Politics

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.”

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Darryl Williams has issued the following statement and a letter to the Baltimore County Council following a letter that was sent calling for a new search for superintendent last week: “Earlier this week, certain members of the Baltimore County Council transmitted a letter to the Baltimore County Board of Education that, unfortunately, contained numerous inaccuracies.” “While I am not accustomed to this type of counterproductive political dialogue, I understand that we are in an election year and facts often get lost in rhetoric. With this in mind, and in order to set the record straight, I have provided the attached comprehensive response.”

Maryland will spend $28 million to study how to improve mobility in the U.S. 50/Route 301 corridor, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. announced on Friday. The “Tier 2” study will build upon a preliminary review the state concluded earlier this year. That study concluded that the best way to make crossing the Chesapeake Bay easier would be to add a third span near the existing Bay Bridge. Traffic engineers studied 14 “corridors” that ran the length of the bay before determining that Hogan’s preferred solution — a new crossing east of Annapolis — represented the best approach.