Politics

While Maryland Republicans cheered J.D. Vance on the floor of the Republican National Convention this week, their former governor and current GOP U.S. Senate candidate was back home on TV, ducking questions about Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick. “The two of us have pretty different views of the world,” Larry Hogan told a CBS interviewer.

Dozens of aging bridges in 16 states will be replaced or improved with the help of $5 billion in federal grants announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden’s administration, the latest beneficiaries of a massive infrastructure law. The projects range from coast to coast, with the largest providing an additional $1.4 billion to help replace two vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River that carry Interstate 5 traffic between Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.

As the country’s premier Republican Party event was nearing its first-night high on Monday, the party’s most successful candidate in modern Maryland politics — one whose next chapter is on the line in just a few months — was the elephant not in the room. Larry Hogan, the two-time former governor and nominee for U.S. Senate this year, was 800 miles away, making him the only major Republican candidate in a competitive Senate race not in Milwaukee for his party’s third celebration of Donald Trump atop the ticket.

Prince George’s County Council unanimously approved a rent increase cap, becoming the second county in Maryland to approve rent stabilization legislation. The bill establishes a 3% cap plus inflation, or 6%, whichever is lower. However, buildings constructed after 2000 would be exempt. District 7 Council Member Krystal Oriadha, who led the rent stabilization effort, said it is a huge step in the right direction.

The Montgomery County Council passed Tuesday new tenant safety regulations inspired by a deadly February 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex that claimed the life of 25-year-old Melanie Diaz. The legislation will require residential leases to include information related to renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems and emergency evacuation and safety plans.

Former president Donald Trump’s choice of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as the GOP’s vice-presidential nominee reflects the ascendancy of the party’s populist economic wing — and the choice is alarming traditional conservative policymakers and elite donors who opposed the pick. Vance has suggested a break with the Republican Party’s economic orthodoxy of the last several decades on a range of policy issues, including unions, antitrust, trade and taxes, even making comments that appear at odds with Trump, who already scrambled the party’s ideology.

Dori Henry, a seasoned policy and communications strategist who is leaving her post next month as chief of staff to Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D), is joining forces with Alexandra Hughes, the former chief of staff to state House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and the late Speaker Michael E. Busch (D).

Maryland paid workers over $7.9 billion in 2023, or over 10% more than employees earned in 2022. The payout equates to about 13% of the state’s $59.42 billion budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The payroll data includes the pay of all state workers including University of Maryland athletics coaches and elected officials in the General Assembly. The Baltimore Sun requested salary data from the Maryland Comptroller’s Office through the state’s Public Information Act. It includes the regular, overtime and other earnings for 146,113 entries.