Politics

The Anne Arundel County Council passed County Executive Steuart Pittman’s $2.16 billion budget Tuesday, with all but one member voting in favor, marking the first-time during Pittman’s tenure that a budget passed with bipartisan support. Jessica Haire, an Edgewater Republican, was the only council member to vote against the fiscal 2023 budget, which kicks in July 1. Haire is among five Republican candidates seeking to win the party’s nomination for county executive.

Small businesses in Maryland could be eligible for $25 million in new state aid. Gov. Larry Hogan announced a third round of grants through the Project Restore program as part of his remarks Tuesday at the Maryland Municipal League conference in Ocean City. “More Marylanders applied to start new businesses in 2021 than any other year in recent history,” said Hogan. The conference marked a return to the beach town for the association that represents more than 100 incorporated towns and cities across the state. Hogan has attended all of the association conferences but one in 2015, when he was undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of blood cancer.

The House voted 396-27 on Tuesday to pass a bill extending security protections to Supreme Court justices’ immediate family members. The bill — the Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022 — will now be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. It was introduced by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and passed the Senate in May. The bill has been in the spotlight following the bombshell leak of a draft majority opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday announced that $15 million in funding will be funneled to Route 90 to help relieve Maryland’s summer beach traffic. The investment will allow the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration to begin planning and designing improvements to the highway as families prepare to pile into their vehicles and head to the ocean. As summer fast approaches, Hogan also has his eyes set on reducing wait times along both the east and westbound spans of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The teachers union in Prince George’s County, Maryland, says the negotiation process for a new contract with leadership has reached an impasse, suggesting that the state’s second-largest school system hasn’t addressed the group’s pay or planning time concerns. After a Thursday meeting between the county and the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, group president Donna Christy said both sides seemed to agree that they’re at an impasse. The union, Christy said, plans to file an impasse with the Public School Labor Relations Board. Mediation will be the next step, she said. The union’s current contract is scheduled to expire June 30.

Longtime Maryland municipal employee Michael Mallinoff wants to take another ride on the Annapolis city manager merry-go-round. Mayor Gavin Buckley announced that Mallinoff was his pick for the job on Friday. Mallinoff last served as city manager from 2009 to 2013 under Democratic Mayor Josh Cohen. Since November, he’s been working under contract as the city’s director of planning and zoning. In between Annapolis gigs, he served stints in Baltimore and Charles counties.

On the day he effectively ended his bid for governor, Rushern Baker spent hours fielding phone calls from his former Democratic rivals. All nine reached out almost immediately after news broke Friday morning that he had suspended active campaigning. Most praised him for the manner in which he campaigned — and for his record of public service, which dates back nearly 30 years. Left mostly unspoken was the obvious: Now that Baker is out of the race, the Democrats still battling for their party’s nomination would all love to have his endorsement. In an interview, former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) called Baker “the most experienced executive in the whole field.” He said Baker’s endorsement would be “very significant.”