Politics

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to enact a six-month moratorium on reviewing, processing and permitting community solar facilities on county-owned property zoned for agriculture. A sign protesting solar farms is located at the corner of Fannie Dorsey Road and Shenandoah Drive. These signs are visible all around the site and in the neighborhoods surrounding the community solar project proposed on Fannie Dorsey Road in Sykesville called “Chaberton Solar Sunshine.”

Of the many bills in this year’s legislative session set to make changes to education in Maryland, one stands out: a bill that would develop a water safety and swimming curriculum for high school-aged students. Del. Karen Toles, D-Prince George’s, is the main sponsor of HB1105, which would require the State Board of Education to establish an elective course for public school students in grades 8-12 that would teach them the basics of swimming and water safety.

The Maryland Senate voted Thursday for a measure to give the state’s attorney general independent authority to bring criminal charges against police officers after investigating deaths when officers are involved. The bill, which passed on a 27-20 vote, would expand a part of a package of police reforms approved two years ago in response to concerns about police accountability after the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. The measure now goes to the House, where a similar bill has also been filed.

Before DNA testing was used to solve rape cases, Dr. Rudiger Breitenecker began keeping samples from patients who came to Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson for treatment in the 1970s after sexual assaults. The microscope slides Breitenecker saved containing semen and bodily fluids have been used since to solve dozens of decades-old sexual assault cases. Now, Maryland lawmakers are considering legislation that would ensure biological rape evidence like Breitenecker’s slides are kept long enough to identify perpetrators.

Five state legislators from Anne Arundel County have proposed a bill to create a disaster recovery fund that they say would distribute money more quickly to local jurisdictions and impacted residents following a natural disaster. Annapolis Sen. Sarah Elfreth, the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 650, said the legislation was inspired by the response to tornadoes and floods in Annapolis and Ellicott City over the past few years.

The Maryland House of Delegates came one step closer Wednesday to passing legislation that would allow voters to constitutionally secure the right to have an abortion. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, and Democratic Senate President Bill Ferguson of Baltimore would allow Marylanders to vote during the 2024 election to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution.

After lengthy debate Tuesday, the Maryland Senate advanced a bill giving the Maryland Attorney General’s Office the power to do prosecutions of police-involved killings. Two years ago, the General Assembly created within the attorney general’s office the Independent Investigations Division, which now does the investigations into police-involved killings in Maryland.

It was a big year for environmental legislation in Annapolis in 2022, with the passage of the Climate Solutions Now Act accelerating Maryland’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. While 2023 isn’t poised to be nearly as busy for legislators on the environmental front, there are still interesting bills in play.

Maryland legislators are considering a bill that would further the state’s commitment to offshore wind, among other steps aimed at signaling its desire to be a leader in the emerging industry. The Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources Act, or POWER for short, primarily seeks to increase Maryland’s offshore wind capacity goal and directs the state to study and solicit solutions to a major issue the industry will face locally related to transmitting offshore energy to land.