Commentary

As Gov. Larry Hogan wades into national issues with increasing frequency, he should check if Maryland is leading by example before plunging into the deep end. Recently, in an opinion piece for USA Today, Hogan made waves saying Washington is asleep on cybersecurity and America is vulnerable to attack following the highly-publicized Colonial Pipeline ransomware hack.

One of the most promising aspects of Mayor Brandon Scott’s 36-page plan for preventing crime in Baltimore is labeled as an “initiative to come” when it should already be in place. Check that: It should have been in place years ago — when Scott was still in grade school.  It’s simply this: Prepare inmates coming out of prison to return to the city and live a law-abiding life. Get them ready for successful reentry while they’re still locked up.

Creating a more equitable society has been a topic of discussion for several years in our country, a goal that most people support even if they may differ on the way to make that happen. After all, our Founding Fathers wrote that “all men are created equal” but then created a country where millions of Africans were enslaved and women were not permitted to vote or participate in many areas of civic life. Moving toward greater equality has been the work of this country for almost 250 years.

As of last week, all Marylanders receiving regular and/or federal unemployment benefits are again required to actively search for work. The good news for these individuals is the current job market is plentiful, as local employers look to fill hundreds of thousands of open positions across the state. But for workers displaced by the pandemic, a surplus of openings doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easy to get back to work.