Latest news with #BlueprintforMaryland'sFuture
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Liberals missed the boat on school spending accountability; Maryland aims to get on board
Baltimore City pre-K instructor Berol Dewdney, the 2022-2023 Maryland teacher of the year, works with her students. (Photo by Shannon Clark/Capital News Service) We liberals have failed to learn the lesson that more money isn't enough for schoolchildren to succeed. We must pay equal attention to accountability for how efficiently and effectively the money is spent. Liberals' failure goes back about 50 years when federal funds started to flow, particularly to assist low-income students and students with disabilities. The money came but the expected results didn't. Students made little progress, which is what happens when accountability is absent from school. Nationally, the message has still not sunk in. A milestone in the retreat from accountability was Congress's revocation of the tough requirements in the landmark No Child Left Behind law. Instead of good faith efforts to raise their standards, state and local districts lobbied the Congress, fiercely and successfully, to let them off the hook. In NCLB's place, Congress, with liberal backing, passed the Every Student Succeeds Act that is widely considered 'the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.' Student progress has declined. And to make things worse, Trump wants to eliminate the federal role altogether. Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. Which brings us back to the reason for NCLB in the first place: State and local school systems were defaulting on their duty to ensure accountability then, and they're still doing it now. Summarizing the problem, eminent policy analyst Chester E. Finn, Jr. writes that, 'The country's multi-decade commitment to results-based accountability has badly eroded and may not be recoverable.' Finn was an influential member of the Kirwan Commission which was boldly determined to buck the tide. The commission drafted the Blueprint for Maryland's Future accountability scheme. It's anchored in the Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board, a national model for holding state and local educators responsible for how well funds are spent and how well students are achieving. The Blueprint includes intricate accountability measures, among them specific outcomes to be achieved, data collection, frequent reports, and evaluation. It's a giant leap forward. Still, it has a distance to go. For starters, accountability is undermined if state standards aren't genuinely high. Yet, many states are doing the opposite and lowering the bar instead of raising it. In contrast, the Blueprint calls for career and college standards to be raised, and that's in progress. Fortunately, our state schools superintendent is doing all she can: A national article reported that 'Maryland's new education chief, Carey Wright, an old-school champion of rigorous standards, is pushing back against efforts in other states to boost test scores by essentially lowering their expectations of students.' Also, accountability suffers when test scores are inflated by easier questions and grading policies. The result of lower standards and easier tests is the national scandal of grade inflation. Parents are deceived into thinking their children are succeeding when, in what's known as 'social promotion,' many are passed from grade to grade despite being far below meeting grade-level standards. One further note. Though the connection is not readily visible, the inadequate funding of the Blueprint (which is now well recognized) makes it hard to hold state and local educators completely responsible for student outcomes. When students don't succeed, how much is attributable to poor funding and how much to poor management? In any event, school systems must not be allowed to evade accountability. They must be held completely responsible for whether there are maximum returns on available resources. The Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board is supposed to be the primary guardian of rigorous accountability. However, while the AIB has done much excellent work, it's way overworked and has neglected what should be its core function: evaluation that is the ultimate measure of accountability. Unless the AIB steps up on evaluation, the Blueprint's promise of accountability probably will be broken. And Maryland will lose the chance to be a national model and steer the boat of accountability in the right direction. Our schoolchildren will suffer. Let's not let that happen.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Agencies That Oversee Maryland School Reform Agree to Clarify Roles
