Politics

As top lawmakers move to strengthen consumer protections for utility customers who shop for electricity suppliers, large national energy companies are countering with a poll showing an overwhelming majority of voters want to retain robust competition in the marketplace. They are also charging that the proposed legislation would decimate the state’s 25-year-old competitive marketplace for electricity suppliers. And they’re arguing that recent controversy over Baltimore Gas & Electric rate increases illustrates the need for more checks on the utility companies.

Twenty state lawmakers are joining forces to create the Maryland Legislative Jewish Caucus, joining their voices to speak out against antisemitism and hate crimes, while also promoting Jewish culture and heritage. “Having a Maryland Jewish Legislative Caucus will enable members of the General Assembly to advocate for policies important to the Jewish communities of Maryland,” state Sen. Shelly Hettleman, a Baltimore County Democrat and co-chair of the new caucus, said in a statement announcing the caucus on Tuesday.

A bill pending before the Maryland General Assembly seeks to preclude people of convicted of certain sex crimes from receiving diminution, or good time, credits that allow them to reduce their prison sentences. Inspired by the killing of Baltimore entrepreneur Pava LaPere, House Bill 301 would prohibit people serving sentences for first-degree rape or first-degree sex offense from accruing credits behind bars to reduce their sentences.

Montgomery County bus commuters would get 28 miles of new, faster lines under a $580 million expansion of the county’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system proposed Tuesday by County Executive Marc Elrich (D). The proposal — part of a larger $5.84 billion six-year capital improvement program that the executive is required to submit to the Montgomery County Council every two years — would represent a tripling of the expedited bus service that the county rolled out on U.S. Route 29 in 2020.

House and Senate leaders appear to be on opposite sides of the road when it comes to solving the problem of how to fund transportation projects in Maryland. Maryland faces a funding deficit of more than $3 billion over the next six years. An expected infusion of $150 million, while welcome, is viewed as a small bandage on a gaping wound. “We should solve the problem in this session this year and not leave the uncertainty sitting out there and resolve what are really important Transportation Trust Fund shortfalls and needs,” said House Appropriations Chair Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel).

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been a fundraising machine over the last year, bringing in millions of dollars for himself, the Maryland Democratic Party and President Joe Biden’s re-election effort, according to his team. Moore and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller raked in $4 million combined between their own campaign accounts and for the Maryland Democratic Party, their campaign said on Tuesday — one day before the latest state campaign finance reports are due.

A controversial bill that would have raised the base minimum wage for tipped workers in Montgomery County was withdrawn by its lead sponsor councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large) on Tuesday, but similar efforts are still underway in the Maryland General Assembly. “The action to withdraw the bills is in coordination with other regional partners who are advancing similar measures to focus on state policy to support tipped employees,” Jawando said in a statement from his office.

Late last year, the administration of Gov. Wes Moore released a plan to require the state to invest billions in climate actions and pass bold legislation to accelerate clean energy transitions and hold fossil fuel companies accountable. But as members of the General Assembly gather in Annapolis for their 90-day session, advocates and some legislators wonder if the administration has the strategy to implement Maryland’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan (CPRP).