Maryland
Democrats retain legislative majorities, but some seats have shuffled between parties – Maryland Matters
![Democrats retain legislative majorities, but some seats have shuffled between parties – Maryland Matters Democrats retain legislative majorities, but some seats have shuffled between parties – Maryland Matters](https://www.marylandmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AdobeStock_224275160-1.jpeg)
Democrats will retain their supermajorities within the Home of Delegates and state Senate over the following 4 years.
Regardless of the late surge of help for Republicans nationally and in sure corners of Maryland, susceptible Democrats appeared to carry on to their seats in a number of swing districts Tuesday, and the Democrats could have even made incursions into Republican districts.
However the ultimate consequence of some intently watched races is not going to be identified for a number of days, till mail-in ballots are counted in Anne Arundel County and some different locations, and a few incumbents may nonetheless wind up dropping. However these outcomes is not going to impression the general stability of legislative energy in Annapolis.
Within the legislative time period that’s winding down, Democrats held a 32-15 edge within the state Senate and a 99-42 benefit within the Home of Delegates.
Solely a handful of Senate seats had been hotly contested this fall, and in probably the most hard-fought race involving an incumbent, Democratic Sen. Katie Fry Hester seems to have prevailed over her Republican challenger, Del. Reid Novotny within the ninth District. With all Election Day precincts reporting, Hester had 54.03% of the vote whereas Novotny had 45.88%. No matter mail-in ballots are left to be counted within the district ought to favor the incumbent.
As a novice candidate 4 years in the past, Hester ousted veteran Republican lawmaker Gail Bates by a slender margin, benefiting from a heavier than regular Democratic turnout. This time, Hester could have benefited from a change in district traces that took territory out of Carroll County and changed it with a small sliver of northern Montgomery County – although Hester really carried out higher within the Howard County a part of the district than within the Montgomery piece in preliminary outcomes. The district in any other case takes within the Ellicott Metropolis space plus western Howard County.
One other first-term senator was trailing on Tuesday evening, however could have the sting when mail-in ballots are tallied.
Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) was working behind Stacie MacDonald (R), a rich businesswoman who self-funded her marketing campaign, after early voting and Election Day ballots had been counted. MacDonald had 18,034 votes for 51.18%, whereas Elfreth had 17,164 votes for 48.71%. However greater than 7,000 mail-in ballots are excellent and received’t start to be counted till Thursday. If voting patterns within the state maintain, they need to favor Elfreth by a large margin.
Democrats and Republicans could wind up splitting tight battles for 2 open Senate seats.
Within the Harford County-based thirty fourth District, former Del. Christian Miele (R), who beforehand represented Baltimore County within the Home of Delegates, seems to have edged former Del. Mary-Dulany James (D), who was making her third bid for the Senate seat, 53.63% to 46.16%. It doesn’t seem as if there are sufficient excellent mail-in ballots for James to beat Miele’s lead. He would substitute outgoing Sen. Robert Cassilly (R), who was overwhelmingly elected Harford County govt on Tuesday.
In District 33 in Anne Arundel County, the place Sen. Ed Reilly (R) is retiring after 13 years, Del. Sid Saab (R) was main legal professional Daybreak Gile (D) 52.07% to 47.82%. However there could also be sufficient uncounted mail-in ballots for Gile to prevail. This race obtained nasty within the ultimate weeks, and Saab sued Gile for slander over marketing campaign literature that the Senate Democrats’ marketing campaign committee produced.
Six new senators had been elected Tuesday:
- Michael McKay (R-Allegany) was elected within the 1st District to interchange retiring Sen. George Edwards (R-Garrett)
- Karen Lewis Younger (D-Frederick) was elected within the third District to interchange retiring Sen. Ron Younger (D), her husband
- Former Del. Invoice Folden (R-Frederick) was elected within the 4th District to interchange departing Sen. Michael Hough (R), who was main the race for Frederick County govt
- Ben Brooks (D-Baltimore County) was elected within the tenth District to interchange retiring Senate Finance Chair Delores Kelley (D)
- Former Sen. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s) received his previous seat again within the twenty sixth District following the retirement of veteran workplace holder Obie Patterson (D)
- Johnny Mautz (R-Center Shore) was elected within the thirty seventh District to interchange Sen. Adelaide Eckardt (R), whom he defeated within the GOP major in July
Shut Home races
Del. Brian Crosby’s reelection race in St. Mary’s County was a high precedence of Home Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), and he seems to have received.
