Politics

Qualifying employers would not be allowed to cut employees’ pay or benefits

Gov. Wes Moore’s campaign slogan is swiftly becoming part of the daily vernacular in Annapolis and beyond.

Baltimore and Maryland’s newest slate of top elected officials gathered Friday for the first time as a group to discuss their approach to fighting crime before an audience of students at Morgan State University.

The expansive legislation, which tackles a host of commerce-related issues, including safety regulations, taxes and licensing equity, comes months after voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana.

Legislative leaders have said the bill will be introduced soon — possibly Friday.

The move comes after an E. Coli outbreak last year in Baltimore’s drinking water and “catastrophic failures” at its two wastewater treatment facilities.

The governor’s proposals range from his promised community service program for young people to improving tax breaks for low-income workers and military veterans.

Gov. Wes Moore says his cabinet selections reflect his commitment to assembling a talented and diverse team. Putting those cabinet secretaries in place is the first step toward rebuilding Maryland’s executive branch workforce, Moore said.

The former executive, U.S. Army captain and Rhodes scholar invited six guests from across the state. As he tied each person’s history to his administration’s plans, he asked legislators and dignitaries to recognize each Marylander’s accomplishments.

“At a time when civic bonds are frayed, where many feel more disconnected from their neighbors than ever before, service is the antidote to the epidemic of loneliness and otherness.”

“At a time when civic bonds are frayed, where many feel more disconnected from their neighbors than ever before, service is the antidote to the epidemic of loneliness and otherness,” Moore said in his speech before lawmakers.

Gov. Wes Moore will deliver his first State of the State speech at noon Wednesday.

The new governor will make his first formal speech to a joint session of the General Assembly.

A draft proposal written by BGE calls for the city to stop charging the company franchise fees in exchange for paying as much as $124 million in system improvements during a four-year period between 2023 and 2027.

”This bill is really about modernizing what criteria are used, the terminology and what the process is for release,” said Del. David Moon, a Democrat who represents Montgomery County.

The coalition of gun safety groups has the backing of new Gov. Wes Moore and other state leaders, but gun rights groups say the law is in their favor.

The question of whether oversight of Baltimore’s water and wastewater systems — which serve Baltimore County and parts of Carroll, Howard and Harford counties — should change hands has lingered for years amid its dysfunction.

Training more nurses to perform abortions is now a step closer with a formal training program in the works, though it’s still likely months or more away.

The bill will require the governor to put $12 million for a suicide and crisis hotline into the budget in 2025; it was approved 46-0.

The nearly mile-and-a-half stretch that connects Penn Station to Washington, D.C., and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and it’s a notorious bottleneck; Amtrak says delays at the site are persistent.