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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal layoffs drag down state employment gains for second month, new numbers show
Supporters cheer for federal workers who lost their jobs at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., in a photo from March 28, 2025. (Photo by Jess Daninhirsch/Capital News Service) Maryland added around 4,900 new jobs in April, but labor officials said those gains were dragged down by a loss of 2,600 jobs in the federal workforce in the same month. The Maryland Department of Labor reports that mass federal layoffs and other actions by the Trump administration are 'tempering the state's overall jobs growth,' according to new data released Wednesday. The federal impact was even sharper in March, when the state's 2,300 new jobs were eclipsed by the loss of 2,700 federal jobs for the month. 'April's report is the second to reflect actions taken by the new federal administration that impact federal employees and contractors, including reductions in force (RIFs), terminations of federal contracts, and grant cancellations,' according to a state Department of Labor press release Wednesday. And the March and April numbers may not even show the full scope of the problem in the state's federal workforce, the department said. 'The April jobs report does not reflect the most recent RIFs, employees who were placed on administrative leave or who accepted 'buyout' offers and are still being paid, federal employees who selected deferred retirement, or the ongoing tariff situation,' the department statement said. March was the first month that Trump layoffs began showing up in the state's data. 'Layoffs among federal workers and contractors are impacting every county in Maryland,' Labor Secretary Portia Wu said in written statement Wednesday. 'These workers have dedicated their careers to public service and they are an incredible asset to our state, so it's essential that we do everything that we can to support them.' The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Maryland's preliminary unemployment rate rose to 3.1% in April, up slightly from a flat 3% in March. The Maryland unemployment numbers come as the Trump administration continues its push to bring down federal spending by slashing the federal workforce, among other things. The result is hundreds of thousands of federal workers suddenly without jobs over the last few months – many of whom live in Maryland. About 269,000 Maryland residents are employed by the federal government, as of late March data. Maryland has the nation's second-largest share of residents who work for the government, trailing only Washington, D.C. And Maryland has another 225,000 federal contractors – reflecting about 10.5% of the state's total gross domestic product in 2023, according state data. As the Trump administration cuts down on federal spending, some state contractors are also in danger of being on the chopping block. Wu said in a recent interview that federal unemployment claims are at a 'significantly higher level than what we typically see' and noted that the state has not seen the full scope of impact due to layoffs and other moves in the Trump administration. She said getting a full scope of the impact on the state is also challenging: Some workers who live in Maryland may file unemployment documents with Washington, D.C., or nearby states, for example. Ongoing lawsuits challenging federal layoffs can also muddy the picture by temporarily ordering jobs restored. Maryland federal contractor layoffs increase as Trump slashes federal spending 'Many people don't file for unemployment right away,' Wu said. 'With all the litigation, maybe they haven't lost their job yet, or have taken some kind of administrative leave or delayed layoff or a separate situation.' According to May 10 data, the Maryland Labor Department had received more than 1,600 federal unemployment claims since the start of the Trump administration. Some of the federal workers who have been laid off are finding refuge in Maryland agencies. A communications official with the Department of Labor reports that since February, 150 former federal workers have landed a job with a Maryland state agency. 'We have a bunch hired in our own agency,' Wu said. 'We know that there are a lot of talented people out there and we're excited to welcome them to state government.' The labor department is not the only Maryland agency picking up laid-off federal workers. Others include the departments of Health, Human Services, Public Safety and Correctional Services, Education and Information Technology, the Office of the Attorney General and the Comptroller of Maryland. 'They are in a very broad range of roles – from administration and program management to health, IT, and legal fields. This includes experts in specialized and technical positions, such as information systems auditor, GIS (Geographic Information Systems) analyst, natural resources biologist, veterinarian and hydrographic engineer,' according to a labor department official. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ulman to step down in June as Maryland Democratic Party chair
