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February 6, 2026

Centreville Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville

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Gas Tax Could Become a relic as Commission Eyes New Revenue Streams

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Maryland’s gas tax may one day become a relic if substitutes being considered by a new state transportation commission get traction.

Decreases in revenues flowing to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund could trigger dramatic changes in how the state pays for future road and transportation projects. Moving to a surcharge based on the number of miles driven is one change the state’s new Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission could suggest to the legislature over the next two years.

“The motor fuel tax in America, at best, is a system at risk,” said Ed Regan, a transportation consultant who spoke to the panel. “It served us well for 100 years. It’s an efficient proxy for direct user fee the more you drive the more you pay. But its days are numbered, both through increasing fuel efficiency, and most importantly, a dramatic shift toward fully electric vehicles.”

Frank Principe, chair of the Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

The 31-member commission led by Chair Frank Principe Jr. held its inaugural meeting Thursday.

Over the next 18-months, the panel will endeavor to reimagine how transportation projects are prioritized and paid for in Maryland.

The commission will “have to wrestle with some tough issues, to be quite frank,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.

An interim report and recommendations to the legislature are due in January 2024. A final report and recommendations are due a year later.

Fuel sales in Maryland are on the decline. In 2020, during the start of the pandemic, total fuel sales declined 18% compared to 2019. Sales of gasoline fell by 20% during the same period.

Despite increases in the last two years, total fuel sales in 2022 was still more than 5% lower than in 2019. Gasoline sales remain more than 4% lower than 2019.

“So it seems like you reached peak fuel,” Regan told the commission. “I’ve been making this kind of presentation for a long time, and I’ve always had a forecast where we’re going to grow up to a certain point and then it will start to decline. The decline is here. We are headed down.”

More fuel-efficient vehicles and the growing adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles have driven that decrease to a degree. Maryland ranks 12 in the country in the number of electric vehicles per 1,000 people. Registration of those vehicles in Maryland is expected to increase in the coming years.

Earlier this year, Gov. Wes Moore (D) said all new car sales in Maryland by 2035 must be electric vehicles.

The trust fund is also hurt by reduced new vehicle titling taxes. That reduction is the result of people keeping their existing cars longer.

One idea on the table is a move away from the gas tax to a surcharge on miles driven.

Regan said technology that tracks where vehicles are and for how long could make such a surcharge more precise, particularly when it comes to interstate commuting. It could also open the door to variable rates based on congestion. A tax based on reporting an odometer reading would not be as precise, he said.

Three states — Oregon, Utah, and Virginia — impose some form of road usage charges. Hawaii is expected to follow suit. California is considering replacing its gas tax with a surcharge on miles driven.

“You can certainly see that things potentially are going to go that way,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore).

But lawmakers would have to resolve thorny issues including privacy rights and concerns about the government tracking and collecting data on the movements of drivers.

“You have to fix the privacy issue first,” he said. “And that might be a long way to go.”

Maryland, as with other states, is grappling with declining fuel tax revenues. The tax, now 47-cents per gallon, makes up nearly a quarter of the state’s Transportation Trust fund.

In 2013, Principe was chief of staff to then-Transportation Secretary Jim Smith. That year the legislature passed its first gas tax increase in two decades.

“Back then the primary focus was on raising the necessary funding,” Principe said. “Now this commission will look at even greater and larger picture that’s in front of us.”

A decade ago, the legislature passed the first increase in Maryland’s gas tax rate in 20 years. The law mandated automatic annual increases tied to the rate of inflation. The bill also dedicated the funding for transportation. The so-called lock box could only be tapped for other purposes in an extreme fiscal emergency. And then it would require the approval of a supermajority of the General Assembly.

Republicans and Moore dislike the automatic increase, albeit for different reasons.

Republicans want a vote each time the tax is raised, seeking to use the issue as a cudgel against Democrats.

Moore earlier this year irritated members of his own party by calling for an end to the automatic increases because it disproportionately affects working families.

Despite the increases, the number and cost of projects outstrips funding. This year, legislators estimated about $400 million in general funds would be used to subsidize transportation projects including the Purple Line.

Legislative budget analysts, in a recent report, note a 10-year shortfall of nearly $4 billion in the fund.

“Frankly, we need to invest at a level that’s greater than current resources provide,” Wiedefeld said.

Wiedefeld said his department faces a $100 million deficit in the coming fiscal year. The gap over the next six years is expected to top $2.1 billion.

None of that includes proposals to resurrect the east-west Red Line project in Baltimore or rebuilding the American Legion Bridge and easing congestion along the Capital Beltway or other large transportation projects.

