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Commentary

Labor union calls for worker protections in final cannabis bill

Last week, while hundreds of workers gathered outside the Maryland State House, Maryland legislators quietly completed a legislative betrayal that abandons Maryland workers in favor of corporate CEOs. The Senate Finance Committee voted 5-3 against workers’ interests by eliminating labor peace agreements as a condition of licensure in the emerging cannabis industry in Maryland.

Maryland could pass two big tenant protections in this General Assembly session

The Maryland General Assembly will wrap up April 10, meaning that potential state laws have one week to get passed. But two bills with important tenant protections stand a strong chance of becoming law and would do a lot of good to make lives better for renters in Montgomery County and the rest of Maryland. HB691, the Tenant Safety Act, passed the House by a decisive margin and reforms the rent escrow process. Rent escrow is where tenants pay their rent into a court controlled fund, rather than to a landlord, to legally withhold rent due to failure to make appropriate repairs to a building.

Maryland State house with city in Annapolis
As Maryland’s legislative session nears an end, a few final words on the cannabis bills

Maryland is becoming un-investable. The Maryland Senate’s recent markup of the adult-use cannabis bill is yet another example (“Cannabis legalization plan passes Maryland Senate committee; amended bill heads toward final steps,” March 27). If enacted per the Senate amendments, the currently successful medical cannabis program will become economically unstable, halt both in and out-of-state investment, and hurt the diverse community of owners and operators in place today.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
County Council took right steps to help surviving spouses of disabled military veterans

Our country has a long tradition, dating at least back more than 150 years to the Civil War, of trying to take care of our veterans. Sometimes we do better, and sometimes we fall short, but generally, we try. The goal was first enunciated by the greatest articulator of the American ideal, President Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, with these memorable phrases: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Montgomery County’s rising tide benefits all businesses

I read with keen interest the MoCo 360 article on Feb. 27 spotlighting the role of the Black dollar and Black-owned businesses in Montgomery County, highlighting the work of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. (MCEDC). Gov. Wes Moore (D) campaigned on initiatives related to increased minority business, then revealed in his first budget funding that will support the pillars to create a more competitive and equitable economy.

Read More: MOCO360
What school segregation looks like in Baltimore County today

Our public schools remain highly segregated along racial and socioeconomic lines, with more than one-third of U.S. students attending schools considered to be segregated, according to a recent analysis. How does school segregation like this continue 69 years after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education? The answer is one school board decision at a time. One such decision is currently before the Baltimore County School Board.

Copy space of home and life concept. Small model home on green grass with sunlight abstract background.
Lawmakers should move quickly to pass changes that strengthen EmPOWER energy efficiency program

With the end of the 2023 legislative session fast approaching, the Maryland General Assembly should move quickly to finalize timely legislation to update and improve EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s energy efficiency program. EmPOWER, launched in 2008, has saved ratepayers more than $4 billion on energy bills and reduced Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 9.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equal to taking 2 million cars off the road for a year.

I’m new to commuting on the Baltimore Beltway. Is it always this bad?

I’ve been commuting from Annapolis to Baltimore a couple of days a week for several months now. We’ve got traffic in Annapolis, and, sure, sometimes it’s maddening. There was that one time a sailboat mast got caught in a powerline on Forest Drive. But I have to ask you veteran Baltimore Beltway commuters a question. Is it always this bad? Is it as dangerous as it seems to a new commuter like me?

How Maryland can fight triple-negative breast cancer

When I was diagnosed with stage three triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that became metastatic within a year, I was given just two years to live. That was 11 years ago. Thanks to a second opinion, treatment with experimental drugs, and the support of my family and the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, I am now a survivor and a thriver. I have since dedicated my life to ensuring Black women in Maryland and across the country who receive a similar diagnosis are given the best chance to do the same.

Latest census data show Maryland needs to grow, but smarter | COMMENTARY

The latest Census Bureau data show Baltimore and Baltimore County shrinking modestly last year, while much of the rest of Maryland grew slightly. By itself, the figures are not especially surprising nor alarming, particularly given how the COVID-19 pandemic caused many urban areas to lose population as some people chose to flee the heightened transmission risk of city living and to work virtually. Already, many cities are seeing a reversal of this trend, including the District of Columbia, but not Baltimore.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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