Maryland Democratic Party Chair Ken Ulman. (Photo by Emily Condon/Capital News Service) Maryland Democratic Party Chair Ken Ulman, a longtime player on the state political scene, announced Wednesday night that he plans to resign effective June 13. Gov. Wes Moore (D) intends to nominate Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) to replace Ulman when the state Democratic Central Committee next meets at its regularly scheduled meeting late next month — shortly after the state party holds its annual fundraising gala June 12 in Baltimore County. The party's first vice chair, Charlene Dukes, does not intend to seek the top job but will remain in her current post. Ulman, a former Howard County executive, has told top Democrats that he wants to return full time to his development consulting company, Margrave Strategies, which is involved in several high-profile economic development projects across the state. He has served as state party chair since November 2023 Ulman announced his intention to resign in a Zoom call Wednesday evening with county chairs, before sharing it during a meeting with the state party's trustees — an advisory group of top donors. 'I am grateful to Ken for his willingness to lead us through an intense and demanding election,' Moore said in a statement. If Pittman is elected state chair — and he is unlikely to be the only candidate for the position next month — he too would split his time between his full-time gig as county executive and the state party post. Moore called Pittman 'the right leader for this moment.' Pittman is termed out of office in December 2026 and has been pondering his next political move. Heading the state party would enable him to stay in the political arena — though he has also been mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed veteran U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) whenever Hoyer decides to end his 60-year political career. 'With an all-out assault on our state and our values underway from Washington, D.C., I know Steuart Pittman will put his experience and his moral clarity to work to defend our state, fight back against the Trump administration, and ensure Democrats win elections,' Moore's statement said Ulman and Pittman did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. The state party in the 2026 election cycle will be preoccupied with reelecting Moore – who could face a tough race, especially if former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) runs again – and other statewide elected officials, who should be on firmer political ground. Party leaders are also determined to field a strong challenger against the state's lone Republican member of Congress, Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st); Jake Day, the secretary at Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development, is actively exploring a bid. Ulman's looming departure from the Maryland Democratic Party ends a short-lived reentry into the state political fray. Ulman, 51, was considered a rising political star after four years on the Howard County Council and eight years as county executive. He was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, losing in an upset to a Republican ticket headed by Hogan Ulman launched his development firm shortly after that election and, before becoming state chair, worked on the fringes of politics, using his contacts to firm up development projects. As state chair, Ulman helped now-U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D) win her first term in 2024, kept the Democrats' 7-1 advantage in the state's congressional delegation, helped defeat several conservative school board candidates throughout the state, and raised more than $5.5 million for the state party. Pittman was a political novice when he ran for Anne Arundel executive in 2018, when better-known Democrats chose to skip the race. He ousted Republican incumbent Steve Schuh in an upset. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A former community organizer in Chicago, where he met a young Barack Obama, and in Des Moines, Iowa, he has proven to be an unconventional politician but has also been an effective messenger on policy and big-picture political matters. The state party is having its annual gala on June 12 at Martin's West, a catering hall that regularly hosts political events. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who, like Moore, is a potential presidential candidate in 2028, is the featured speaker. Hoyer's annual bull roast is scheduled for the next night in Mitchellville. Attendees may be looking for clues as to whether the congressman, who turns 86 the next day, will decide to seek a 23rd full term in 2026.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maryland overdose deaths fell 30% in 2024, preliminary national data shows
Two tranquilizers, xylazine and medetomidine, increasingly appear alongside opioids like fentanyl in Maryland drug samples. (Ian Round/Capital News Service) Maryland recorded 746 fewer overdose deaths in 2024 than in 2023, a 29.2% drop that mirrored a sharp decline nationally, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decline – from 2,493 in 2023 to 1,747 in 2024 in Maryland – continues a promising trend that indicates that overdose prevention efforts have been effective, federal health officials said. The trend began in 2023, when deaths nationally fell 10% from the year before, and in Maryland they fell 6.16%. Maryland's slightly outpaced the national decline last year, when overdose deaths fell an estimated 25.6% from 2023, according to the CDC's annual Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts released Wednesday. While the data suggests a significant improvement, federal health officials say there more work to be done to prevent overdose deaths nationwide – including in Maryland. 