March 11, 2024

On Friday, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee unanimously voted to advance the $63 billion Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) State Operating Budget. The bipartisan proposal passed by the Committee reflects a consensus on how we can invest in Maryland’s values while maintaining our constitutional responsibility to enact a balanced budget.

Although State revenues are continuing to increase, they are being outpaced by projected expenditures. Moreover, the Board of Revenue Estimates recently projected a small write-down of $120.3 million in FY24 and $134.9 in FY25. Fortunately, the Budget and Taxation Committee built flexibility into the operating budget in anticipation of exactly this kind of fluctuation.

As a result, we are in a place of stability, without the need to raise significant revenues this year to maintain our commitments to Marylanders. As I said at my weekly press conference last Friday, it is vital that we increase our State’s economic competitiveness as a mechanism for increasing revenue before further taxing our residents. The budget on the Senate Floor this week reflects that principle.

Some highlights include:

• $9.1 billion for public pre-K to 12 schools, fully funding all Blueprint requirements;
• $5.5 billion for transportation projects, including full funding for local highway user grants;
• $1.4 billion for behavioral health services;
• $121.4 million for police aid, which is $46 million above the mandated funding level;
• $90 million for decarbonization projects to reduce our State’s greenhouse gas emissions;
• $20 million for new gun violence prevention and intervention programs, as well as community-based services for juveniles and communities; and
• A 3% increase for health care providers and funding to improve community-based provider capacity to reduce existing wait lists.

The Senate of Maryland passed Senate Joint Resolution 1 last week, affirming our commitment to the federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Although Maryland adopted a State-level ERA in our Constitution in 1972, a 28^th amendment has not yet been added to the U.S. Constitution despite the necessary three-fourths of the States having ratified the ERA.

When originally passed by Congress in 1972, the ERA included a seven-year time limit for ratification by the requisite number of states. Unfortunately, the ERA was three states short when that deadline passed. Since then, Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia ratified the ERA, but the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice issued guidance to the National Archivist stating that it did not have the responsibility of certifying the Amendment because of the original time limit.

Senate Joint Resolution 1 urges the Biden Administration to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment into the Unites States’ Constitution. The 28^th Amendment’s codification is vital to ensure equal protection of all Americans, regardless of sex, on a constitutional basis. I appreciate the sponsorship of Senator Ariana Kelly and Delegate Edith Patterson and look forward to its progression before the General Assembly adjourns in April.

Since Maryland moved to a deregulated retail energy market in 1999, there has been a proliferation in bad actors entering the market to take advantage of vulnerable residents. What was originally intended as a program to spur competition and thereby reduce cost for consumers has had the opposite effect. Instead, retail energy suppliers charged $.04 more per kilowatt hour than regulated electricity, the equivalent of a 50% increase in cost. As a result, 370,000 Maryland families paid an average of $483 more for electricity ($178 million statewide) in 2022 than they would have otherwise.

Senate Bill 1, which passed the Senate last week, creates necessary guardrails while saving Marylander’s money on their monthly utility bills and strengthening choice for consumers willing to pay a higher rate for green energy products. Specifically, Senate Bill 1:

1. Creates a structure for licensing, training, and accountability for all individuals and companies engaged in the retail energy market;
2. Enhances consumer protections through the creation of two distinct markets with limitations set depending on the type of product a company is offering; and
3. Incentivizes green energy generation and maintains consumer choice.

I am confident that this legislation will pass both chambers of the General Assembly in the coming weeks, thanks to the leadership of Senator Malcolm Augustine and Delegate Brian Crosby.

In an ever changing digital and online landscape, data privacy and consumer protections are essential. There is a critical need for robust privacy regulations and increased transparency from app and web developers regarding their data collection practices.

Fourteen states have enacted data privacy laws, including mandatory disclosures of data breaches and granting individuals greater control over the usage of their personal data. This collective effort has been the first step in bolstering consumer privacy and establishing trust in digital interactions. This year, Maryland is building on the work that these other states have initiated as we await Congressional action.

Two data privacy bills advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee last week:

• Senate Bill 541, the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024, ensures that companies are only collecting and processing data needed for a given transaction and that data is then safeguarded. Additionally, under the legislation, consumers will have the right to know what personal data is being collected by a company, whom it is being shared with, and can opt-out from their data being used without their permission.
• Senate Bill 571, the Maryland Kids Code, focuses on data protection for children and recognizes that children are the most vulnerable population on the internet. This legislation will compel tech companies to take a proactive approach to privacy and child safety by designing their products with the best interests of Maryland’s children in mind. Moreover, it ensures all default settings are set to the highest privacy level possible and provides accessible and responsive tools to help children and parents exercise their privacy rights.

I look forward to supporting both measures on the Senate Floor this week, as well as their eventual final passage before being sent to Governor Moore for his signature.

It was a pleasure to have Ms. Rhonda Waller of Benjamin Franklin High School in the 46^th District, in Annapolis on Friday so both chambers could honor her for being named the 2024 Maryland Counselor of the Year. Ms. Waller’s commitment to fostering the full potential of all students’ academic and socioemotional development is unparalleled.

Legislation to create a Center for Firearm Violence Prevention within the Maryland Department of Health passed out of the Senate Finance Committee last week. The Center will focus on data-driven public health approaches to preventing gun violence and on fostering multi-agency collaboration to support proven intervention programming.

A Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge has ruled that Maryland’s Child Victims Act is constitutional. The General Assembly passed the law to give victims of child sexual abuse the opportunity to sue their abusers and went into effect on October 1, 2023. It was challenged by the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, who is likely to appeal the Circuit Court judge’s ruling.

On Saturday, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled new stamps in Dorchester County to honor ten Underground Railroad leaders, including Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. The stamps feature the faces of those being honored, along with words embodying the principles of the network including cooperation, trust, danger, faith, and courage.

Last Session, Delegates Clippinger, Lewis, Edelson, and I passed legislation to incentivize the developer of the former Patterson Bowling Center to maintain its use as a duckpin bowling alley. I’m thrilled to see that the 95-year-old institution is one step closer to reopening this summer.

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.