Latest news with #WesMoore
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump denies Maryland's request for FEMA aid after devastating floods
The White House on Wednesday denied Democratic Gov. Wes Moore's request for $15.8 million in disaster relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to pay for repairs after heavy floods swept through Western Maryland in May. From May 12 to 14, extreme rainfall caused water to rise to a historic 12.4 feet in Georges Creek, which spilled over and forced evacuations in Allegany and Garrett counties. Schoolchildren were ferried to safety by boat. The floods damaged more than 200 homes, numerous businesses, roads, bridges, railroads, sewer systems, drinking water and public utilities in several Western Maryland towns, including Westernport.
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
White House rejects Maryland's request for disaster assistance after flooding in May, Gov. Moore says
The White House rejected Maryland's request for federal disaster assistance after flooding in May damaged homes and businesses in Allegany and Garrett counties, Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday. The governor requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration in June to aid in the recovery effort after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) found that it could cost nearly $15.8 million. "These communities demonstrated a clear need through FEMA's own process, and Maryland will appeal the decision to seek all available resources to support the recovery efforts," the governor said Wednesday. Flash flooding on May 13 damaged more than 200 homes and affected businesses, roads and public utilities. People were rescued from flooded schools, and some were trapped overnight during power outages. According to the governor's office, the heavy rainfall caused Georges Creek to overflow into several nearby towns. Local, state and federal responders aided in rescue efforts after a State of Emergency was declared. Following FEMA assessments, Gov. Moore said the recovery effort would be beyond the capacity of state and local agencies. "After a thorough assessment of the damage, it's clear that additional support is necessary," he said in announcing the request. A Presidential Disaster Declaration would allow Maryland to receive help from FEMA. It would also allow the state to request access to funding that could support infrastructure repairs and fixes to publicly owned facilities. "The addition of much-needed federal assistance is necessary to get those affected back to their regular lives and to allow those communities to fully recover in months instead of years," MDEM Secretary Russ Strickland said in announcing the request. According to the governor's office, the estimated $15.8 million cost for recovery surpasses FEMA's threshold for disaster assistance, which in Allegany County is $321,460. In Maryland, that threshold is $11.6 million. "Historically, if the joint damage assessment process demonstrates eligible costs over and above the county and state indicator, disaster assistance has been awarded by the President," Gov. Moore said. The governor said he plans to appeal the decision. Since taking office, President Trump has claimed FEMA is unsuccessful and has suggested changes to the agency. He signed an executive order that he said would "begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA," though that action would need approval from Congress. In June, the administration said it wanted to "wean" states off of FEMA aid after the 2025 hurricane season. The administration indicated that governors would be in a better position to respond to disasters in their states. "We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level — a little bit like education, we're moving it back to the states," Mr. Trump said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore avoids taking stance on Trump's school choice plan
BALTIMORE — Democratic Gov. Wes Moore isn't yet taking a stance on whether Maryland should opt into a new school choice program implemented at the federal level, as advocates and opponents rally over the issue. 'The Governor is committed to ensuring that every student in Maryland has the best education possible,' Moore's spokesperson Carter Elliott said in a statement. 'The Trump Administration's approach on this issue has never been tried before. We are evaluating all of the options to ensure Maryland students have the best opportunities to succeed.' The federal school choice plan was passed as part of President Donald Trump's expansive tax bill earlier this month. If Maryland opts in, taxpayers could choose to donate up to $1,700 toward private education grants in the state and receive the same amount back as a tax credit. A spokeswoman for Maryland Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican, wrote in an email that he strongly supports federal school choice and that '[e]very child — regardless of zip code, income, or background — deserves access to a quality education that fits their needs, not a one-size-fits-all system.' Maryland's U.S. Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, also didn't say whether they would support Maryland opting in. 'I am committed to making sure all of Maryland's students get the education they deserve,' Alsobrooks said in an emailed statement on Monday. 'Meanwhile, this Administration is taking the opposite approach — working to dismantle the Department of Education and undermine the promise of an education for all Marylanders, by further eroding the resources districts, teachers, and students desperately need to succeed.' Van Hollen said in an emailed statement, 'Instead of working to achieve the goal of ensuring that every child receives a quality education, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are attacking public schools and the federal resources they depend on to support students while pumping more dollars into private education.' School choice advocates argue that opting in would be a win for Maryland families who are dissatisfied with public school options, while opponents contend that the program would remove students from public schools, depriving them of funding and resources. School choice is complicated to implement and it's been a 'sticky issue' in the past, said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore. He added that with another election season on the horizon, politicians may avoid taking sides on the issue without first 'having done their homework.' Maryland has a small private school voucher program at the state level — Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST). It provides around $9 million in the form of vouchers to help families send their kids to private and religious schools. Moore has proposed cuts to the program in the past, which began under his Republican predecessor, Larry Hogan, though BOOST has continued so far during Moore's administration. Funding debate Advocates for the new federal program note that it would be funded at no cost to Maryland. 