This article was originally published in Maryland Matters. Local school systems straining to comply with the state's sweeping Blueprint for Maryland's Future have had to report to both the Maryland Department of Education and the Blueprint's Accountability and Implementation Board, a setup creating confusion 'since the get-go.' Now, more than three years into the process, the two agencies said they are working on a memorandum of understanding that could make things a bit smoother for all concerned. Alex Reese, chief of staff with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), did not tell the state Board of Education on Thursday how long it would take to finalize an agreement, but he said a memorandum is in the works. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter State law requires the seven-member AIB to oversee the 10-year plan and approve any Blueprint documents submitted by the state's 24 school systems and other state agencies that craft elements of the Blueprint. The law also requires the department to provide technical assistance and lend expertise on education policy. The AIB and state Board of Education also hold occasional joint meetings and approve certain policies associated with the multibillion-dollar Blueprint plan. Reese said 'MSDE will be fully owning Blueprint implementation. We feel good about that as practitioners. We really do feel like we possess that expertise to be able to be poised to fully implement the Blueprint.' An AIB spokesperson confirmed in an email Thursday evening an agreement is being worked on with the department. 'AIB and MSDE attorneys are working together on an MOU [memorandum of understanding] relating to the agencies' respective roles and duties,' the spokesperson said. 'There is not currently a timeline confirmed for finalizing it. Because it is an MOU directly between the AIB and MSDE, there would be no need for General Assembly approval,' the email said. In a quick summation to the state board Thursday, Reese said certain processes will remain the same such as the Blueprint board providing instructions to school systems on what is required in each Blueprint plan. It will continue 'interagency collaboration' with agencies such as the state Higher Education Commission, which focuses on two of the Blueprint's five pillars, or priorities – hiring and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers, and preparing students for college and technical careers. The news was welcomed by school leaders, educators and advocates who have expressed frustration over the process of implementing the comprehensive education reform plan. 'One of the biggest complaints, if not the biggest, has been the lack of clarity and final guidance and where we get questions answered. We've got to run every decision by both entities [MSDE and AIB],' said Mary Pat Fannon, executive director of the Public School Superintendents' Association of Maryland. The association released a 12-page document in December that outlined proposals to help improve the plan. One of those recommendations was clearing up the relationship between the two agencies. 'Restructuring and clarifying the relationship of the MSDE and AIB would be very beneficial in the implementation of the Blueprint. This change would clarify roles and responsibilities, and establish clear guidance to the LEAs [local education agencies, or school systems] that they are governed by the procedures and processes promulgated by the MSDE and the State Board,' the December report said. 'Somebody's got to be the point. Somebody's got to be the team captain on certain things,' Fannon said. 'Otherwise, it's just completely frustrating.' 'We are happy they are doing this. This is all going to help in implementation when these guys are 100% clear with us,' Fannon said of the work on an MOU. Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore) was also pleased by the discussions, which she said would help improve the process at the local and state levels. But the senator hopes an agreement can be reached before the 2025-26 school year begins in the fall. 'I would like to think they would make every effort to use the time between now and [when] school starts to give as much clarity to the roles and responsibilities, since it will only have a positive impact at the local level,' Carozza said. 'That would be my expectation to keep that on track and to keep it moving.' Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Annapolis policymakers must be more class conscious
Class size matters, but state administrators and lawmakers have paid little attention to the issue, writes Kalman Hettleman. ( photo by smolaw11) Here's an oddity. For all that has been said about the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, there has been hardly a word about class size. The subject has not even been debated. That's a shocker. Common sense supports lower class sizes: The fewer the students in class, the more attention teachers can pay to individual student needs. Teachers almost unanimously think 'smaller classes would strongly boost student learning.' So why the omission in the Blueprint? For one thing, the Kirwan Commission ducked the issue, largely under the influence of its chief consultant who didn't think class size matters much if at all. For another, for decades, the importance of class size has been a raging battleground between liberals on one side (it matters) and conservatives on the other (it's a poor use or waste altogether of scarce funds). The controversy also endures because research is mixed. One summary of the research concludes 'Students often do better in smaller classes. But there's no agreement on exactly how much better, and it remains an open question whether or not class reduction is a particularly good use of funds that could go elsewhere.' The uncertainty is not surprising, given the many possible variations of the policies that are being researched. For example, class sizes may differ by the actual class-size limit, by grade level, and by targeted student population (usually students who are of color and low-income and in early grades). Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. Still, there is clear evidence behind selective limits on class size. Northwestern University economist Diane Schanzenbach sums it up: 'The payoff from class-size reduction is greater for low-income and minority children, while any increases in class size will likely be most harmful to these populations.' Smaller classes in the early grades, in particular, matter a lot. That's the state of the research, but what's going on with state and local policies that govern class size? According to a survey by the National Council on Teacher Quality, 90% of local school districts have class-size limits, 'with state policy playing a direct role.' A majority of states have such policies; however, they're all over the map in their exact requirements. Regrettably, Maryland is one of the states without any kind of statewide class-size policy. We have regulations on staffing ratios in child care settings, but no statewide law imposing hard caps on pre-K to 12 classrooms. In the absence of a statewide policy, local school districts vary widely in their approaches. Unfortunately, there is no summary of the different local policies or reports on whether class-size policies are being implemented with fidelity. The most common argument against class-size reductions is the shortage of teachers. No doubt shortages are severe, and in the past session of the General Assembly, Gov. Wes Moore blamed teacher shortages for his attempt to slash funds in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future intended to hire more teachers for 'collaborative time' — to reduce the number of hours teachers spend teaching the whole class, allowing more time planning and tutoring. (His proposals were partially adopted – causing the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been redirected to fill big holes in funding throughout the Blueprint.) Moreover, teacher shortages could be significantly reduced by recruiting more teacher who only tutor small groups of students. Many teachers would be attracted by the chance to be full- or part-time tutors, rather than regular classroom teachers. One other fly in the class-size worthy of mention. Champions of smaller classes must overcome the frequent assertions by former U. S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and others that it's better to have a great teacher than a small class. But that's a generalization that hides the reality that some class sizes are now huge, often as high as 35 students; and classes with many low-performing students, especially in the early grades, must have low teacher-to-student ratios to meet student needs. What should Maryland do? End the long failure to study and debate a statewide class-size policy. Let voices on all sides of the debate be heard. Join most other states in allowing union bargaining over class size. According to the Maryland State Education Association, we are one of only nine states where class size is not negotiable at the bargaining table. MSEA has tried without success to get the General Assembly to change this. Focus on class sizes in the pivotal kindergarten to third grades. Fill up and speed up the teacher pipeline through incentives and focusing on tutor recruitment. Enforce existing and future class-size requirements. Too often, the laws are 'policy without consequences' because of non-compliance by school districts. If there's a political will to reduce class sizes, there's a way. Policymakers should follow the research and selectively lower class sizes based on evidence of where there will be maximum payoff.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
College isn't for everyone. Good pathways to good jobs are good options
Career and technical education may be the most important part of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, writes Kalman Hettleman, but also the most-overlooked. (Photo by Getty Images) WARNING: This column may be hazardous to the comfort level of many readers. It's easy to get lost in the bureaucratic weeds of the many agencies at the center of the world of Career and Technical Education (CTE), as I have in my research. Still, please give the column a try. We must struggle to understand the serious growing pains that threaten CTE's success. The Career and Technical Education (CTE) provisions in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future are, arguably, the most important but most neglected part of the landmark legislation. They are intended to provide optional pathways for students to be well-prepared for well-paying jobs as well as for college. The focus is on Apprenticeships and Career Counseling. And expanding them should be a slam dunk. No one's against CTE, not even Trump. Students want good jobs and employers want skilled workers, and the Blueprint goes all out to connect them. Unfortunately, implementation of Apprenticeships and Career Counseling is moving more slowly than it should. And regrettably, the General Assembly did little about it, with two exceptions noted later. The CTE program can't succeed without two major improvements. One is to simplify and strengthen lines of authority and accountability among the incredible number of bureaucracies that populate the CTE universe. The second is lack of resources. Understand first that the CTE goals are extremely ambitious: Apprenticeships. By school year 2030-31, 45% of public graduates should complete the high school portion of a registered apprenticeship or other work credential. However, compare the 45% goal with the fact that in 2021 less than 15% completed the requirements. At the same time, the Apprenticeship program is saddled with problems. Among them: not enough employers; not enough funding; administrative hurdles within school systems; and interagency stumbling blocks. Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@ We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. Lawmakers this year did provide $5 million additional funding per year for two years, but the administrative hurdles remain. Career Counseling. The Blueprint requires every middle and high school student to receive annually individualized career counseling about job pathways. But here too, daunting obstacles stand in the way of a sky-high goal. There is tension and confusion in the relative roles of school systems and workforce development boards under the state Department of Labor. Also, the goal of annual individualized counseling is impossible given the woefully limited funds to hire counselors. (Notwithstanding that the General Assembly extended current funding for two years.) An idea, advanced by Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George's), is to amend the Blueprint to follow the Swiss model. It provides middle school students with broad exposure but not, as with high school students, individualized guidance. (Rosapepe's opinions deserve attention. He is the most knowledgeable and dogged voice in Annapolis for CTE.) The good news is that the involved agencies recognize the problems in the Career Counseling program. The bad news is that there are way too many such agencies. The list includes the Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), the state education department (MSDE), local school systems, state and local workforce development boards, the state CTE Committee and Apprenticeship 2030 Commission, and community colleges. That is a helluva lot of cooks in the CTE kitchen. The Kirwan Commission intended the CTE Committee under the Governor's Workforce Development Board to be the executive chef. Its position, influenced by Rosapepe, was that workforce development boards know infinitely more about job markets than school systems; also implicit was a lack of confidence in the competence of MSDE and local school systems. But, in my view, Apprenticeships and Career Counseling are markedly different in how school systems relate to them. Apprenticeship interactions with employers are beyond the normal orbit of school systems; counseling is a routine school function, and should be entrusted to schools, as advocated by the Public School Superintendents' Association. The key is for MSDE to develop smart standards, provide strong technical assistance and conduct tough monitoring, including assessing whether there is sufficient collaboration between school systems and workforce development boards. Rosapepe disagrees. He believes that workforce boards will be stronger and more accountable managers. What isn't in dispute is that implementation is falling far short. The MSDE 2024 Blueprint Implementation Plan reveals that CTE is generally lagging. The CTE Committee acknowledges 'it will take several years of building programming and capacity.' Finally, not to pile on but there is a big underlying and sometimes imperceptible hurdle: The widespread perception that CTE is a dumping ground for poorly performing students. John McWhorter, a regular New York Times op-ed contributor, has written: 'The idea that in our society the ordinary trajectory after high school is to attend another four years of school has become arbitrary, purposeless and even absurd.' Nonetheless, the absurdity is drummed into the heads of parents, students, and even some educators. Bravo readers (good job!) if you've managed to endure this foray into the deep weeds of CTE. It's worth it: CTE is indispensable to the future of large numbers of our students, and much more must be urgently done to raise awareness and political support. Its potential, envisioned in the Blueprint, is at great risk.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sine Done: On final day of session, lawmakers toggle between the serious and the silly
Confetti and balloons drop on Senate Reading Clerk Andrea Jones, marking the end of the 2025 General Assembly session. