Politics

Baltimore County is proposing a bill to ban plastic bags, following similar legislation passed in Howard County and Baltimore City. Under the legislation, people would have to bring their own bags or be charged by retailers for bags. The Bring Your Own Bag Act hopes to address trash buildup across the county and in its streams. The act was introduced by Councilman Izzy Patoka.

President Joe Biden visited a dilapidated bridge connecting Ohio and Kentucky to talk up the virtues of bipartisanship with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday while at the same time blasting House Republicans for an “embarrassing” scene of disarray that has kept the chamber from organizing itself. The Democratic president’s trip to the Brent Spence Bridge, which is getting a federal facelift, came as Washington is gripped by the GOP’s inability to unify behind a candidate for House speaker. Biden, as he left the White House, said the chaos was “not a good look” for the country. The election of a speaker is required before House members can be sworn in for the new congressional session.

Longtime defense lawyer Ivan Bates was sworn in Tuesday as Baltimore’s top prosecutor, pledging that the city State’s Attorney’s Office’s first new administration in eight years would reform the city’s violent crime fight. Bates, who won the Democratic primary in July and ran uncontested in November’s general election, assumes the post from Marilyn Mosby, who served two, four-year terms as state’s attorney. He distinguished himself from his predecessor with some of his first words in office, proclaiming during his inaugural address that his assistant state’s attorneys would resume prosecuting the low-level offenses Mosby stopped taking to court. Bates also touted a tough stance on illegal guns, saying he would bring in attorney reinforcements to an office battered by attrition.

In a break with tradition, Julian Jones Jr. was reelected as Baltimore County Council chair for the fourth time in five years and will serve a third consecutive term as chair, the first in county history. It will be his fourth time in five years serving as County Council leader. Council members elected Jones unanimously Tuesday evening at their first meeting of the year. Jones, who was last elected chair in January 2022, said in an interview Tuesday morning that he expected to win reelection. Typically, the chair is rotated every year among members of the council’s majority party, though previous members have served two terms as chair before. Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on the council, including Jones, a Democrat who represents the predominantly Black 4th District and who is the first Black member to lead the council.

Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) is having one. So is state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). So are all four standing committee chairs in the Senate and four of the six committee chairs in the House of Delegates. So, for good measure, are Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) and Comptroller-elect Brooke Lierman (D). With a three-month ban on political fundraising set to begin for state officeholders at high noon on Jan. 11, the exact moment that the 90-day General Assembly session gavels in, a weeklong frenzy of post-New Year’s Day fundraisers, one of the most unsavory traditions in Maryland politics, is set to begin. At least 45 state lawmakers will be looking to vacuum up campaign cash in the days leading up to the session.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland was one of 20 Republicans who voted Tuesday to deny the speakership of the U.S. House of Representatives to Kevin McCarthy, leaving the body temporarily unable to pass bills or swear in members. Voting by all of the chamber’s 434 members present left McCarthy well short of a victory during three rounds. Harris, a member of the Freedom Caucus — the House’s farthest-right voting bloc — and 19 other Republicans refused to give the California representative their support during the third and final vote before the House adjourned until noon Wednesday.