'It doesn't cost the state a dime,' said Jeff Trimbath, president of the Maryland Family Institute, noting that the state faced significant deficits that it had to adjust for during the past legislative session. But Liz Zogby, co-chair of the Maryland Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition, noted that even though the program doesn't cost state dollars, it will take money out of public schools if they lose enrollees. This can be especially harmful for students with disabilities, who need public school resources and may not be able to attend a private school, she said. 'Let's say you have a student who is not being well-served in a private school, not making progress, acting out, having challenging behaviors because they're not being well-supported — that school can just expel them,' Zogby said. But in public schools, she said, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting would be convened to figure out how to help the child. 'So they don't just kick kids out,' she said. Whom does school choice benefit? There's also a debate over which students would benefit from the program. Kalman Hettleman, a former member of the Baltimore City school board and the Maryland Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, said school choice funds 'go mainly to people of means,' since scholarships may not cover the full cost of a student's private school tuition. 'In many cases, the education savings accounts and vouchers will be able to go to people who have already left the public schools [and] are paying the whole private schools' bill already,' Hettleman said. Trimbath noted most schools offer other scholarships that could supplement a school choice scholarship, and that most schools 'means-test' their support, offering more money to lower-income students. Garrett O'Day, deputy director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, urged Moore and state education leaders to opt into the program and said that even if Maryland doesn't participate, Maryland taxpayers can still choose to donate to scholarship organizations in other states. 'In other words, if the state doesn't opt in, Maryland dollars will go out of state to the detriment of Maryland kids who need it, taking away money available for education for both public and private school students,' he wrote in an email. 'Unpredictable federal funding cuts' Paul Lemle, president of the Maryland State Education Association, advocated against the opt-in for Maryland. 'We strongly oppose giving away public funds to private schools as Maryland public schools — which serve 90% of Maryland students — continue to face chaotic, drastic, and unpredictable federal funding cuts to schools that will hurt students and the supports they depend on,' he said in a statement. Harris' spokeswoman wrote in his statement that school choice is 'not about taking money away — it's about giving parents control.' 'The federal plan is designed to empower families, not bureaucracies,' she said in an email to The Sun. 'When parents can choose the best education for their child, all schools — public and private — must compete to improve. That's a win for every student, including those with disabilities, who will benefit from increased options tailored to their needs.' A spokesperson for the Maryland State Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment. _____
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats in a key state want to see their leaders 'fight' — and reach across party lines
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic strategists, elected officials and voters in South Carolina are already eagerly looking forward, hunting for the next leader of their party after their 2024 presidential loss. They haven't had to look far: Prominent Democratic officials have flooded into the state, which was the first to vote in Democrats' 2024 presidential primaries, in recent weeks. Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gavin Newsom of California and Andy Beshear of Kentucky have all crisscrossed South Carolina so far this year, while Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is also planning an event just outside of Charleston this weekend. As potential candidates test themselves out in South Carolina, state Democrats are considering whom they want to see leading them into a post-Donald Trump era. In conversations with more than a dozen Democrats across the state, two themes emerged: They want someone ready to 'fight,' but they also want someone who can appeal across party lines. And while the two concepts might have seemed like an implausible match in the past, in today's populist political moment, the pairing makes more sense. Tyler Bailey, a civil rights attorney and Columbia City Council member who attended Beshear's event here, said he's looking for 'somebody who's not gonna just come in there and just say I'm not for Trump. It can't just be an anti-Trump message.' There is 'a hunger of people wanting to see some real leadership on the Democrat side,' Bailey added. Spoiling for a fighter Over and over, in interviews across the state, Democratic leaders had one word on their lips: fight. 'People want somebody who's going to fight,' former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison told NBC News in an interview following Beshear's Columbia event. 'If there's a theme that I am constantly getting, it's they're tired of the party being a doormat for Republicans. They want somebody who's gonna give the Republicans just as much hell — if not more — and fight for them and their families and their communities.' Harrison, who once chaired the South Carolina state party, said anyone without a case to make that they were strongly standing up to Republicans shouldn't bother hitting the campaign trail. 'If you're coming here and your backbone is like a wet noodle or spaghetti, you might as well just not even — save your airfare,' he said with a laugh. Christale Spain, the current chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, echoed Harrison, telling NBC News in an interview at the party's headquarters that this moment calls for someone who is 'going to fight back against the current MAGA Republicans. We're looking for a leader that is a fighter.' Spain added that the desire for a 'fighter' has 'been clear to me for the last few months, just going around the state myself, talking to voters and seeing how they respond to different things.' Governors who have visited the state have consistently rebuked Trump, positioning themselves against his tariff agenda, against his cuts to the federal workforce and against the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' the massive GOP domestic policy package that congressional Republicans passed earlier this month. 