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) The governor was disappointed, some of the biggest bills got put off to the last day, last-minute wrangling doomed some bills and saved some others, and it all ended at midnight with balloons and confetti raining down from the galleries to mark the end of 90 days of work. In other words, just another Sine Die. It was a final day that proceeded at the usual hectic pace but with little of the usual drama. When lawmakers convened on Jan. 8, the big issues were the state's budget utility reform and possible changes to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, the state's sweeping education reform plan. When they adjourned Monday, those issues were still hanging around but passed with little fuss beyond Republican carping. Scores of low-profile bills were pushed across the finish line, while scores more quietly died. Some of the biggest attention went toward some of the least-consequential bills, to make chromite the official state mineral and to make orange crush the official state cocktail. And while adjourning 'sine die' — literally, without day — means eight to nine months of peace, lawmakers could find themselves back in Annapolis in a matter of months coping with the impact of federal cuts on the state budget they just spent three months crafting. Here, in no particular order, are the moments and the measures that made for Sine Die 2025. Balloons and confetti had barely settled on the floors of the House and Senate when Gov. Wes Moore (D) let it be known that he did not get everything he had hoped for this year, after two years of bragging about going '10 for 10' on his legislative agenda. In a statement posted at 12:06 a.m., Moore praised efforts to reform the state tax code — an effort that looked very different from the one he proposed — and the Blueprint for Maryland's Future (which the House remade in its image). But he pointed out that the Democratic majority just did not do enough. 'We also introduced legislation centered on addressing the issues that Marylanders tell me they care about the most — from housing to small business growth to energy rates,' Moore said in his statement. 'Yet, the General Assembly did not pass our bill that confronted, head-on, the challenge of producing more affordable housing in our state. The General Assembly also missed an opportunity to make Maryland a more attractive destination for businesses. And the General Assembly failed to make nuclear energy a core part of the state's clean energy strategy, so we could add more capacity to Maryland's energy portfolio.' The governor skipped the final-day visits to the House and Senate that he made in his first two years in office. In a mid-afternoon meeting with reporters, he gave no hint of his sour view of the General Assembly's performance, saying instead that his administration focused on building strong relationships with lawmakers. 'I don't think there's anyone who could argue that this is the administration that doesn't just believe in coalition building, but the way that we coalition-build, in comparison to what has happened before in the state of Maryland, that it's been a night and day shift,' Moore told reporters Monday afternoon. It remains to be seen how Moore will address his concerns. In recent weeks, he has hinted at the potential of using his veto pen. On Monday night, Moore repeated those nonspecific warnings. 'I wanted to make sure that we were making Maryland more economically competitive, making us more business friendly, and continue the trend that we're seeing when new business starts,' Moore told reporters. 'I was not going to deal with other things that I felt contradicted that, and we had to make sure we are investing in our people, and so that is going to be the lens that I started the session with.' And, he said, that would be the lens through which he viewed each bill sent to him. 'If things violate or do not make sense with that in the context of what's happening right now, especially what's happened with the federal government, it will not get my signature,' Moore said. It was never certain, but after several years of trying, lawmakers were able to push through reforms to the state's parole system Monday for incarcerated individuals who are ill or aging. Passage came after the House and Senate agreed to changes that make House Bill 1123, sponsored by Del. J. Sandy Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), and Senate Bill 181, sponsored by Sen Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), sync. The amendments that would reform the medical and geriatric parole process include raising the age from 60 to 65 for incarcerated individuals to seek parole, and increasing the time served from minimum of 15 years to a minimum of 20. The final version of the bills also added a five-year pause between petitions for parole from those incarcerated. Minor technical amendments included changing the title from 'medical and elder' to 'medical and geriatric.' 'Sen. Shelly Hettleman deserves so many props on this. I just came in and carried the football,' said Bartlett, who served as the lead sponsor on this measure for the past two years. 'This is going to help so many people.' This was the fourth year Hettleman worked on legislation to reform the medical and geriatric parole process. She said the legislation could help hundreds of people. 'These are people really ill and people who are much older, who have served their time,' she said. 