January 22, 2024

Last Wednesday, the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) received Governor Moore’s proposed Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Operating and Capital budgets. As introduced, the Governor’s budget leads with Maryland values and provides the Senate and House budget committees with a strong product to work from. Our most important task is to pass a FY25 budget that ensures safer communities and prioritizes investments in our economic future.

I was glad to see the Governor’s budget restore transportation funding originally cut through the Consolidated Transportation Plan to ensure that Marylanders have critical access to employment, healthcare, and other basic services. Although backfilling transportation funding through the State’s General Fund is not sustainable in the long-term, it’s the right move on a temporary basis until the Maryland Commission on Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs can complete its work in the upcoming year. 

Some of the transportation funding restored includes:  

• $28 million in MTA commuter bus funding to maintain service on the highest-ridership routes;
• $15 million for “state of good repair” needs within the Maryland Transit Administration;
• $8 million for the MARC Brunswick Line;
• $5 million for information technology and cybersecurity upgrades within the Maryland Department of Transportation;
• Funding so MVA  branches can maintain hours while keeping limited-service branches open at locations in Baltimore and Montgomery Counties; and 
• $2 million for contractual services at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Beyond transportation funding, we will continue to prioritize investments in our public schools, access to healthcare, affordable housing, and fighting the climate crisis. I will highlight some of those efforts in upcoming newsletters.

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee held a series of briefings last week to examine the often confusing and contradictory factors driving the increase in youth crime across Maryland. Over three days, the Committee heard powerful testimony and observations from the Department of Juvenile Services, State’s Attorneys from across the State, medical practitioners on the front lines of trauma care, members of the Judiciary, and educators struggling to combat an epidemic of chronic truancy. 

Government’s highest purpose is ensuring residents feel safe and, more importantly, are safe in their homes and in their communities. These briefings emphasized what I’ve been saying for months around the juvenile justice reform package passed by the MGA in 2022. Although there are improvements to make to that legislation to ensure its implementation achieves the intended outcomes, there are immediate operational changes that executive agencies must make today to enhance public safety.

Beyond youth crime, we are taking a hard look at our criminal justice laws more generally. The murder of Pava LaPere, an incredible tech leader in Baltimore City, revealed a weakness in our early release system. The Pava Marie LaPere Act that was recently introduced will address how diminution credits are evaluated before a repeat sexual offender is released back into the community. Passage of that legislation is personal priority before we adjourn in April.

As we focus on public safety as a top priority, we cannot lose sight of the root causes that drive crime. We will not see real change until we ensure all Marylanders, including children, have access to quality education, safe and consistent housing, mental health services, and family support.

This is a particularly fraught moment for the Jewish community in Maryland and across the nation. As the legislature pursues strategies to combat antisemitism and encourage intersectionality, I look forward to working with the newly formed Maryland Jewish Legislative Caucus.

The Jewish Caucus will be an important force in the General Assembly to combat hate, collaborate with diverse partners, and celebrate Jewish culture and heritage. Senator Shelly Hettleman will serve as Senate co-chair and Delegate Jared Solomon will serve as co-chair for the House of Delegates.

I was grateful to the Jewish Caucus for their leadership in organizing families of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas visiting Annapolis on Thursday. Their presence and stories are a powerful reminder of the pain that so many in our Maryland community are still experiencing over 100 days after the October 7 attack. I sincerely hope for a quick end to the hostilities, the protection of innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza, and the safe return of the hostages, including the family members of these brave Marylanders.

I was shocked to learn that a Republican member of Maryland’s Board of Elections was arrested on charges of participating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Carlos Ayala allegedly stormed the Capitol wearing a “Stop the Steal” button and carrying a flag with an image of an M-16-style rifle during the insurrection.  

There is nothing more important to the preservation of our Democracy than the sanctity and integrity of our democratic process. After the chaos and distrust sewn over the last several years, we must do everything possible to instill trust in our electoral system ahead of the Presidential Primary and General Election. Thankfully, Mr. Ayala has since resigned from the State Board of Elections.

Maryland will receive two major federal investments to support green energy and key infrastructure projects. An $80 million award from the U.S. Department of Transportation Mega Grant Program will be used for improvements around the toll plaza and Interchange of the I-895 Baltimore Harbor Tunnel in the 46th Legislative District. The grant, which will be supported by an investment from the State, will fund the installation of a high-speed toll collection system that will enhance traffic flow while providing improved access to rail and port facilities.

In addition, a $15 million grant, administered by the Maryland Clean Energy Center,  will be used to build 58 electric vehicle charging stations in disadvantaged communities across the State. Electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, but a lack of charging stations remains a barrier, especially in historically underinvested communities. As part of this funding, West Baltimore’s Coppin State University will get two stations. I am proud of the work done by our Maryland Congressional Delegation who advocated for these critical projects for our State.

The entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider a challenge to Maryland’s 2013 handgun qualification law. That common-sense legislation requires a gun purchaser in the State to be 21 years old, submit fingerprints, and undergo a background check. In November, the majority of a three-judge panel said the State failed to justify the law based on Maryland’s historical regulation of firearms, a new and convoluted standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruen.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will plant 147 million juvenile oysters in the upper Chesapeake Bay thanks to mitigation funds from the 2022 grounding of the container ship Ever Forward. Evergreen Marine Corporation was ordered to pay DNR almost $700,000 to fund oyster bar seeding to mitigate the impacts of the event on the Bay.

Jonathan Daniels, former CEO of the port of Broward County, Florida, will become the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) in early-February. The MPA oversees six state-owned marine terminals at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. Mr. Daniels was chosen through a national recruitment process with an executive search committee and maritime executive search firm.

The storied Baltimore Sun has been purchased by David Smith, executive chair of Sinclair Inc., the company that owns Fox45 as well as more than 200 TV stations across the country.

The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) has cleared two major hurdles in its quest to exit a Federal Consent Decree sparked by the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in 2015. BPD instituted policy changes, training, and other reforms that have largely remade the agency since it first began working toward compliance on the Consent Decree. There is still work to be done, including data analysis on police stops, searches, and the administration of overtime practices.

A new park has opened in Baltimore to honor the late Congressman Elijah Cummings. "Elijah's Park” features a playground, a sculptural pavilion, a large oval lawn with trees and native plants, and a mosaic inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. The beloved Congressman’s daughter Jennifer issued a statement, saying, “I am grateful to the Baltimore Peninsula team and the City of Baltimore for commemorating his dedication to and representation of the city he loved so deeply.”

If there is anything we can do to help, please do not hesitate to contact my office via email, bill.ferguson@senate.state.md.us, or by phone, 410-841-3600.