'Despite these overall improvements, overdose remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44, underscoring the need for ongoing efforts to maintain this progress,' the CDC said in a written statement. Last year, there were more than 79,500 people who died from overdoses across the United States, according to the new estimates, down from the 106,881 people who died from overdose in 2023. CDC says Maryland, and most of the nation, has had fewer overdose deaths in 2024 'Since late 2023, overdose deaths have steadily declined each month — a strong sign that public health interventions are making a difference and having a meaningful impact,' the CDC said. It was a shift from 2018 through 2023, when the United States struggled with an increasing number of deaths due to overdoses, partially fueled by the rise in opioid use and increased prevalence of stronger substances such as fentanyl. Other factors included increased drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease that began in 2023 is believed to be the result of greater overdose prevention efforts, such as increased education and distribution of the opioid overdose-reversal drug, naloxone. The substance leading to the most overdose deaths still appears to be opioids, in both the U.S. and in Maryland. Maryland's Overdose Data Dashboard says that through the first three months of this year, from January through March, there were 283 deaths due to overdose. Of those cases, opioids were involved in 233 deaths, with 209 deaths related specifically to fentanyl. There were also more than 1,393 emergency room visits related to opioid overdose from January through March, according to the dashboard. While Maryland's decrease was steep, and sharper than the national average, it more or less fell in the middle of the pack when compared to other states. Neighboring West Virginia was estimated to have the steepest decline in overdose deaths among states, falling 42.4%, from 1,389 deaths in 2023 to 800 in 2024. Washington, D.C., also showed a greater drop in its overdose death rate than Maryland. District overdose deaths fell from 635 in 2023 to 396 last year, a 37.6% decline. Just two states are estimated to have had increases in overdoses last year. South Dakota had an increase of 4.8% in overdose deaths, from 84 deaths in 2023 to 88 deaths in 2024, while Nevada saw 4.6% more deaths due to overdose, rising from 1,400 in 2023 to 1,465 in 2024. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Virginia university reform efforts mirror nationwide conservative attacks, experts say
(Photo illustration by Andrew Kerley/Capital News Service) By Andrew Kerley/Capital News Service Joe Feagin had to swear an oath he was not a communist to land his first university teaching job in 1966. Feagin, 86, received his bachelor's degree in Texas during McCarthyism and the viciously oppressive Jim Crow era. The '60s were turbulent, Feagin said. Vietnam War and Civil Rights protests were frequent. Demographics were shifting as more Latinos and Asians arrived under liberalized immigration laws. 'Everything was looking up at that point,' Feagin said. 'Jim Crow laws were being crushed, Black folks were finally making it into the mainstream white universities where they had been rare or nonexistent.' But Feagin, who spent nearly 60 years in higher education, believes progress is slipping. President Donald Trump is publicly threatening to withhold federal funding for schools over anti-war protests and diversity initiatives that took root decades ago. A less-visible battle is being fought in over half of all states, including Virginia, to remove protections for professors, independent curriculum control and university-shared governance. Educators warn changes are part of a conservative blueprint, and academic freedom is at stake. Conservative leaders say they will foster intellectual diversity, create more career pathways and bolster the marketplace. Faculty have traditionally held power over university curriculums, but that eroded significantly over the years, according to leading Virginia political analyst Bob Holsworth. Holsworth, also a former Virginia Commonwealth University professor and board of visitors member, said Gov. Glenn Youngkin is exercising a much heavier hand through his board appointees. Boards create university budgets, hire and fire presidents, appoint faculty and rubber stamp curriculums created by faculty. But, their decisions have become increasingly intrusive and politicized, according to Holsworth. While the deterioration of independent governance and hiring of tenured faculty has been ongoing for decades, it has been exacerbated by recent politics and the rise of Trump. Students and faculty at VCU and George Mason University spent years drafting new learning requirements to teach topics such as systemic racism, gender studies and workplace inequity. Some of the content paralleled the wake from 2020 and its summer of protests against police brutality. The new initiatives — called 'racial literacy' at VCU and 'Just Societies' at GMU — were set to be implemented in 2024. But Youngkin's education secretary requested to view the syllabi, and soon after both universities canceled the requirements. Christian Martinez, Youngkin's former press secretary, called the course requirements a 'thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive left's groupthink on Virginia's students.' 