Politics

For what is believed to be the first time in 40 years, the Maryland General Assembly Women’s Caucus has taken an official position to prioritize reproductive rights legislation. “That is where the fight is, and that is where the Women’s Caucus will be,” Chair Lesley Lopez (D), who represents Montgomery County in the House of Delegates, said. The caucus will back a package of four bills related to reproductive health because they “protect abortion rights, protect women, and protect Maryland.” Chief among them is a bill from House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, if approved by voters at the ballot box in 2024.

While the teaching of Black history is under fire and facing censorship in some states like Florida, two Maryland lawmakers have proposed legislation aimed at providing more federal support to promote and preserve Black history, culture and education. Rep. Kweisi Mfume and Sen. Ben Cardin, both Maryland Democrats, introduced their measures on Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month. The legislation would create a council of 12 presidential appointees to advise the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on promoting Black voices, ensuring that Black history and culture is recognized in schools, providing resources to preserve Black history, and recommending national policies that would generate improved public understanding of African American history and culture.

Maryland agriculture officials, conservation groups and producers from the state’s more than 12,000 farms are vying for their priorities to appear in this year’s federal farm bill. A behemoth package of legislation considered to be the primary vehicle for addressing agriculture issues and setting policy, the five-year farm bill expires in September. The bill authorizes billions of dollars in a dozen areas ranging from crop price supports to forestry, with most funding set aside for nutrition programs. This year, groups in Maryland will push to increase farm bill programs for smaller specialty farms – which produce crops like fruits, vegetables and tree nuts – and establish more incentives for farmers to embrace conservation practices.

Nearly two dozen Republican lawmakers on Wednesday called for state funding for a private school scholarship program to remain, proposing to use new budgetary authority to keep the program if the money was not restored. The Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today, or BOOST program, provided more than 3,000 Maryland students scholarships to attend nonpublic schools last year. The funding for the program has been cut by $2 million in Democratic Gov. Wes Moore proposed budget.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. are asking the Maryland General Assembly to change the date of the state’s 2024 primary, which is scheduled to take place on the first day of Passover next year. In separate letters Thursday to Senate President Bill Ferguson and House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the two Democrats pointed out the Democratic and Republican primaries for local, state and federal offices are slated to take place April 23, 2024, which falls during the eight-day Jewish holiday.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said his office would defend a proposed law that would make it possible for child sex abuse victims to retroactively sue their abusers and the institutions that enabled them. Brown wrote a letter to Democratic Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman Will Smith of Montgomery County stating his office’s most recent analysis of the pending Child Victims Act found the law was “not clearly unconstitutional,” and that Brown believes he could make a “good faith defense” of the bill’s legality if it’s challenged in court.

Despite renewed calls for an assault weapons ban after a string of mass shootings, prospects for passage of any new gun safety legislation in a divided Congress are poor. “There’s very little chance of any movement in the House. I don’t want to say never, because you never say never,” Tanya Schardt, senior counsel and director of state and federal policy at the Brady Campaign, told Capital News Service.