Latest news with #MarylandSenate
CBS News
02-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Maryland Senate OKs budget to address a $3B deficit with concerns about Trump administration cuts
The Maryland Senate passed budget measures on Tuesday to address a deficit of more than $3 billion with tax increases and cuts throughout state government, as well as plans for spending adjustments that could be triggered by future federal cuts from the Trump administration. The Democratic-controlled legislature is largely in agreement on the spending plan for the next fiscal year after a deal was announced last month with Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. Uncertainty with dramatic federal government downsizing has been a major concern during the 90-day legislative session in a state that relies heavily on federal government jobs and contracts. Lawmakers have included measures in the state budget to make adjustments in anticipation of more cuts to come. For example, the Senate added a provision that if $1 billion in federal funding to the state is cut, the governor's budget office would submit a plan to a panel of lawmakers on how to adjust state spending. "As everyone in Maryland knows, Maryland is under attack from Washington," said Sen. James Rosapepe, a Democrat whose district is in the suburbs of the nation's capital. "The national economists have projected that Maryland is a state most at risk to from the (Elon) Musk-Trump cuts to the federal government." Last month, the ratings agency Moody's noted the threat to Maryland from changing federal priorities and policies, using metrics as diverse as the share of workers federally employed, scientific research grant funding and federal contract awards. Moody's also pointed out that Maryland is home to the headquarters of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Security Agency. The state found out Friday that it could be losing more than $400 million in federal education funding after the U.S. Department of Education told states it was canceling approvals made earlier to spend COVID-19 recovery money. Rosapepe said the state already had made $350 million in additional cuts this year "simply because of the first rumblings of the Trump recession" and that Maryland lawmakers are bracing for more cuts. "We don't know when they're coming. We don't know how big they're coming, but we know these attacks are coming," Rosapepe said. The senator also said the budget "shows that we're not rolling over for the attacks on Maryland," noting investments in health care, education, public safety and transportation. But Republicans said Maryland's budget problems were brewing before Trump regained the White House, largely due to overspending and its reliance on federal spending. Sen. Steve Hershey, an Eastern Shore Republican who is the Senate minority leader, said lawmakers knew what they were facing when the legislative session begin in early January, before Trump took office. "I think the anger that we just saw right there is more a reflection of the recognition that this state over-relies on federal government, and now all of a sudden changes are being made at the federal government, because people want to see a change," Hershey said, referring to Rosapepe's comments. Hershey said Maryland lawmakers continue to pass legislation that adversely affects state businesses, including a new 3% tax on information technology services that is part of the legislation to balance the budget. The plan includes two higher tax brackets, one for residents who make over $500,000 annually and another for those with more than $1 million in annual income. The legislation includes a new 2% tax on capital gains for people with income over $350,000. Tax increases on recreational cannabis and sports wagering also are part of the plan. "You cannot tax your way to prosperity, and that's what this legislation would do," Hershey said. The plan includes a long list of cuts throughout state government adding up to more than $2 billion, though Republicans say lawmakers should have tightened spending even further to avoid tax increases. Lawmakers will be working to bridge some differences with the Maryland House and take a final vote on the roughly $67 billion spending plan and related legislation to balance the budget before they adjourn Monday at midnight.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
Some offenders were victims first; it's time to pass the Second Look Act
Women convicted of crimes related to their gender-based victimization — intimate partner violence, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking — are oftened sentenced as if they were not victims long before they became criminal defendants.(Photo by) This week, the Maryland Senate is scheduled to vote on HB 853, the Maryland Second Look Act. The Second Look Act would enable people who have served at least 20 years in prison to ask the court to reconsider sentences that may have seemed appropriate when first handed down but are no longer necessary to safeguard the public. People like our clients. The Gender, Prison, and Trauma Clinic at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law represents incarcerated women convicted of crimes related to their own gender-based victimization—intimate partner violence, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking. Despite their histories of victimization, the criminal justice system labels our clients offenders, often ignoring that they were victims long before they became criminal defendants. 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. Our clients frequently receive very long sentences — for defending themselves against abusive partners, acting under coercion or duress from abusive partners, or because they were unable to prevent their abusive partners from hurting their children. In cases involving felony murder and imputed liability, our clients are sentenced as though they were the people who carried out violent crimes, despite never having harmed anyone. Many of our clients are serving life in prison. Sentenced to long prison terms, our clients use their time in prison as productively as they can — to seek education, engage in programming, and learn skills that make them employment ready. They do so much programming, in fact, that within a few years, there is nothing left for them to take. Left to age in prison, our clients develop serious (and expensive to treat) medical issues. They grow old in a place that is not designed to meet the needs of the elderly. They are not dangerous. They are not violent. Our clients use the limited legal options that are available to them to seek review of their sentences. But most of those processes are focused on legal errors, and so don't take into account a person's programming, growth, or positive institutional record. The only pure review option, sentence modification, is severely time limited. Under current law, judges can only modify sentences if asked to do so within 90 days of the original sentence and within five years of the sentencing date. Judges are often disinclined to reconsider sentences that close in time to the original ruling and our clients may not have had time to amass the kind of record that might make a judge reconsider a sentence within that short period. Opponents of the Second Look Act argue that individuals who have been convicted of crimes of violence — the kinds of crimes that generate long sentences — are the 'worst of the worst.' Our clients are far from the worst. They have been convicted of crimes of violence, but they are not violent people. They are mothers and grandmothers, sisters and aunts. They are eager to show their sentencing courts the hard work they have done while incarcerated. They could be productive members of society if given the opportunity. All they ask is for the chance to make that case in court.
