Politics

Gov. Wes Moore announced Wednesday the launch of a $20 million initiative to address child poverty in Maryland. The Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments and Households, or ENOUGH, initiative will develop solutions to an issue the Moore administration highlighted as critical last session. “By moving in partnership with local leaders and village elders, Maryland is writing a new chapter in our work to end child poverty,” Moore said in a Wednesday news release.

In a new letter, Rep. Kweisi Mfume is asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate uncovered coal trains in Baltimore City, saying his residents are tired of breathing in polluted air. This comes after several environmental groups nationwide filed a petition last year asking for more federal regulation of uncovered coal trains. Some neighbors in Curtis Bay tell me the smell and amount of dust in the air can be unbearable at times, causing some people to change their daily activities.

Members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee picked one of their own Thursday to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates. The central committee voted to forward the name of Teresa Saavedra Woorman, a 32-year-old aide to Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) with a wealth of Annapolis experience, to Gov. Wes Moore (D) for approval. Woorman prevailed over eight other Democrats who had applied for the open House seat in District 16.

Whether the federal government will pay 90% or 100% of the new Francis Scott Key Bridge — a difference that is expected to be roughly $170 million — was at the center of a discussion Wednesday in a U.S. Senate hearing. President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is up for reelection this fall, has pledged full federal support and Maryland’s congressional legislators introduced a bill in April that would completely fund the Baltimore bridge with federal money.

Maryland’s U.S. senators are continuing their push to have the federal government pay the entire cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, calling on their colleagues to pass legislation to authorize the spending. Typically in emergency response funding, the federal government will foot a significant portion of disaster relief projects, usually about 80% to 90%, with the state on the hook for the remainder.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore proposed nearly $150 million in budget cuts Wednesday, aiming to shift funds to critical health care and child care programs his administration says are key to boosting the state’s economy. The Moore-Miller administration will pitch the cuts to the state spending board for final approval next week.

A public hearing regarding the opioid epidemic, scheduled for Wednesday in Baltimore City, was cancelled, with multiple sides deflecting blame for the reason the hearing never happened. “We’re being called the overdose capital of the United States of America,” City Councilman Mark Conway, D-District 4, told 11 News. “That is unacceptable. We need to understand the problem in order to begin addressing the problem.

Political central committees in Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions are charged with filling legislative vacancies and vetting the candidates to see if they’re eligible for the offices they are seeking. Those reviews, however, do not always include scrutiny of public records — including court records. A whisper campaign against one candidate seeking to fill a House of Delegates vacancy has spotlighted the vetting procedures of state central committees charged with filling the positions.