“This commission offers us a reality check, an opportunity to look at our practices with a fresh perspective to deliver upon the governor’s vision to leave no one behind,” said Wiedefeld. “As we work together, we’ll see the investments needed to transform the state’s transportation system far outweigh our current resources. We’ll also see opportunities to modernize MDOT and the state’s transportation system.”

By Bryan P. Sears

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Sweet: To preserve the Bay, EPA and Hershey commit $2 million for Pennsylvania Farmers

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Hershey Co. on Tuesday pledged $2 million to support Pennsylvania dairy farmers in adopting environmentally friendly practices, part of a larger conservation effort to protect the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

They made the announcement at Central Manor Dairy in Manor Township, a 200-cow operation that has been a member of Land O’Lakes (and its predecessor) since 1943.

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, in collaboration with Land O’Lakes, Inc., will use the funding as part of the ongoing “Sustainable Dairy PA” initiative that the agency and the two companies first launched in 2021.

Sustainable Dairy PA participating farmers work with the Alliance to establish best practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve Chesapeake Bay watershed water quality. At launch, the initiative prioritized 119 Land O’Lakes member-owner farms in central Pennsylvania that ship 50% or more of their milk supply to Hershey. Land O’Lakes operates as a member-owned cooperative, representing more than 1,000 farms across the U.S.

Jenna Mitchell Beckett, Pennsylvania director and agriculture program director for the Alliance, told the Capital-Star that the Sustainable Dairy PA program is voluntary for farmers who want to participate.

“The $2M funding from Hershey and EPA will help Land O’Lakes member farms accelerate their sustainability efforts by investing with them in the implementation of manure storage facilities, soil health practices, riparian forest buffers and other efforts to enhance sustainability on farms supplying to Hershey,” Beckett said in an email, “which builds farm resilience, improves water quality, and reduces emissions.” The Sustainable Dairy PA model focuses on all parts of the supply chain working together, she added, rather than the farmers managing everything themselves.

The EPA is supplying $1 million of the new round of funding, with Hershey providing a matching $1 million. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will administer the portion of the funds provided from EPA to the Alliance, the EPA said.

Since 2018, the Alliance has worked to develop agriculture supply chain programs, with an eye toward improving the member farms’ long-term sustainability, improving soil health, and overall efficiencies.

A report released earlier this year by the Chesapeake Bay Program found that pollution reduction efforts by states in the watershed were “more challenging than expected.”

Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia are responsible for around 90% of the Chesapeake Bay’s pollution, and according to a 2022 report from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, while the states were on track to meet their 2025 commitments for reducing pollution from wastewater, agriculture or urban and suburban runoff pollution reduction efforts lagged behind.

“States are not on track to reduce pollution to the levels needed for a healthy Bay, or implement the practices necessary to achieve them by the 2025 deadline,” according to the 2022 State of the Blueprint Report.

Under the terms of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, New York, and the District of Columbia have to reach specific milestones in pollution reduction.

The dairy industry is responsible for roughly 2% of the U.S.’ greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

“EPA’s funding commitment to Hershey, Land O’Lakes, and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay brings $2 million of much-needed support to Pennsylvania dairy farmers to scale up conservation practices that are good for our farms, climate, local streams, and the Bay,” EPA regional administrator Adam Ortiz said. “With this funding, we are not only investing in the current environment, but into the long-term viability of Pennsylvania farmers – our frontline environmentalists.”

By Kim Lyons

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The value of MACo and Some Suggestions for Improvements by Josh Kurtz

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The parking lot at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City was two-thirds empty at 11:15 on Saturday morning, just as Gov. Wes Moore (D) was beginning his closing address to the Maryland Association of Counties summer convention.

The lightly attended speech highlighted one of the major flaws of the four-day MACo conference — an annual event that has become the Woodstock of Maryland politics, in the best and worst ways.

To average Marylanders, MACo must seem like a taxpayer-funded junket at the beach for their local and state leaders — and in some ways, that’s just what it is. So taxpayers are right to view the conference skeptically when they are subsidizing registration fees, meals and exorbitant Ocean City hotel room bills for government employees.

But the information provided at the MACo sessions, and the intel exchanged in the convention center’s hallways and at the countless receptions around town, are invaluable. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many of the conversations, official and unofficial, will lead to meaningful legislation, policy initiatives and changes in government management practices in the months and years ahead. Not to mention that they can cement enduring personal relationships and political alliances.

Moore summed up the MACo vibe pretty well during his speech Saturday.

“We come to MACo to celebrate Maryland,” he said. “To soak in the beauty of our communities. To prove that business casual can actually mean flip-flops! I’ve never seen more county executives rock shorts in my entire life. Even the ones who shouldn’t!

“But if there’s one thing I’ll take away from my first summer MACo as governor, it’s this: In every meeting — in every session — I’ve witnessed a tireless spirit of partnership. We are a state that doesn’t just welcome partnership, we need it. We thrive on it. And I’m grateful for it.”

