Politics

As local spending required by Maryland’s landmark education law climbs, Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) is asking state legislators for more discretion over how the county pays for schools. Citing financial pressure, Alsobrooks is taking aim at a law that funnels most money generated by the local telecommunications and energy taxes to county schools under rules set long before the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future plan — and its mandates — took effect.

Some Maryland legislators and advocates are once again proposing the creation of a correctional ombudsman to provide oversight of the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Although the legislation nearly passed unanimously in the Senate last year, it died in the House Rules Committee in the final days of session.

On the eve of the deadline, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby filed to run for a second term Thursday, making his campaign official despite scrutiny in the wake of his testimony at his ex-wife’s federal trial. Mosby, a Democrat who has served as the city council president since 2020, filed midday Thursday with a visit to the Baltimore City Board of Elections.

In the days since Democratic leaders unveiled their solution to curb juvenile crime, opponents and proponents have raced to decide what the changes would mean for Maryland’s juvenile system. If passed, the new law supported by Gov. Wes Moore would peel back years of consensus building, community input and bipartisan collaboration that helped write laws meant to keep children out of the legal system.

Last year, Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) was on her own when she filed legislation seeking to force her state’s utilities to reveal votes at the grid operator that coordinates the flow of electricity for 65 million people in the Eastern U.S. Her bill passed the House, but stalled in the upper chamber. This year, though, her legislation is back, with backup: a Senate companion sponsored by Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery) and similar measures filed by lawmakers in Virginia, Illinois, and West Virginia. Another bill is expected to come in Pennsylvania.

Montgomery County Council members hammered school officials with questions about their handling of employee misconduct allegations, complaining they got a new, less redacted version of the Jackson Lewis report detailing many of the system’s failures on the issue just an hour before the scheduled hearing on Thursday.

Conservative radio host Kimberly Klacik is running for Congress again. Klacik filed Thursday for the Republican primary in Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District. “It’s a big decision that I made in the past couple weeks,” Klacik said on social media. “It’s going to be hard work, but you know what I’ve never shyed away from hard work.”

Emphasizing the effects of the imminent budget deficit and spikes in certain crimes among Maryland’s youth, Republicans called Wednesday for immediate follow-through in response to Gov. Wes Moore’s second State of the State address. “The Republican Caucus is committed to advancing legislation that addresses the critical issues facing our state, from ensuring public safety and improving educational outcomes to revitalizing our economy,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a representative of the upper Eastern Shore, said in remarks delivered following Moore’s speech.