In District 29B, Crosby, vice chair of the Home Financial Issues Committee, was main in his rematch with former Del. Deb Rey (R), 51.6% to 48.25%. No matter mail-in ballots have but to be counted ought to favor Crosby, who clung to a uncooked vote lead of 327.
However one other susceptible Democratic incumbent, Del. Heather Bagnall (D-Anne Arundel), gave the impression to be in bother Wednesday morning.
In District 33C, Republican Kerry Gillespie, a self-described Mama Bear, who rallied in opposition to some COVID-19 protocols and restrictions, was main Bagnall, 53.95% to 45.94%. There might not be sufficient mail-in ballots in that subdistrict for Bagnall to beat her 1,127-vote deficit.
A Republican incumbent can also be in bother: Del. Brenda Thiam (R-Washington), who was appointed to her seat in 2020, was trailing her Democratic challenger, Brooke Grossman, by 34 votes. Thiam is the primary Black girl in historical past to serve within the Home GOP Caucus.
A subdistrict inside Harford County’s thirty fourth Senate district produced one of many tightest Home races within the state, and the 2 events seem to have cut up the 2 seats. In that District 34A race, Harford County Councilmember Andre Johnson (D) was within the lead with 27.88% of the vote, adopted by former Del. Glen Glass (R), who’s making an attempt to get his previous job again, with 25.69%. Del. Steve Johnson (D) – no relation to Andre – was subsequent with 24.44%, whereas the opposite Republican, police officer Teresa Walter, was at 21.85%. It’s potential that mail-in ballots may alter the end result, however unlikely.
Democrats appear poised to choose up a seat within the two-seat Howard-Montgomery District 9A, however the consequence is not at all ultimate. Del. Trent Kittleman (R), looking for a 3rd time period, was within the lead, with 28.65%. The 2 Democrats within the race had been simply 59 votes aside – with businesswoman Natalie Ziegler at 24.46% and scientist Chao Wu at 24.35%. Republican Jianning Jenny Zeng had 22.47%.
The race to interchange retiring Del. Ned Carey (D) in a northern Anne Arundel County district that borders Baltimore Metropolis couldn’t be nearer. Republican Ashley Arias had a seven-vote lead over Democrat Gary Simmons, 3,930 votes (49.96%) to three,923 votes (49.87%). Mail-in ballots will determine the end result.
Right here’s a take a look at newly elected Home members:
- District 1A: Jim Hinebaugh (R)
- District 1C: Terry Baker (R)
- District 2A: William Valentine (R)
- District 3: Kris Truthful (D), Karen Simpson (D)
- District 4: April Fleming Miller (R)
- District 5: Christopher Bouchat (R), Chris Tomlinson (R)
- District 7A: Ryan Nawrocki (R)
- District 8: Nick Allen (D)
- District 10: N. Scott Phillips (D), Jennifer White (D)
- District 11A: Cheryl Pasteur (D)
- District 13: Pam Lanman Guzzone (D)
- District 17: Joe Vogel (D)
- District 18: Aaron Kaufman (D)
- District 23: Adrian Boafo (D), Kym Taylor (D)
- District 24: Tiffany Alston (D)*
- District 26: Jamila Woods (D)
- District 27A: Kevin Harris (D)
- District 27B: Jeffrie Lengthy (D)
- District 29C: Todd Morgan (R)
- District 33A: Andrew Pruski (D)
- District 33B: Stuart Schmidt (R)
- District 37B: Tom Hutchinson (R)
- District 42C: Joshua Stonko (R)
- District 43A: Elizabeth Embry (D)
- District 44B: Aletheia McCaskill (D)
- District 45: Jackie Addison (D), Caylin Younger (D)
- District 46: Mark Edelson (D)
- District 47B: Deni Taveras (D)
*beforehand served in 2011 and 2012
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Maryland
Declines in revenue, federal aid drive cuts in proposed transportation projects – Maryland Matters
![Declines in revenue, federal aid drive cuts in proposed transportation projects – Maryland Matters Declines in revenue, federal aid drive cuts in proposed transportation projects – Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DSC_0311-scaled.jpeg)
Transportation projects around the state will be put on hold as officials grapple with ongoing budget constraints and a growing list of expensive projects.
A combination of budget pressures has created a $1.3 billion funding gap over a six year period, which Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said forced his department to defer projects across the state.
“We just don’t have enough dollars to do what we have to do within our means. So that’s what we’ve had to do,” he said.