'Make no mistake,' Beshear told union members at the South Carolina AFL-CIO's annual convention in Greenville. 'What Trump and his congressional enablers have just done is a direct attack on rural America and on Southerners like us. It is a betrayal.' Speaking across party lines Beyond looking for a fighter at this moment, Democrats in South Carolina are also looking ahead to a post-Trump era, when dozens of national Democratic leaders seem poised to throw their hat in the ring in a 2028 presidential primary. And former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, the last Democrat to serve in the state's governor's mansion, summed up what he thought his fellow primary voters should be looking for: someone who 'knows how to win.' For a lot of Democrats who spoke to NBC News, that means a focus on who can draw in voters of all political stripes. 'I hear several things consistently. … It's critically important that we choose well in this next election cycle, whether we pick somebody who can draw independent voters, rally the base and get some Republican votes,' Hodges told NBC News in an interview following Beshear's Wednesday meet-and-greet. Towner Magill, a Democrat who attended Beshear's meet-and-greet in Charleston on Thursday, echoed Hodges. 'I'm looking for a uniter, not just in the Democratic Party. I think we need to run a uniter, but I also think that maybe we need a uniter in the White House,' Magill told NBC News. A call for plainer language and clearer issues Many Democrats in South Carolina said that to unite voters across party lines, Democratic leaders have to remain laser-focused on certain issues. 'We stopped talking about issues that, you know, that working-class folks care about: jobs, health care, education, community safety,' Hodges said. 'That's why we did more poorly with working-class voters — white, Black, Latino — because we stopped talking about the issues they cared about.' 'There needs to be an adjustment in our message to addressing the concerns that they have about their own lives,' the former governor added. State Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine called the messaging she's hoping to hear from potential Democratic candidates a focus on 'real things.' 'What I think most people are looking for is somebody who actually they feel like is speaking to them about real things,' Isaac Devine told NBC News after Beshear's Columbia event. South Carolina Democrats want leaders who are 'speaking real things, and not just … the culture wars or the political correct terms, but actually can talk to what their pain point is. They want people who are going to give solutions,' Isaac Devine added. South Carolinians aren't alone in that desire. Other rising Democratic leaders, including freshman Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Ruben Gallego of Arizona have also called for Democrats to stop using words like 'oligarchy' or what Gallego calls 'Ivy League-tested terms' — though Bernie Sanders pushed back on the criticism of his anti-oligarchy activism. Harrison pointed to the constant push for Democrats to use certain inclusive or technical language as a reason why some voters may have viewed Democratic candidates as inauthentic. 'For so long, I feel like Democrats, we put ourselves in straitjackets in terms of our language and how we talk to people and how we connect with folks,' Harrison said. 'We have to let our authentic selves step out. That means that we've got to be willing to take risks. That means that we should not be shy about making mistakes, because that makes us more human and more relatable,' he added. Bailey, the city council member in Columbia, pointed to character and relatability as something that could prove a major selling point for voters in his state. 'I think the relatability, people factor, is gonna be important. Because, you know, most communication is nonverbal,' he said. 'You can get a lot from somebody who's, for example, walks around scared, doesn't engage, doesn't talk, can't look you in the eye, can't shake your hand, seems, like, out of place eating fried chicken [and] would rather just have wine and cheese.' This article was originally published on
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Tim Walz questions why Democrats come off like they're against people being successful
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz wondered why the Democratic Party comes off like it's against people being successful, during a podcast interview on Thursday. Walz said that President Donald Trump was able to capture "this idea of wealth and being able to be successful," during a conversation with former DNC chair Jaime Harrison on his podcast, "At Our Table." "We, as Democrats, we want people to pay their fair share, but why are we against people being successful like that? We can't be. Why are we against? We should talk about businesses. Not all businesses exploit their workers and we get ourselves stuck in that. And I think we lose them," Walz continued. Walz and Harrison also talked about what occurred with young Black voters in 2024, citing a discussion Walz had with Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., who said a lot of "good-hearted politicians" go into Black communities and talk about restoring voting rights to felons. "And he said, not knowing how insulting that is for these young men to say, 'Look, I'm just looking for capital because I'm an entrepreneur. I got my JD from Georgetown, and I'd like to kind of do this. I'm thinking about starting this.' Where you're missing the point about, why are we narrowing it that it's about prison reform?" Walz said. Harrison also said he had gone head-to-head with people who are judgmental based on where or who people work for. Both Harrison and Walz insisted that the Democratic Party was stronger on the economy and better for businesses. "Look, the business community is finding [out] right now how bad a businessman Donald Trump is, crapping on the economy, you know, tariffs back and forth, threatening businesses," Walz said. The Minnesota governor went on to say "shame on you" to members of the business community who continue to support the president. "Can you imagine threatening individual businesses, saying, 'you're going to do this, or I'm going to do this,' as a leader? If you're in the business community, shame on you for supporting this guy still," Walz added. Walz argued that the Democratic Party should embrace being the party of "pro-business." "We're just simply talking about all businesses. What we don't want is monopolies. We don't want corruption. We don't want the folks that are preying on the communities that are bad actors, but we have this reputation that the business community is somewhat hands-off from us," he said. At a Center for American Progress (CAP) event in June, Walz suggested China might be the voice of "moral authority" following Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and military leaders.