'I do think it will make substantial, important reforms that are long overdue.' The bills, if signed by the governor, would take effect Oct. 1. The bill formerly known as the governor's Housing for Jobs Act was amended to unrecognizability. But despite efforts from lawmakers, county officials and other interested parties to build a bill that would help expedite housing development in certain areas without stepping over local zoning authority, those challenges could not be surmounted before the clock struck midnithg Monday. Upon introduction in January, House Bill 503 was framed as an expansion of Moore's housing package from last year. The original version aimed to expedite housing development by requiring counties to automatically approve most qualifying housig project requests in areas where the state determined there was an imbalance between housing and jobs. The House stripped that bill in its entirety and replaced it with all new language that would have prompted the Department of Housing and Community Development to set 10-year housing targets for the state, its counties and every municipality, and report on their progress annually. But the House and Senate appeared to disagree on language that would have granted 'vesting rights' so that a housing developer with an approved project proposal would retain the right to develop the property. The bill got stuck in the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee, where it stayed until time ran out, killing the bill for session. What if House Democrats held a meeting with reporters and Republicans showed up? It's no longer a hypothetical question: It's just what happened in the waning hours of the 2025 session when House Majority Leader David Moon (D-Montgomery) and House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George's) met with reporters outside a State House press room to talk about the 90-day legislative season. During that conversation, Moon and Lewis were asked about criticisms leveled by Republicans that conservative voices were being minimized and cut off during debates by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County). 'I actually think it's a mischaracterization to say that there's been complaints from the Republicans about this,' Moon said. 'I think there's been complaints on the floor from the same very small handful of Republicans in the Maryland House that are specifically attempting to emulate their chaos-making friends down on Capitol Hill.' Moon's comments were a reference to the Freedom Caucus, a hard-right subgroup of congressional Republicans, that some have dubbed the 'Chaos Caucus.' The moniker was adopted by some in Annapolis — a pejorative to describe the seven-member Republican House faction that was officially recognized earlier this year as the state-level version of the Freedom Caucus. As if on cue, Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County), vice chair of the House Freedom Caucus, arrived and staked out a position in a doorway near Lewis and Moon. Soon, three other members of the newly formed subgroup of the House Republican Caucus arrived and listened from a stairwell. And when Lewis and Moon left, the Freedom Caucus swooped in to the cameras and microphones. Szeliga, with Dels. Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary's), Mark N. Fisher (R-Calvert) and Brian Chisholm (R-Anne Arundel), used the opportunity to offer their views on the session. 'This is Maryland's largest tax increase we've ever had in our state's history,' Morgan, the caucus chair, said of the budget lawmakers passed earlier in the day. 'Neighboring states are not in that position. These are Maryland's policies coming home to roost.' Members went on to offer opposing views on a number of other policies. 'We have the highest energy prices in the entire region. Did Annapolis Democrats solve that problem? No, they didn't,' Fisher told reporters. 'Did they solve the problem of making Maryland more business friendly? Did Gov. Moore's policies get through to make Maryland more business friendly? No, they didn't.' Members of the caucus spoke to reporters for nearly 10 minutes. And apparently reporters do not have to wait for the next State House mash-up press conference. 'When we started this at the beginning of the session, we said we want to help you guys,' Morgan told reporters. 'We want a good relationship and reboot our relationship with the media.' A bill from the governor (House Bill 505) that would have allowed nuclear energy to count toward the state's clean energy goals also failed to pass both chambers before midnight, after passing the House of Delegates in April. Lawmakers stripped the bill for parts, however, adding provisions procuring new nuclear energy for Maryland into the larger Next Generation Energy Act, sponsored by House and Senate leadership. As amended, the bill would have raised the state's renewable energy targets, but allowed nuclear to fulfill the goals. In a statement Monday night, Moore bemoaned that the 'General Assembly failed to make nuclear energy a core part of the state's clean energy strategy, so we could add more capacity to Maryland's energy portfolio.' House Bill 424 and Senate Bill 357, which would expand the authority of a state board to lower prescription drug costs, is now officially on the way to the governor's desk for his consideration. The board current has authority to look for ways to reduce the cost of certain drugs for people on the state's health care plan, but the two bills would grant the board authority to place cost reduction efforts on purchasers for private insurance plans. The Senate gave final approval to another delay in the implementation of statewide a paid family and medical leave benefit for another 18 months. The program had been slated to start in July, after being delayed twice already. House Bill 102 passed the Senate 42-5, pushing off the start date for