Familiar names arrive in 'green bag'
State Appointments Secretary Tisha Edwards delivers more than 200 state board and commissions nominations to Senate President Bill Ferguson in what is known as "Green Bag" appointments day. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
A former legislator expelled from the Senate by his colleagues and a former Baltimore City Council president turned out by voters are among more than 200 appointments sent by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to the Maryland Senate on Tuesday.
The tranche of third-year appointments are part of what is known as the 'Green Bag' tradition, when the names of nominees to 97 state boards and commissions were delivered to the Senate in a green leather pouch by Appointments Secretary Tisha Edwards.
Included on that list is Larry Young who was nominated to a vacancy on the Maryland Automobile Insurance Board of Trustees. If confirmed, Young would earn more than $20,000 annually as a board member.
Young served a decade in the Senate before being expelled in 1998 after an ethics investigation. He was later acquitted in a criminal trial and Young, 75, is now a morning talk show host on WOLB in Baltimore.
Former Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby was nominated to a position on the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Commission. He served three years in the House of Delegates before being elected council president in 2020. Mosby, now 45, was defeated in the 2024 Baltimore City Democratic primary election.
The governor also reappointed Yaakov 'Jake' Weissmann to the Maryland State Board of Elections. The head of government relations for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and former chief of staff to Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) was first appointed in 2023.
Linda Lamone, the former long-time state elections administrator, was nominated as an attorney member of the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities. Lamone served on the state's Attorney Grievance Commission for 30 years before leaving last year. She chaired that panel for 15 years.
All of the appointments must be confirmed by the Maryland Senate. Many will take part in hearings before the Senate Executive Nominations Committee.
Edwards, who delivered the nominations, told the Senate that the more than 200 nominees 'are not only high-caliber individuals but are representative of the rich diversity of the state of Maryland.'
Two counties — Baltimore and Montgomery — accounted for nearly 30% of all the appointments. More than two dozen appointees live in Baltimore City, while Moore appointed 22 residents each from Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties.
Those five jurisdictions, which make up more than 66% of the state's population in the 2020 Census, accounted for 63% of all appointments.
The aggregate is slightly deceiving.
For example, Anne Arundel County, which makes up about 9.5% of the state's population, accounted for 11.6% of all appointments in the Green Bag.
Baltimore City, which is 9.48% of the state's total population, accounted for nearly 12.6% of all appointments.
The state's two largest jurisdictions by population — Prince George's and Montgomery counties — underperformed on appointments.
Residents of Montgomery County accounted for 14.5% of all appointments. More than 18% of the state's population live in that county.
Similarly, more than 11.6% of all appointments came from Prince George's County. More than 15% of the state's population live in that county.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
Activists shut out of Sacramento immigration hearings following ICE detainment
There was pushback outside the federal building in Sacramento on Thursday as members of a local activist group say they were prohibited from attending a scheduled immigration hearing that is typically open to the public. The group, NorCal Resist, said some of their volunteers watched as ICE agents detained an immigrant who was there for an appointment. NorCal Resist volunteers say they often accompany immigrants to appointments to observe, document, and support them through their proceedings. But on Thursday, many activists were left outside as the federal building went on lockdown for several hours after the man was detained, and only those with appointments and employees were allowed in, according to CapRadio. "It's a public government building that we have every right to be in," said Giselle Garcia, a volunteer with NorCal Resist. "This is a gross violation of the law that they're doing here." Some activists stayed there through the afternoon, with one activist describing their interaction first-hand to CBS News Sacramento. "It was alarming. There was an armed man who stood in front of me, and I just have a little poster board sign, and there were agents having their faces covered," the protester, who asked not to be named, said. Shortly after 4 p.m., CBS Sacramento saw a caravan of vehicles leaving the federal building, led by a van and unmarked government vehicles. Around half a dozen ICE agents, mostly in masks, exited a gate at the federal building as the vehicles left. ICE has not confirmed the details of its activity in Sacramento. Democratic Congressman Ami Bera, who represents Sacramento County, said President Trump's immigration policies are "creating a culture of fear in our immigrant communities." "We'll support you if you want to go after criminals, but the folks that are not a threat to our community, let's figure out a better way to address that," Bera told CBS Sacramento. Bera told CBS Sacramento that Democrats and Republicans would need to find common ground "to ease tensions in this country." "We're going to have to listen to one another," Bera said. "I want us to come together as a country, so let's do it." Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley spoke to media members over Zoom on Thursday and said that California and the City of Los Angeles have each passed policies that "have encouraged lawlessness" and "a breakdown of order." "Unfortunately, we had political leaders as well who added fuel to that fire with irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric," Kiley said.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US judge blocks Trump administration from overhauling federal elections
By Nate Raymond BOSTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from implementing parts of his sweeping executive order overhauling federal elections, including by requiring voters to prove they are U.S. citizens and barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston issued a preliminary injunction at the behest of 19 Democratic-led states who argued that the president lacked the authority to mandate changes to federal elections and the states' voting procedures. The lawsuit is one of several across the nation challenging Trump's March 25 executive order, which he signed after years of raising doubts about the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and falsely claiming that his 2020 loss to Democratic former President Joe Biden resulted from widespread voter fraud. Part of Trump's order has already been blocked by a federal judge in Washington who in April prevented the administration from enforcing provisions requiring changes to the voter registration form and for federal election officials to assess whether people who are registering to vote are citizens. But that ruling was narrower than the one issued by Casper, who not only faulted the citizenship-proof provisions of Trump's order but also the part barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said, "The text of the Election Day statutes require only that all votes are cast by Election Day, not that they are received by that date."