'That's a step beyond what we've ever seen,' Holsworth said. The blueprint for the board interference was first tested in Florida, according to Amy Reid. She taught at the New College of Florida, one of the Sunshine State's few public liberal arts schools, until Gov. Ron DeSantis made moves in 2023 to remove the gender studies program she directed. DeSantis appointed six new members to the college's board of trustees in 2023, the majority of whom lived outside Florida and were conservative activists, according to Reid. DeSantis' appointees voted to end the school's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office, according to Reid. They also removed university officials and faculty who didn't fit their vision of the school, including the president, provost, some LGBTQ+ employees and a Chinese adjunct professor seeking asylum from his home country. Reid now works at PEN America, a free speech organization that pushes back against what it calls educational gag orders. Officials increasingly use indirect tactics to achieve censorial goals, Reid said. Coordinated attacks have shifted from K-12 to higher education in recent years. Over 90 bills to reform higher education at public universities, and some private ones, have been introduced across 26 states in the past three years, according to PEN America data. At least 16 have become law as of March 6. The highest number of bills were introduced after Trump's reelection. Almost half of the legislation focused on eliminating or preventing DEI initiatives that promoted concepts related to race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity or national origin — from curriculum to faculty training. But other legislation challenges traditional higher-ed structure by putting university governance, the decision-making power given to student and faculty bodies, on the chopping block. Several bills seek to eliminate or weaken tenure status for faculty, which was created to safeguard academic freedom from politics. Others strip universities of independent accreditation standards, which certify the quality of education at colleges. Some bills break tradition by giving states authority to establish programs and curriculum where American values and ideas, or Western civilization, are predominantly taught. Even if legislation fails, governors can censor higher education through their appointed board members, Reid said. Although there is a government push for free speech, students need an education free from their censorship, Reid said. This is precisely why academic freedom, shared governance and institutional autonomy are needed. Conservative groups such as the Claremont Institute, Manhattan Institute and the Heritage Foundation are coordinating efforts between states, Reid said. Members push initiatives and propose candidates for university boards. The Heritage Foundation created the almost 1,000 page Project 2025 blueprint to reshape the American government. Trump denied his involvement with Project 2025 while campaigning, but immediately began enacting parts of the plan once in office, including efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. The Heritage Foundation's influence has increasingly grown in Virginia. Youngkin, who has deep ties to the foundation, has appointed Project 2025 authors to the boards of visitors at GMU and the University of Virginia. Virginia universities have complied with Trump and Youngkin's efforts to cancel racial learning requirements, dissolve DEI programs and instate new campus speech policies that limit protesting. Medical centers at UVA and VCU also stopped providing gender affirming care for people under age 19, per an executive order from Trump. Trump has threatened to cut federal funding for research and student financial aid for schools that do not comply. Virginia ranks 13th in research and development performance, according to the Virginia Mercury. UVA received $549 million in research awards in 2024, according to their report. VCU received $200.1 million, according to spokesman Brian McNeill. The Heritage Foundation aims to wind down federal involvement in higher education, which it says has a monopoly on accreditation standards and student loans, according to its policy analyst Madison Marino Doan. The foundation wants more privatization on those fronts. Additionally, it believes university administrations are bloated bureaucracies that must be held accountable for increasing tuition and pushing DEI, Marino Doan said. Reform efforts are a result of Americans' dissatisfaction with costs and the diminishing value of career paths in the humanities. 'Institutions have increasingly prioritized what we would say is ideological activism and oftentimes bureaucratic bloat over academic excellence and student outcomes,' Marino Doan said. The plan is to remove federal funds and accreditation standards and transfer power to individual states. Those moves would make way for more specific standards per industry, and emphasize alternative postsecondary education options such as trade schools and apprenticeships. 'I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics,' Trump said while campaigning. Trump directed the secretary of education to deny accreditation to agencies that use DEI-based standards, in an executive order released April 22. Universities must be accredited by nationally-recognized agencies to be eligible for federal aid. Higher-ed groups warn the accreditation order could give Trump more power and threaten academic freedom, according to the publication Inside Higher Ed. Feagin, who recently retired from Texas A&M University, believes America has been 'zigzagging' toward progress since the '40s, up until President Barack Obama was elected. Conservative demographics lashed back at Obama's victory by forming populist factions like the Tea Party, utilizing political redistricting and eventually electing Trump. Feagin said that with attacks on higher education and the destruction of federal programs with 'no apparent purpose,' America is back to where it was in the early '60s and moving 'rapidly backwards.' Gutting research is economic suicide in the face of China's faster development, Feagin said. Cutting diversity will only make universities unpleasant. Efforts to stop the diversification of America will only be temporary victories. 'You can slow it down. You can make it miserable,' Feagin said. 'That's what Trump is doing.' Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University's Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill ending trash incineration subsidy still alive, legislators say
