Politics

House Democrats on Wednesday advanced their plan to raise roughly $1.3 billion through tax and fee increases, batting back opposition from Republicans and moving ahead on policies that Senate Democrats and Gov. Wes Moore have said they won’t support. The House of Delegates is expected to pass its spending and revenue plan on Thursday, paving the way for meetings next week with Senate budget negotiators to iron out differences in approach between the two chambers.

The Frederick County Council on Tuesday voted to rezone 35 acres in Ijamsville for a proposed mixed-use development with eight conditions, including a second exit and a larger buffer with the nearby Woodlands community. Knowledge Farms Partners LLC intends to build five age-restricted apartment buildings, an assisted living facility, a row of villas and multiple new commercial establishments on the site, which is just south of Urbana High School.

People like you better when they know you are leaving. That is how U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd) tells the story. “Since I’ve retired, I’ve been getting more accolades. You’re all elected officials, it’s not bad. Everybody loves you now because they know” you’re retiring, Ruppersberger said in jest from the rostrum of the House of Delegates on Wednesday.

“Crossover Day” in the Maryland General Assembly, a key deadline for legislation to be approved, passed Monday with surprisingly little drama and without the marathon floor sessions the day often requires. The House of Delegates, which came in for its first of two floor sessions at 10 a.m., finished its second just before 5 p.m. The state Senate, which gaveled in around 2:15 p.m. for its first floor session, finished its second around 8:55 p.m.

If a plan to revive Maryland’s thoroughbred racing industry by building new facilities in the state with public money and organizing a state-created racing operator actually comes to fruition, a bill will need to sprint through Annapolis over the next three weeks. During the legislation’s first hearing Tuesday before the House Ways and Means Committee, a Republican leader expressed “skepticism” about the financial future of the horse industry.

Bills that would limit how much data can be harvested from kids online passed overwhelmingly in their respective chambers in Annapolis, Maryland, but there are signs that opponents aren’t finished objecting to the measures. House and Senate bills would bar tech companies from using data to push personalized ads to children or to track them in real time. The exception would be apps that are used for navigation.

U.S. lawmakers representing Maryland secured $6 million in federal funds to assist in reconnecting west Baltimore communities with Druid Hill Park. The money awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation will go toward redesign planning for Druid Park Lake Drive, which was expanded from two lanes to four more than 60 years ago to facilitate faster travel to and from city neighborhoods.

Defining climate change generated some heat between a Republican and a Democrat at Monday night’s Baltimore County Council meeting, but not the way you might think. Republican Councilman Wade Kach, who represents northern Baltimore County, wanted to add an amendment defining climate change to routine flood ordinance. The legislation would update the county’s flood ordinance to match Maryland’s.