State government

Gov. Wes Moore and Paul Monteiro, the newly appointed secretary of service and civic innovation, cite examples of how service to one another can improve the lives of Marylanders.

The Moores will be featured as a couple who successfully found their match. A two-minute video clip shows the Moores on a couch in the governor’s mansion, holding hands and giving advice about finding a lifetime partner.

With a Maryland Air National Guard A-10 combat aircraft as a backdrop, the governor and legislative leaders made measures official that cut military retirement taxes and help military families.

Current Maryland law says unmarried domestic partners are not entitled to each others’ assets when they die unless they have a will, and the assets are still subject to a 10% inheritance tax.

The money from the tax is earmarked to pay for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, an ambitious and expensive plan to improve public schools. Tech companies argued the tax is punitive and violates the First Amendment and laws governing e-commerce and interstate commerce.

Maryland students should graduate with knowledge about handling their personal finances, Julie Weaver, executive director of the Maryland Council on Economic Education, says.

Black residents of the Deal Island peninsula endure hardships to cling to the land where their enslaved ancestors once lived, says Rona Kobell, a Banner contributor and co-founder of the Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative, which produced the film “Eroding History.”

Exactly how many people have it and where, no one knows. Real-time data is becoming scarce.

At a bill signing ceremony this week, Gov. Wes Moore highlighted one of the measures receiving his signature: the Maryland Sign Language Interpreters Act.

Woodberry residents raised alarms over possible lead paint chips falling from the red television tower that stands high above their neighborhood nearly a year ago.

As the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, Maryland begins the Herculean task of renewing Medicaid coverage for everyone enrolled for the first time in three years.

Maryland can do more to support English learners and boost dual-language education, say representatives of an organization advocating for immigrant students and their teachers.

Polls are a snapshot of Maryland’s political opinions, but analyzing three statewide polls in the past year provides the start of a moving image of how opinions in the state are changing.

Even though the majority of Marylanders aren’t gambling on sports and don’t plan to, the 23% who do gamble would represent more than 1 million residents.

Lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates packed State House hallways waiting for their turn to witness the governor autograph some of the 2023 General Assembly’s most progressive legislation and pose for pictures while he was signing.

With U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin opting not to run for reelection in 2024, there’s a wide-open race to replace him. We’re tracking who’s in, who’s out and who’s considering launching a campaign.

One hundred days into his term as governor, 17% of Marylanders gave strong approval to Moore’s job performance while 36% approved. A total of 26% disapproved or strongly disapproved, with 20% unsure of their view of the new Democratic governor.

Almost no one thinks about me until it’s time. Taxes and Death: always an afterthought. But it’s budget season in Maryland and beyond, when cities, counties and even those doofuses in Washington are fighting over me and my sister, Spend. So it’s a good time to catch up. You mortals have to deal with me sooner or later. I am eternal.

Nearly half of Marylanders surveyed by Goucher College Poll in partnership with The Baltimore Banner said things in Maryland are heading in the right direction, while 42% said things are on the wrong track. About 10% weren’t sure.

The survey of 800 Maryland adults was conducted by landline and cellphone from April 18 to April 23, 2023. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.