ANNAPOLIS, Md. – To wrap up this year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed legislation to provide $275 million in state support to businesses and employees negatively affected by the Key Bridge collapse, allowing the state to take control of Baltimore’s Pimlico horse track, and extending a deadline for the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) to mail tax notices due to an earlier error. It is anticipated that these bills will pass with the signature of Governor Wes Moore (D).
“We opened up session saying that we really have four goals,” said Governor Wes Moore (D). “We need to make Maryland more safe. We need to make Maryland more affordable and make Maryland more competitive. And we needed to continue to make Maryland a state that serves. I think on all four of those goals, we made very real progress.”
A budget agreement was reached last week, which included higher vehicle registration costs and higher rideshare fees to build up the Transportation Trust Fund. There will also be a tax increase on tobacco and nicotine products, amounting to a $1.25 increase per pack. The budget compromise did not include legalizing iGaming, mandating that multi state companies pay a higher share in Maryland, or an increase in the sales tax.
Among the other bills that passed in the final hours of session were extending online protections for consumers, creating a grant to provide security for abortion clinics, and establishing further civil liabilities for gun manufacturers.
While there were worries of an extended session, a compromise on the budget and passing some key bills prevented that from being necessary.
Members of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network held up signs on Thurgood Marshall Plaza, just outside of the state Capitol, to save the Climate Solutions Now bill. Some environmental leaders said the landmark environmental bill would be gutted by amendments to a data center bill, amendments which were opposed by the Sierra Club. With a brass band playing Arrested Development’s Everyday People, they were undoubtedly seen and heard by numerous legislators and staffers wandering between official duties and free meals.
“We hope that the legislators, coming out to see the eclipse, we want them to see folks on the stage with the signs,” said CCANJamie DeMarco in Thurgood Marshall Plaza, just outside of the State Capitol. He also warned that this repeal would endanger nearly $200 million in federal funds while the state weathers a budget deficit.
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Do we have to be concerned about surfing the internet after this session? Was there anything done to address possibly getting illegal content on your computers + phones because you went to a website you hadn’t been to before? Annapolis is going to have to do something about this, the possibility of accidentally getting illegal content on a computer or phone because of a website or an e-mail.
ok, 1 more, was anything done to address credit scores? Credit scores are our cost of living, credit unions depend upon them + there are minimums to qualify for stuff. Yet, ask the credit union to provide you with a website that will tell us how to improve our score by x # of points, the time it will take, and is it something we can do + they don’t do it. No website. The time it will take should be under 900 years. Either give us exact directions on how to improve the score, have it be something we can do (not willing to use a rotary dial phone), or don’t subject us to credit scores. In other words, has annapolis done anything about credit scores and the reliance on them? Credit unions inadequately deal with credit scores. Credit scores are different than credit reports.