Washington Post
17-03-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Md. poised to become first state to use insurance surcharge for abortions
The Maryland Senate passed a bill Monday to allow the state to use a $25 million pot of money to fund abortion services, paving the way for the state to become the first in the country to use money collected from a surcharge on insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act to pay for reproductive health care.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Maryland's health secretary is resigning; Moore names Biden official Meena Seshamani as nominee
Maryland Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott will leave her role at the end of February after a tumultuous two years and will be replaced by a former Medicare official from President Joe Biden's administration, Gov. Wes Moore said Thursday. The state's health agency had faced tough questions and federal lawsuits related to its handling of state psychiatric hospitals and nursing home inspections during Herrera Scott's tenure, which she had said followed a prior administration that left 'a very broken agency.' Dr. Meena Seshamani,who most recently led the Medicare program and served as deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will be Moore's nominee to lead the Department of Health. Seshamani would assume the position on April 8 if confirmed by the Maryland Senate, which is controlled by Democrats and has confirmed all of Moore's other cabinet members. Ryan B. Morgan, a deputy secretary for health care financing, will serve as acting secretary after Herrera Scott departs on Feb. 28. 'Dr. Meena Seshamani is among the nation's top health leaders — with an extraordinary career spanning expertise in public service, medical practice, economics, academia, and advocacy,' Moore said in a statement. 'She has made our nation's health care system fairer, more affordable, and more accessible to all — including our most vulnerable, from families in poverty to communities with disabilities. We thank her for raising her hand to serve in this new role.' Moore credited Herrera Scott with leading negotiations to create Maryland's AHEAD model to lower healthcare costs for Marylanders while improving health overall. 'She implemented programs to address infectious and chronic disease threats across the state,' the release reads. 'She also assembled a dedicated team to strengthen the department's operations to better serve some of the state's most vulnerable populations.' Her departure follows two years in which rising health care costs and the department's underestimations for needed funds in areas like Medicaid and the Developmental Disabilities Administration have contributed to the state's growing deficit. The agency's handling of the troubled state-run mental hospital, Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, has also come under scrutiny. Perkins' Acting CEO Dwain Shaw resigned last month at the end of an independent evaluation of the psychiatric facility's leadership, which followed the departure of its former leader, Scott Moran, earlier in 2024. Moran was placed on leave and barred from entering state-run psychiatric hospitals after allegedly harassing Department of Health employees over the internet. His license to practice medicine in Maryland was later suspended. In a December hearing in which she was questioned by state lawmakers, Herrera Scott said she'd been misled about problems at the facility by its leaders and other MDH officials, who were 'not only not advising me well, but were misrepresenting the facts of what was happening in the facilities.' Under the acting leader, however, problems related to staffing declines, working conditions and a backlog of incarcerated patients continued. A federal lawsuit filed by a disabilities rights group last month claimed Herrera Scott and the health department were violating state law and the U.S. and Maryland constitutions by keeping mentally ill people accused of crimes in jail rather than admitting them to psychiatric hospitals. Another federal lawsuit filed last year claimed the department failed to regularly inspect nursing facilities and investigate complaints. Seshamani will be stepping into the agency as it looks to improve those facilities and as it faces immediate concerns from lawmakers and disability advocates over a $200 million cut to the Developmental Disabilities Administration in the next fiscal year. That reduction was among $2 billion in cuts included in Gov. Wes Moore's budget proposal last month, which seeks to fill a nearly $3 billion budget hole. Hundreds of advocates rallied against that move earlier this week, and Democratic lawmakers who are amending Moore's proposal through the end of the legislative session in early April have said they make adjustments. The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition, which is made up of multiple advocacy groups, said in a statement Thursday that the cuts have 'created an unprecedented challenge' for more than 18,000 Marylanders with developmental disabilities who rely on services. Its members look forward to working with Seshamani on the budget challenges, the statement read. ________