The agency Tuesday released a draft of its latest Consolidated Transportation Program, a six-year budget that contains $19 billion in projects around the state. Wiedefeld said the draft required tough choices to address the budget gap, a “historical issue” that continues.
Wiedefeld said the state’s transportation funding shortfall is driven, in part, by an end to federal COVID-19 aid. Other factors include inflation, increased construction costs, less than expected revenue from the state’s gas tax, and reduced federal funding.
“The biggest one we do is we take a look at our financial forecast and all the ups and downs that may occur in the financial forecast,” Wiedefeld told reporters during a briefing Friday. “And so, in doing that, what we learned was that some of the projections that we had in terms of the growth of some of our sources were not growing at that rate, particularly our largest source of revenue, the motor fuel tax. There were some others that were either not growing or remaining flat again, not growing to the level that we’d hoped for.”
Wiedefeld said that resulted in roughly a $350 million decline in projected revenues over the six-year period of fiscal 2025-2030.
“At the same time, our operating costs continue to grow at a rate a little bit more significant that we have projected,” said Wiedefeld, adding $300 million in projected costs over the six-year period.
Counties scramble for answers, options as state signals deferral of transportation requests
Additionally, lawmakers earlier this year restored proposed cuts in state aid to local governments as part of Highway User Revenues as well as proposed cuts to transit systems run by 23 counties and Baltimore City. Restoration of those proposed cuts added another $400 million over six years, Wiedefeld said.
“So those three things basically are our realities that put pressure on the financial forecast,” he said.
Finally, Wiedefeld said the amount of federal aid is falling short of expectations.
“We were pushing all the modes to really buckle down and see where else we could get federal dollars for delivering projects,” he said. “We were shooting for roughly 80% federal, 20% local match, overall for the program. Basically, we were not able to achieve that, and we’re probably not going to be able to achieve that into the future.”
Instead, Wiedefeld said the state now expects a 75-25 split. “That 5%, although it sounds small, is significant, obviously, when you think of the amount of federal dollars that would bring down,” he said.
The resulting lack of revenue means counties will see priority projects not already underway slowed down or paused
“In effect, projects that are into the future — larger projects that we want to construct — we have to slow those down in terms of the process to get them to construction, until we have available dollars to pick that back up,” Wiedefeld said.
One large project that could suffer is the proposed widening of the American Legion Bridge.
“So, on the American Legion bridge, obviously, we have the record of decision for this, you know, larger improvement there,” said Wiedefeld. “But given the stress that we’re under, we’re going to have the state highway particularly focus on the pure state of good repair issues around the American Legion bridge.”
The state applied for a federal grant to help pay for the costs of repairing “structural issues with the bridge,” he said. “So that’s where we’ll be focusing,” Wiedefeld said.
News of the delays was delivered to county leaders by Wiedefeld and transportation officials during the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference last month.
The transportation secretary said he will also seek to slow down the purchase of zero-emissions buses in the coming years, as some major bus manufacturers are having issues with the performance of electric buses, as well as availability.
Moore warns of difficult fiscal decisions ahead
A new clean diesel bus costs the state $750,000. A hybrid bus costs about $1 million each. A new electric bus costs $1.4 million each.
“So, as you play that over the program period, if you defer that, it actually saves a lot of dollars,” Wiedefeld said. “It allows us not to dig deeper into operating cuts, that we would have to do, or system preservation cuts.”
Wiedefeld said he will not request cuts to his department’s operating budget as he did last year when he cut 8% across the board. He will also not request cuts to county aid or local transit networks.
“What we’ve done is we’ve gone through all those projects, and we’re going to defer those projects at a logical deferred point,” Wiedefeld said. “So basically, some of those projects were in different levels of study. We want to make sure that they stop at a point where we don’t lose any of the effort that we had done, but we don’t have the available funds right now to continue those projects. What you’ll see in the capital program is basically those projects that will be deferred.”
A year ago, Wiedefeld proposed cuts to county shares of highway user revenues and to local transportation networks.
Highway user revenues — decimated in cuts more than a decade ago — had yet to be restored to previous levels. Proposed cuts, nixed this spring by the General Assembly, would have eliminated planned increases in future years.
“Even so, the fiscal 2025 funding for HUR (highway user revenues) falls significantly short of Maryland’s appropriate and historic funding levels, even without adjusting for inflation,” the association of county governments said in a post on its website. “This gap becomes even more pronounced when accounting for rising road maintenance and materials costs.”