the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. Under the bill, benefits would not be available until 2028. It's been marked as one of the 'tough decisions' the Moore administration had to make as the state grappled with a budget deficit and with the 'uncertainty' and 'instability' of federal policies, according to Maryland Department of Labor officials. Recent polling suggests that more Marylanders would like to see the program go through on its original timeline, but with both chambers approving the measure, the governor will likely approve the delay his administration suggested. Maryland can now join the rest of the nation in allowing individuals take the General Educational Development test, also known as the GED, in English or Spanish. House Bill 325 was sponsored by Del. Greg Wims (D-Montgomery), who said Maryland was the only state that did not offer the test in both languages. His bill received approval Thursday after the House concurred with a Senate amendment to have the bill go into effect July 1. Senate Bill 451 sponsored by Sen. Nancy King (D-Montgomery) garnered approval Monday evening after the Senate unanimously accepted two technical amendments offered by the House Ways and Means Committee. The one sentence in the bill now reads: 'Allow an individual to choose to take all components of the examination in either English or Spanish.' The state Labor Department, which administers GED tests, said 9,131 people whose primary language was Spanish enrolled in programs it offered in 2023-24. Of those individuals, 4,177, or 46%, did not have a high school diploma. 'This is one of the most important bills of the session,' Wims said after the House adjourned Sine Die early Tuesday morning. 'In my district, we have newcomers and immigrants. A lot of them, English is a second language, but they're hard workers. This will help thousands of young people over the next decade or so.' As the hour grew late on Sine Die, things devolved in the House of Delegates. All the way back to the 1980s, that is. The episode began when Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford) rose to challenge Senate Bill 930, which allows local governments, as a pilot program, to purify their wastewater effluent and inject it into the groundwater aquifer to bolster water supply. Arikan called the bill 'nasty' and labeled it 'crazy town.' Then Del. Matt Morgan (R-St. Mary's) asked House Environment and Transportation Committee Chair Del. Marc Korman (D- Montgomery): 'Do you have any concerns about this at all?' 'If I had concerns, I'd have to get in my DeLorean, because this bill — the House version — is already on the governor's desk,' Korman said, referring to car that was a key part of the 1985 hit film 'Back to the Future.' Then Del. Robin Grammer (R-Baltimore County) piped up: 'What's a DeLorean?' he said, as laughter broke out in the chamber. 'All I know is: When it gets to 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious stuff,' Korman replied. A few minutes later, Del. Tom Hutchinson (R-Middle Shore) kept the joke going, declaring with a grin that his amendment number was '867-5309,' referring to the 1981 song from Tommy Tutone. Later on, Hutchinson had to change his vote on the bill (Senate Bill 979). 'I think Jenny confused me,' he said. Chromite joins two dozen other official symbols of the state as the official state mineral. Passage of the bill was an 8-year effort for 18-year-old David Shore. Shore's irrepressible enthusiasm landed him bill sponsors and a pro bono lobbyist. Eight short years later, he got his bill. 'I'm glad chromite finally got the recognition it deserves as a key part of Maryland's history, and I am grateful to Senator Zucker and Delegate Korman for seeing the bill through despite a long and rocky road,' Shore said. 'The endeavor had fresh youth support this time around, and I hope the success of the chromite bill will inspire other Maryland kids to bring their ideas to the State House.' The House and Senate last month unanimously passed identical bills designating the mineral, first discovered in Baltimore County in 1808, as the state mineral. More than two dozen states have an official mineral. Only Maryland has bestowed such a designation on chromite. The official list of state symbols includes a state sport and team sport, dinosaur, dog and cat, and crustacean, among others. The last state symbol added was rye whiskey in 2023. It was the first time in 15 years that a new state symbol made the list. In 2008, the legislature approved an official state exercise (walking) and official dessert (Smith Island cake). In the waning hours, the House bootstrapped another state symbol into the Senate version of the chromite bill. The amendment designated the Orange Crush as the official state cocktail. The cocktail bill was headed toward defeat before its legislative resurrection as an amendment. The governor now has the option of signing the clean version of the House chromite bill or the amended Senate version, with the cocktail. He could also sign or veto both. Neither bill is expected to land in front of Moore when he signs the first batch of bills Tuesday morning. Two other proposals, one designating the persimmon as the official state fruit, and another that would name the Purple Pitcherplant the state's carnivorous plant, died in committees.