Some of the value of attending MACo is incalculable and hard to define, if someone were demanding an audit of the public benefits and what elected officials and government bureaucrats — and by extension, the taxpayers — are getting for the investment.

Like all others, this year’s MACo was chock-full of interesting and beneficial panel discussions on every conceivable topic that government leaders need to know and think about, from broadband to the opioid crisis to climate resiliency, and everything in between.

But like so many aspects of Maryland government, MACo has also become another opportunity — a prime opportunity — for corporate interests to get themselves in front of policymakers.

The convention center’s Exhibition Hall, with almost 250 contractors, vendors and government agencies peddling their dizzying array of products and services, is one thing. In fact, visiting each and every booth during the course of the conference and trying to absorb what they are pitching could occupy a convention-goer’s entire time at MACo.

But more subtly, some of the panel discussions are now sponsored by special interests, and those can at times turn into infomercials rather than frank discussions. They at least seem like an attempt to steer a policy conversation in a way most favorable to the sponsors. These are often entities that already have robust lobbying corps in Annapolis and at the local levels, and MACo has become just another entrée to powerbrokers and policymakers.

No doubt these sponsorships have helped make MACo the robust organization it has become. But it means some of the policy discussions have to be viewed with a jaundiced eye.

Then there are the more than two dozen parties, receptions and political fundraisers that took place in Ocean City separate from the official conference program. Many of these are sponsored by lobbying firms and their clients.

There is a FOMO quality to all the social events at MACo, and it’s apparent that some people flock to Ocean City during MACo week just to do the party circuit, without ever registering for the conference or visiting the convention hall.

But let’s be clear: it’s rarely the hardworking bureaucrats and county administrators who are hitting all these parties. It’s the elected officials, who want to see and be seen, who have become a little too used to being catered to during the 90-day legislative session in Annapolis, who are the regulars at these gatherings, racing from one function to another, even though they all tend to blend together.

An ambitious party-goer would have to have the superpower of time travel to make it to every last social gathering. That’s why the ones that take place at the end of the night in Ocean City are so well attended: because there’s nowhere else to be and there’s one last open bar to savor.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D) — who is in line to become the next MACo president at year’s end — tried something novel this year, hosting a reception on Tuesday night, before the conference even started, at a pizza place fittingly called Johnny’s. The well-attended reception effectively stretched the conference by several hours.

Olszewski may have been on to something. The conference as it’s structured now stuffs a lot until into a relatively short period of time — both with the official program and the displays in the Exhibition Hall and all the extracurricular activities. Does it make sense to make the conference a day or two longer, even with the added expense of an extra night or two in an Ocean City hotel?

Clearly all the partying — which as recently as 20 years ago was not a staple of MACo — contributes to the sparse attendance at the governor’s Saturday morning speech. When there were just a couple of evening receptions in the course of the week, the governor’s speech was much better attended, and convention-goers were a lot less burned out.

Or is it time to dispense with that tradition and give the governor the keynote slot on Thursday morning? That would effectively enable the governor to set the tone for the bulk of the conference — keeping people buzzing and keeping donors, who are now a regular presence in Ocean City during MACo week, ever more engaged. It may not be a perfect solution, but more than a few conference attendees mentioned it last week as a possible alternative.

No administration wants to have the governor deliver their message to a half-empty room where gubernatorial aides serve as claques and others are nursing a hangover, pining for the beach, thinking about their tee time, or plotting their exit from Ocean City.

For years, national political pundits have wondered why Republicans and Democrats continue to hold their quadrennial national conventions, even though all the drama and uncertainty was drained from them 50 years ago. Yes, they have become slick television productions spotlighting the presidential nominees and other rising stars. But behind the scenes, there is still something of value going on.

Just as there is value to any mass gathering of professionals in a specific field, there is something affirming, uplifting and informational in a mass gathering of the nation’s political clan, however antiquated the national conventions themselves have become.

In that respect, MACo has the same value and charm. But just as the cookie-cutter, Brutalist and moldy hotels of decades past in Ocean City are slowly giving way to hipper and airier alternatives, is it time to retool the MACo summer conference, if only a little?

Josh Kurtz is the founding editor of Maryland Matters.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Maryland Schools Show Improvements but Achievement Gaps Remain

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Maryland’s latest standardized testing results show major improvements in English and slight increases in math proficiency within the state’s public schools, but there remain achievement gaps between white students and those of Black and Latino descent.

The state Department of Education released test results Tuesday from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP), which students took during the 2022-23 school year.

The data are from tests taken by students in grades three through eight in math, English language arts and science. Schools administered the science tests from March 6 to March 24 and math and language arts tests from April 3 to May 26.

