Politics

Beneath a downpour of rain and intermittent rumbles of thunder, hundreds gathered outside Montgomery County Public School headquarters in Rockville Tuesday afternoon to protest the district’s no-opt-out policy when it comes to reading LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks to young students in the classroom. Later Tuesday afternoon, multiple residents testified about the curriculum policy during the school board’s public comment period.

Former state Del. Neil C. Parrott (R-Washington) is hoping that the third time is the charm. Parrott, the GOP nominee for Congress in the 6th District in 2020 and 2022, announced Tuesday that he has created an exploratory committee ahead of a possible bid in 2024. “My wife and are talking and praying about whether to run in the 2024 election,” Parrott said in a statement.

State employees in one agency will split more than $13 million to settle allegations of wage theft dating back to the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan (R). The settlement is part of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor into at least two agencies including the Department Public Safety and Correctional Services. The Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote on a more than $13 million settlement between the state corrections department and the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Montgomery County Council unanimously voted June 20 to cap the county’s development impact tax rate for transportation and public school improvement at 20%. The tax is placed on new development projects in the county to help provide more funding for transportation and public school improvement projects. The council was required by county law to vote on a cap for the increase after the county’s director of finance, Michael Coveyou, published new impact tax rates as of May 1. The county’s impact tax rate is adjusted yearly based on inflation, in keeping with county law.

Government officials, nonprofit leaders and entrepreneurs gathered at the University of Maryland Baltimore County last week to discuss how to uplift some of Maryland’s low-income families following a report that the COVID pandemic increased the number of households who were employed yet still struggled to meet basic needs.

A state board found no issues with closed session meetings held by Berlin officials regarding Heron Park but believes the town’s salary study should have been discussed in open session. The Open Meetings Compliance Board (OMCB) issued an opinion Friday identifying no violations with three meetings held to discuss the potential sale of Heron Park. The board did, however, state the town council violated the Open Meetings Act on March 27, 2023, when it excluded the public from discussion of a pay study that didn’t address individual employees.