Politics

A wistful Gov. Larry Hogan (R) gave a farewell address to Marylanders Tuesday evening, then became even more emotional as he watched the unveiling of his official portrait in the Governor’s Reception Room at the State House. Hogan’s 10-minute speech, broadcast from the Old Senate Chamber and aired on Maryland Public Television and social media platforms, contained many of the governor’s familiar boasts about policy victories and the state’s reversals of fortune during his eight-year tenure. But it was delivered with several doses of humility and wonder at the honor of serving as governor, along with abundant hope for the future.

In many state capitals, four years as a presiding officer of a legislative chamber is a pretty robust tenure. In the Maryland State House, it’s a nanosecond. House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) are entering their fourth sessions as the leaders in their respective chambers. Both replaced legendary and record-setting presiding officers: The late House Speaker Michael Busch (D) had the job for 17 years, and the late Senate President Mike Miller (D) held the gavel for 33 years. But even if Jones’ and Ferguson’s tenures seem puny in comparison, the 2023 General Assembly session marks a significant milestone for each: This is the first year of the legislative term, meaning it’s the first legislative term when the presiding officers will be fully in control of the legislature, rather than filling the remainder of their predecessors’ terms.

As the General Assembly prepares to hash out final details for legalized recreational use of cannabis in Maryland, lawmakers are learning more about the potential scale of the industry. Cannabis Public Policy Consulting, a firm based in Massachusetts that tracks and analyzes cannabis data, estimates that cannabis sales from licensed dispensaries in the state could reach $1 billion within about two years.

Maryland’s 188 lawmakers will consider thousands of bills starting Wednesday, when they return to Annapolis for their annual 90-day legislative session. Some of the bills will be minor, tweaking local hunting regulations or adjusting the membership of state boards. But others will be consequential, affecting life for Marylanders and prospects for businesses.

Baltimore Director of Public Works Jason Mitchell has resigned after less than two years on the job that included an outbreak of E. coli in the city’s drinking water supply, a state takeover of one of the city’s wastewater treatment plants and mounting criticism from members of the City Council over reduced recycling collection. The announcement came Monday, just hours after Democratic Councilmen Zeke Cohen and Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer called for Mitchell to resign if significant progress hadn’t been made toward resuming weekly recycling collection in the next eight weeks.

Three Baltimore residents are once again suing the Johns Hopkins University concerning the creation of a private, armed police force on campus. Donald Gresham, Kushan Ratnayake and Joan Floyd filed Dec. 30 with the Circuit Court of Baltimore City, asking the court to nullify the memorandum of understanding signed by Hopkins and the Baltimore Police Department on Dec. 2. The memorandum is a key document outlining the jurisdictions between the two entities and allows Hopkins to proceed with further creation of its force.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates hired two prosecutors to lead the office’s high-profile special victims and major investigations units, and brought on a third attorney to spearhead a reconfigured post-conviction team. Samantha Mildenberg, who has prosecuted gang cases at the state and federal level, will be the division chief for the city prosecutor’s major investigations and narcotics units — which target organized crime and drug distribution, respectively, Bates’ office announced.