State government

City officials voiced concern about the financial impact of ending tax sales after learning that Baltimore faced a $79 million increase in education spending — an unanticipated cost that Mayor Brandon Scott likened to a ”gut punch.”

As the General Assembly prepares to adjourn at midnight Monday, lawmakers are moving forward bills that restrict concealed carry permits and tighten rules to keep guns away from kids. They’re also giving last-minute consideration to a proposal from Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates to stiffen the penalty for illegally carrying a gun.

Michael Browning had served as manager of Maryland’s largest state park for three decades before he was arrested last fall.

The measure moves prosecution authority for fatal police encounters from local state’s attorneys to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Gov. Wes Moore plans to sign the bill into law.

The cannabis reform bill making its way through the Maryland General Assembly attempts to alleviate some of the risk for banks by placing limitations on the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, which regulates banking in the state.

Survivors of abuse by Baltimore Catholic Church personnel expressed relief that report was finally public, but some were disappointed so much information had been redacted.

The vote came under special circumstances, with lawmakers suspending the rules so they could fast-track the bill on the significant day.

The report identifies 158 priests — most of them already known — within the archdiocese accused of the “sexual abuse” and “physical torture” of more than 600 victims over the past 80 years. Investigators told the court there are likely hundreds more victims.

Black people in Maryland would still be more likely to face prosecution under the state's current marijuana reform legislation, defense attorneys J. Wyndal Gordon and Warren A. Brown say.

Even running from law enforcement, Roy McGrath sought to get the last word on his criminal case.

Authorities described the encounter as an “agent-involved shooting,” and it was not immediately clear if FBI agents shot McGrath, or he shot himself.

When the General Assembly wraps up Monday and lawmakers head home, they’ll talk about their accomplishments and failures. Headline-grabbing big bills will feature in that conversation. But so will less splashy matters, like rewriting a 32-year-old law on trees.

Gov. Wes Moore tapped the decorated military leader and current assistant adjutant general to lead the state’s military reserve forces.

The ex-chief of staff for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan had been the focus of a three-week manhunt after failing to show up for his federal fraud trial.

Paul Monteiro, who was national director of AmeriCorps VISTA, will be the first person to lead the new Department of Service and Civic Innovation that Gov. Wes Moore established on his first full day in office in January. Moore hopes Monteiro will be confirmed by the Maryland Senate before the end of the General Assembly session next Monday.

Sharon Murphy, who retired as director of the veterans home in 2021, will serve as interim director while the department looks to hire someone new.

Maryland is still on track to set up a marketplace for recreational cannabis sales beginning July 1, but House and Senate lawmakers have differences to work out.

A boisterous crowd gathered at the State House to celebrate significant progress this year — a new law will expand coverage for gender-affirming care for people with Medicaid insurance — but they noted that much more work is ahead in making the state safe and inclusive for trans Marylanders.

On Thursday, delegates and senators wouldn’t meet face-to-face to hash out differences on education spending. By Friday, they’d reached a deal.

As a condition of the 43-4 confirmation vote in the Maryland Senate, lawmakers will withhold a small portion of the budget for Butler’s office until he submits reports on his progress toward reform.