Politics

An influential legislator is taking aim at what he considers “astroturf” lobbying by large government contractors. Under a measure sponsored by House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) and 14 others, companies with million-dollar state government contracts would be required to disclose contributions they make to advocacy organizations. “It’s a transparency bill that allows the public in Maryland to know whether the people advocating for major taxpayer-funded projects in their community have a financial stake in the project in question,” Luedtke told members of two House committees at a March 10 hearing.

The Maryland Senate and House of Delegates have passed conflicting legislation to ban the possession of “ghost guns,” the increasingly prevalent untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home with parts bought online, regardless of the assembler’s age or criminal history. The Senate voted 35-11 on Wednesday for a measure that would put the ban in place on March 1, 2023. The House voted 94-41 earlier this month for a bill that would make the prohibition effective two months earlier, on Jan. 1.

The prospect of paid family leave for employees in Maryland has been debated among lawmakers in Annapolis for at least a decade — a span in which working groups were formed, studies were commissioned, bills were introduced and bills failed. This year, two years into a pandemic that has exposed the fragility of the nation’s workforce, advocates believed they saw an opening.

Jon Baron, the former nonprofit executive and political novice making a longshot bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, announced Friday that Natalie Williams, a former TV journalist and communications professional from Prince George’s County, will be his running mate. Williams, 50, is currently senior director of communications and public affairs for the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, and she’s held several positions in politics, policy and civic life in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and at the national level.

Three weeks. It doesn’t sound like a whole lot of time. But under certain circumstances, a three-week delay can be agony. Three weeks: That’s how long the Maryland Court of Appeals has told us to wait for the Maryland primary elections. They were supposed to be held on June 28, and on Tuesday the court decreed that they will take place on July 19 instead. God forbid anyone should have summer vacation plans. Along with changing the primary date, the court set a new filing deadline for candidates, which had already been pushed back once, to April 15 instead of next Tuesday. So that’s two deadlines we now have to worry about on the 15th.

Key committees in the Maryland Senate and the House of Delegates moved forward with a measure that would establish a statewide paid family and medical leave program, but proposed different paths to get there. The Time to Care Act would guarantee workers 12 weeks of paid leave following childbirth or to take care of themselves or a family member experiencing serious health issues. Depending on their salary, Marylanders — who worked either part-time or full-time for at least 680 hours in the last year — would receive a partial wage replacement of between $50 and $1,000 a week.

The House chamber erupted in an emotional debate on Thursday as Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore and Harford) introduced an amendment to an anti-discrimination bill that would have prohibited public school staff from discussing sexuality and gender. “It’s pretty simple, it just says that our public schools shouldn’t teach kids [aged] four, five, six and seven about sex and gender identity,” Szeliga said.