The smokestack of incinerator in south Baltimore that converts trash into energy. (Photo by Joe Ryan/Capital News Service) A bill that would end Maryland's practice of allocating renewable energy subsidies to trash incinerators is stalled in committee but not dead yet, despite missing the 'crossover' deadline that would be the death of most bills. Supporters say there's a plan in the works to salvage the incinerator bill, which picked up a powerful backer in Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), by integrating it into the larger Next Generation Energy Act. That bill, sponsored by House and Senate leadership, was always expected to move after crossover, a spokesman for Ferguson said Monday. 'It was always planned to be after crossover, just like the budget,' said David Schuhlein, the spokesman. 'Energy was top priority — like the budget — so of course you expect it to be a little bit more effort.' The bill, called the Reclaim Renewable Energy Act, has had hearings in both Senate and House committees, but it has yet to receive a vote in either. House Economic Matters Committee Chair C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) said the two chambers are 'still in negotiations,' but agreed that if the incineration bill passes this year, it will likely be via the larger energy package. 'If it's in, it will be in the leadership bill,' Wilson said Monday. Environmental advocacy groups have pushed similar bills for years without success, aiming to cut millions in incentive payments for incinerators that generate energy by burning waste. In 2021, legislators did remove another energy source from the renewable subsidy list: black liquor, a byproduct of the paper-making process. With the OK from Ferguson, whose district includes an incinerator, anti-incineration groups thought victory was near. Now, they aren't so sure, said Neka Duckett-Randolph, of Out for Justice, a Baltimore-based nonprofit. The group was frustrated to learn that the incineration bill was likely to be integrated into a bill they find problematic, Duckett-Randolph said. They fear that the Next Generation Energy Act, which aims to expedite new energy generation in the state and eventually lower energy costs for Marylanders, will grease the wheels for polluting power plants to be placed in disadvantaged communities. 'This clean incinerator bill is being lumped into this polluter package,' Duckett-Randolph said. Recently, Progressive Maryland debuted a music video pushing for the incineration bill's passage as is. 'Our legislators won't vote on the bill,' read a caption for the video. 'So we made a song. To go along with their dance around this critical legislation.' 'Burning trash has got to go,' the song continued, to the tune of Chapell Roan's 'Hot to go!' In 2023, 14% of the renewable energy credits in 'Tier 1' of the state's system went to trash incinerators. Tier 1 also includes wind and solar energy. About two-thirds of those credits went to the two incinerators in Maryland, and one third went to Virginia. One of Maryland's incinerators is the privately owned WIN Waste facility in Baltimore City, while the other is owned by Montgomery County. Environmental advocates have argued that eliminating subsidies for incineration would make way for greater payments to wind and solar projects. In 2024, the Montgomery County received about $12 million from the sale of renewable energy credits, according to the bill's fiscal note. The county's incinerator likely accounts for the majority of that tally. Mary Randall, of Baltimore's Westport neighborhood, said she has lived close to the city's trash incinerator for more than 60 years. She traveled to Annapolis on Monday to push for the bill's passage. Randall said she fears that pollutants emitted by the incinerator's smokestack along Interstate 95 have contributed to an increased risk of cancer in her community. 'My two best girlfriends died from cancer,' Randall said. 'I was able to take [one of them] for treatments. And one day we went down, and it was five people from the neighborhood getting chemo.' In recent years, the WIN Waste facility has advertised millions of dollars in upgrades meant to tamp down air pollution. The facility has been vocally opposed to ending the subsidy in the past, arguing that the credits support a Maryland business and dozens of Maryland jobs. WIN Waste officials have also argued that burning waste could be better for the climate than transporting it longer distances to a landfill. 'Waste to energy (WTE), like nuclear, utilizes resources that are plentiful, creating a renewable baseload energy source as demand for reliable energy increases,' WIN Waste spokesperson Mary Urban wrote in a previous statement to Maryland Matters.
