Politics

Members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard testimony about a measure named to honor slain Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley on Tuesday. The Officer Keona Holley Public Safety Act, or Senate Bill 652, would make people ineligible for parole if they are convicted of conspiring to, attempting to or committing the murder of a police officer because of their role in law enforcement. “This was not a shooting that was done in the course of a crime to which Officer Holley had responded,” said Sen. Robert G. Cassilly (R-Harford), the bill’s sponsor.

A Ukrainian-born Maryland lawmaker wants more action to aid Ukraine in the fight against the Russian invasion. Del. Kirill Reznik, of District 39, was born in Kyiv in 1974. Although his family left the country when he was 4, he still feels the pain of losing a piece of his past when he sees the devastation of the war. “They are places that are part of family heritage, family stories,” said Reznik. “We’re lucky we’re not having to make the decisions people in Ukraine are: their livelihood or their life, or their family or their life, or — you know, everything they’ve known or their life.”

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby unveiled a new prosecutorial data dashboard Tuesday, touting her office’s successes over her seven-year tenure while refusing to commit to a bid for reelection. The interactive portal underscores what the two-term Democrat described as a commitment to transparency. She said the data reflects determination from her staff during a period encompassing the prosecution of police officers after the death of Freddie Gray, the ramifications from the Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal and a coronavirus pandemic that upended the courts.

The Maryland Senate passed an extensive climate change bill Monday night that would set the state on track to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2045, partly by requiring large buildings to reduce their energy usage. The Senate passed the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 in a 32-15 party-line vote, with Republicans opposed. The bill is now headed to the House of Delegates, where lawmakers have introduced their own set of companion bills instead of a single sweeping measure.

Gov. Larry Hogan says Maryland would like to keep the Washington Commanders in the state, but it will not “get in a bidding war” to build a new stadium for the NFL franchise. Hogan made the comments Tuesday in Annapolis in response to a reporter’s question at a press conference on a new workforce development initiative for state jobs. “I think [the Commanders are] using everyone back and forth as they have been for eight years. They’re negotiating, pitting everyone against each other,” said Hogan, suggesting the Commanders are setting Maryland, D.C. and Virginia against one another to get a better stadium deal.