The association said it would continue to seek restoration of state highway aid.
“MACo and county leaders will continue urging Maryland policymakers to advance a sustainable plan to address critical infrastructure needs across the state,” the group said in its statement. “Proper restoration of the HUR formula should be a priority in advancing solutions that create sensible and reliable support for all locally maintained roadways.”
Maryland
University System of Maryland to only allow university-sponsored events on October 7
![University System of Maryland to only allow university-sponsored events on October 7 University System of Maryland to only allow university-sponsored events on October 7](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/937564c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5312x2789+0+100/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F16%2F61%2F70999d9446deb2038878edb3108f%2Fumd-administration-building-2015-1.jpg)
University of Maryland President William Pines announced this weekend that only university-sponsored activities “that promote reflection” will be held on October 7th.
The day will mark one year since Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. Israel retaliated, declaring war on Hamas, which has resulted in more than 40,000 people dead, according to Gaza health officials.
This came after the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group had reserved the McKeldin Mall and Jewish organizations on campus had reserved Hornbake Plaza on October 7th to mark the day.
The announcement cancels both of these events.
“Jointly, out of an abundance of caution,” wrote Pines in an email to the campus community, “we concluded to host only university-sponsored events that promote reflection on this day. All other expressive events will be held prior to October 7, and then resume on October 8 in accordance with time, place and manner considerations of the First Amendment.”
This policy is in place for all University System of Maryland Schools.
“The intent is not to abridge students’ right to free expression; the intent is, instead, to be sensitive to the needs of our students. Our university communities may use this day to safely come together to reflect and to share, to learn and to listen, and, yes, to challenge one another. That’s the premise—and the promise—of higher education.”
-University System of Maryland Statement
SJP wrote in a statement on its Instagram account: “We as Students for Justice in Palestine are deeply angered, though not surprised, by the University of Maryland administration’s decision to cancel our reservation for a vigil at McKeldin Mall on October 7th.”
It continues, “Rest assured that we will find ways to mark this one year of genocide and one year of resistance.”
University of Maryland students worried about antisemitism on campus
The Jewish Student Union also posted a statement to its Instagram account.
“We are reassured to learn that Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland will no longer be permitted to host their event on McKeldin Mall, or anywhere on campus, on October 7th,” the organization writes.
“Only university-sponsored events will occur on October 7th,” they continued. “While this is not an ideal situation, it ensures that our physical and psychological safety is protected on this day of grief.”
In the email from Pines, he noted that a safety assessment had been done and that there was “no immediate or active threat.”
The Jewish Student Union added that they would be holding an event to memorialize the day at Maryland Hillel, a center for Jewish life and students, which is located just off campus.
The UMD Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace also released a statement standing with SJP “in their anger with the university admin’s decision to cancel our registration to hold a joint vigil on October 7th.”
The email from Pines added that “we encourage our entire community to mark the anniversary of October 7 with remembrance and reflection.”
At the moment, it’s unclear what university-sponsored events will take place on October 7th, at the College Park campus.
Maryland
Best Online Colleges In Maryland Of 2024
![Best Online Colleges In Maryland Of 2024 Best Online Colleges In Maryland Of 2024](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Maryland-1.jpg)
Pro Tip
Ensure that your prospective college offers globally recognized credentials if you plan to further your education or practice internationally.
Consider Your Future Goals
Considering your goals when choosing an online college helps you select a program that fits your current needs and prepares you for long-term success.
If you intend to work right after graduation, choose a program that aligns with your desired career path. Look for concentrations or specialized tracks that can provide in-depth knowledge in your field.
However, if you plan to pursue further education such as a master’s or doctoral degree, ensure that credits from your online college are transferable to other schools. Also ensure that the college’s credentials are globally recognized, if you intend to work or study abroad.
Understand Your Expenses and Financing Options
Online colleges in Maryland (particularly private institutions), can be quite expensive, compared to other online schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average undergraduate tuition and required fees for four-year public schools is $9,750 per year; meanwhile, enrollees in four-year private colleges may pay north of $38,000 per year.
If private university tuition is out of your budget, consider enrolling in a state-owned online school such as the University of Maryland Global Campus, which only requires about $8,000 in annual tuition and fees.
Aside from seeking affordable online programs, here are other ways to fund your college education:
- Complete the FAFSA®
- Apply for institutional scholarships
- Take a private student loan
- Enroll in a work-study program
- Ask your employer about a tuition reimbursement program
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