Politics

A petition drive is on to expand the Baltimore County Council from seven members to eleven. Baltimore County’s Council has had just seven members since it was created in 1956 and a coalition of residents and local advocacy groups says it’s time to expand representation. The Vote4More initiative, led by county resident Linda Dorsey Walker, aims to put a measure on the November ballot to add four seats to the council, according to the group’s website.

The Maryland Senate quietly passed an amended version of Senate Bill 392, the Judicial Transparency Act of 2022, Monday evening. That bill is a top legislative priority for Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), and as originally introduced would have required a comprehensive annual report on the sentencing decisions by individual judges, including details on sentences outside of the Maryland Sentencing Guidelines.

It’s not too late to hear the candidates for governor talk about climate change at back-to-back public events this week. Maryland Matters is a co-sponsor of in-person forums on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and that will also be live-streamed. The forums will take place at the University of Maryland College Park on Tuesday evening and at Goucher College in Towson on Wednesday evening. The public is welcome to attend the events in person, though seating is limited and members of the audience will be asked to show that they are fully vaccinated.

Closing businesses deemed “public nuisances” would be easier for police under a bill to be proposed Monday by Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. Current law allows the chief of police to close a business for up to one year after two convictions associated with criminal activity on the property — such as prostitution, drug distribution or violence — in a two-year span.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot is urging legislative leaders to pass a state income tax credit for contributions to humanitarian aid for Ukranians, as more than 1 million refugees flee the country amid Russian attacks. The tax credit would be a way to incentivize further support from Marylanders for the crisis in Eastern Europe, said Franchot, a Democratic candidate for governor.

A former Maryland state delegate seeking the Republican nomination for governor has been disbarred from practicing law by a state court following a complaint by the Attorney Grievance Commission. The Maryland Court of Appeals said in its ruling Thursday that Robin Ficker has been the subject of a long history of complaints of professional misconduct that expand over three generations of the bar counsel, The Washington Post reported.

Maryland legislators have amended a bill to remove a proposed 10 p.m. curfew for all businesses on “The Block” in Baltimore, instead requiring establishments to submit security plans to the city’s Liquor License Board for approval and install surveillance cameras outside. During a Senate committee hearing Friday, the bill’s main sponsor, Senate President Bill Ferguson, said the proposed amendment to remove the mandatory curfew from Senate Bill 222 came after discussions with businesses on “The Block,” a section of East Baltimore Street and Custom House Avenue downtown with several adult entertainment establishments.

The leader of the Maryland Senate is holding out hope for passage of a tax relief package before the session ends in April. The economic strain of a conflict in Ukraine layered on inflation growing at the fastest rate in 40 years has some lawmakers thinking about pocketbook issues. And while some tax proposals are being batted around, few so far would likely bring broad-based relief. Senate President Bill Ferguson said the legislature is looking for ways to make Maryland a more tax-competitive place this year.