseless and brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine and the problems that hit the medical examiner’s office in Baltimore — prompt me to revisit a subject I have raised before: The need to call Americans to public service. We don’t do it nearly enough. What’s more, the pandemic showed that too many Americans neither appreciate nor work for the common good in a way that, however exaggerated, once seemed innate to the national character. We need to talk about it more.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Penny wise and pound foolish: Suspending the gas tax may sound good, but it’s a bad idea

In a rare display of like-minded thinking across the aisle, politicians on both the left and right are calling for cuts or suspensions to their state’s gas tax or the federal government’s. It’s happening in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and right here in Maryland. In fact, this week our state is set to become among the first in the country to officially pause collection of its gas tax for 30 days in the wake of rising prices at the pump.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Maryland PIRG: State Should Hold Special Elections to Fill Vacancies in the Legislature

Our democracy works best when everyone has a voice and everyone is represented. Voting for our local, state and federal representatives is fundamental to this vision, and is step one in a civically-engaged electorate and responsive government. But today, Maryland’s system for filling empty legislative seats is simply un-democratic. Currently, approximately one in five Maryland state legislators were initially appointed rather than elected by the voters — appointed by a small group of political insiders to fill seats left empty by retirements, deaths or other reasons.

Plymyer: Character counts, especially in Baltimore’s chief prosecutor

Character counts, especially in a city’s chief prosecutor. Nothing makes that clearer than the controversial decision by Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to try Keith Davis Jr. for the fifth time on the same charge of murdering a Pimlico security guard, despite two prior mistrials and two overturned convictions in the weak case against Mr. Davis. The recent attempt by her office to get the trial, scheduled for May, moved out of the city only adds to the questionable nature of her decision.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Baltimore County Needs Red Maple Place

Baltimore County has a critical need for affordable housing, which has been stymied by local opposition and a volunteer administrative board that has been allowed to compromise, stall and often kill projects like Red Maple Place based on a misread of county design guidelines. For Baltimore County to meet the benchmarks established by the 2016 Conciliation Agreement with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, decisions to prevent Red Maple – and other developments – from moving forward must be reversed.

Maryland Climate Corps bills needed for sustainable state future

In Maryland, we urgently need a Climate Corps, an ongoing employment program to hire local people to mitigate the effects of climate change on our communities. As a high schooler, I am acutely aware of how climate change will limit my future choices in life. I have been fighting for such a corps, as one of the leaders of Sunrise Movement Baltimore, since it was proposed on a national scale in 2021. In a letter to the editor last year, I wrote about how a Climate Corps program would benefit young people like me.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Opinion: These Maryland bills would help protect renters and prevent displacement

Zoning reform and building more housing are important strategies for turning around the region’s housing crisis. But while building is necessary for an affordable future, it’s not sufficient. Renter protections also play a key role in halting displacement and fostering housing stability. As Maryland’s General Assembly enters its final 30 days in session for 2022, more than two dozen bills have been proposed that would help renter households. Some of these bills mirror recommendations from the American Bar Association’s recent call for reform of residential eviction procedures.

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