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Begich joins U.S. House Republicans in voting to claw back public broadcasting money
Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, speaks to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. At background are Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak (left) and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham (right). (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon) Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, joined congressional Republicans in a 214-212 vote Thursday to claw back $1.1 billion in previously approved federal funding for public broadcasting, including tens of millions of dollars intended for radio and TV stations in Alaska. The clawback, formally known as a rescission vote, was requested by President Donald Trump and does not take effect unless also approved by the U.S. Senate within 45 days. The rescission would be enormously significant for Alaska's public broadcasters, particularly those in rural Alaska. High Country News has reported that many of Alaska's rural public radio stations are heavily dependent upon funding from the federal government. A rescission would be even more significant than a budget cut, because it would instantly affect funding that has already been approved and included in local budgets. If Congress were to cut budgets going forward, stations might have at least some time to adapt. Stations on St. Paul Island, in Unalakleet, Sand Point and Talkeetna are among those that receive more than 70% of their funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the federally funded agency targeted by Thursday's vote. Stations in Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg and Haines are among those that receive at least a third of their support from the CPB. At KUCB-FM in Unalaska, the station would instantly lose nearly half of its funding and would have to eliminate original programming. The same would take place at KYUK-FM in Bethel, which stands to lose almost 70% of its revenue. On June 6, Alaska Public Media published a listing of knock-on effects, including the loss of the only local reporters in many rural parts of the state. Even in the state's urban centers, the funding loss would have devastating effects. KNBA-FM in Anchorage could have to stop production of National Native News and Native America Calling, two nationally syndicated programs that broadcast Alaska Native and American Indian news. In Juneau, the loss of funding would affect Gavel Alaska, the public broadcasts that cover legislative hearings in the state Capitol and elsewhere. Begich, in a written statement, said the rescissions package is 'a necessary step for restoring fiscal responsibility in our nation.' During his election campaign last year, Alaska's lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives said reducing the national deficit was a priority. He recently voted for a bill that increases the national debt by an estimated $2.4 trillion. In Thursday's statement, Begich said that 'while rural communities have in the past been indirectly supported through state-sponsored media, we must acknowledge how far we have come in terms of connectivity since the birth of radio more than 120 years ago. Alaskan residents have embraced today's pervasive cellular, satellite, and wireline technologies, connecting rural communities to critical information and resources in rich and compelling ways. Importantly, however, emergency management funding from these budgets that is directed to rural communities has been preserved.' In addition to the impact on public broadcasters, the rescissions package eliminates billions of dollars in foreign aid. 'This rescissions package primarily targets ideologically-shaped foreign spending at USAID. Under both the Obama and Biden Administrations, USAID funding was misused to promote political and socially left policies abroad. This package helps refocus our support in ways that are consistent with America's core values, rather than promote the agendas of international bureaucracies and ideological NGOs,' Begich wrote. 'America has been built on principles of freedom of expression, self-determination, sovereignty, personal responsibility, and limited government. This package supports those values by rescinding $9.4 billion from programs that do not reflect the will of the taxpaying public,' his statement said. A poll commissioned by PBS earlier this year found that 65% of the public believes the public broadcaster is either adequately funded or underfunded. In the Senate, a simple majority vote will be needed to approve the rescissions package. Republicans occupy 53 seats in that chamber and Vice President J.D. Vance would cast any tiebreaking vote, meaning that four Republicans would have to oppose the funding reduction for it to fail. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has said she supports funding public broadcasting. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, while critical of NPR, has supported public broadcasting, particularly in rural Alaska. Trump has said that the rescissions request is the first of several that the White House budget office plans to submit. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