Student test scores improved in English language arts and math compared to scores on tests students took in spring 2022, which was the first full statewide assessment since students returned to in-person instruction after many spent much time in virtual schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The math results don’t exceed test scores from the 2018-19 school year, or pre-pandemic. A shortened version of the test was administered two years ago to assess how students fared during online instruction.

The MCAP is among factors that determine the state’s annual report card and school star rating system. New reports were last issued in March, the first time the state issued the annual report card since 2019 because of the pandemic.

While high-level analyses were shared with the State Board of Education on Tuesday, school-level results will be released on the Maryland Report Card site in late September.

Besides assessing MCAP results from math and language arts, state officials also broke down data on students in fifth and eighth grade who took science tests and on students in 10th grade English and students enrolled in Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Geometry.

State Boardmember Joan Mele-McCarthy said she had hoped that more students who are English learners and students with disabilities would score proficient in English language arts.

Almost 12% of students with disabilities scored as proficient in English language arts, versus 11% last year. But there was a slight decline in English learners who scored proficient, down from 13% last year to about 12%.

“All this money we are pumping into general [education]…We need to be thinking about these groups of learners and look at the kids who are economically disadvantaged,” Mele-McCarthy said. “I look at these stats all the time and I am not celebrating. I am not admonishing anyone. I’m just being passionate here.”

Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury said planned funding from the state’s Blueprint from Maryland’s Future should help all students. Also, the percentage of students with disabilities and English learners who scored proficient was higher than in the 2018-19 school year when 8% of each group scored proficient in language arts.

“I would not say that there has not been any progress. I would challenge that premise. We have made a lot of gains,” he said. “At the end of the day, we need to up our game.”

Here’s a summary of data comparisons from some test results this year and MCAP data the state released last year.

English language arts

Overall, nearly 47% of all students in third to eighth grades scored on a proficient level in 2023, an improvement over 2022 when about 44% scored proficient.

A graph from Maryland State Department of Education showing percentage of students proficient in English language arts. Screenshot.

In terms of race, 34% of Black students scored proficient versus 31% last year. Among students the state designated as Latino/Hispanic 31% scored proficient compared with 29% last school year.

The achievement gaps for Black and Latino students are still significant, compared with 63% of white and nearly 75% of Asian students scoring proficient. Last year, about 59% of white students and 73% of Asian students scored proficient.

Among third to eighth grade students from the state’s 24 school systems who took the test this year, Worcester County schools recorded the highest percentage, at 68%, who were proficient in English language arts. For Worcester, that was a 4 percentage point increase from last year.

Although Baltimore schools recorded a nearly 5 percentage point increase from last year, the city still recorded the lowest percentage in the state at 25%.

One of the biggest increases came in the number of students statewide who took and were tested on the high school course labeled “English 10.” This year, about 73,422 students took the test and 53.5% scored proficient. That is about the same percentage who scored proficient last year when 68,823 students took the test.

“What we’re doing in literacy is working. We just need to master it,” Choudhury said.

Math

In math, nearly 25% of third-to-eighth-grade students scored proficient in 2023. It represents an almost 3 percentage point increase from test scores in the spring 2022.

A graph from Maryland State Department of Education showing percentage of students proficient in math. Screenshot.

In terms of race, 12% of Black and Latino students recorded a proficient level in math, about two percentage points higher than last year.

About 40% of white students were proficient in math, nearly three percentage points higher than last year. Math proficiency also increased three percentage points among Asian students rising from 53% to 56%.

Baltimore recorded, at 9%, the lowest percentage of students in grades three through eight who were proficient in math, but it was an improvement for the city of two percentage points from last year.

Worcester County students recorded the highest percentage of students who scored proficient, at 47%, a 10 percentage increase from last year.

Of about 74,400 students who took Algebra 1 and were tested this year, 17% scored proficient. Last year, of 76,608 students, 14% scored proficient.

Board Vice President Joshua Michael, a former math teacher, praised the slight improvements in math. However, he called the results “sobering.”

Although math proficiency percentages remain below pre-pandemic levels, Choudhury said there remains hope.

“Is it working in each individual school? No. It is in the aggregate,” he said. “This is not mission accomplished. We have work to do.”

By William J. Ford

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Moore Says Maryland Must Reckon with Structural Challenges

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Gov. Wes Moore (D) discusses the guiding philosophies that his administration will lean on in order to improve a challenging economic landscape in Maryland on Aug. 19, 2023. Photo by Danielle J. Brown.

Listing concerns about Maryland’s future economic outlook, Gov. Wes Moore (D) made it clear to state and county officials Saturday that there may be some hard fiscal decisions coming up in the next state budget, both for them and for himself as governor.

“It’s going to take the discipline of elected officials at the state and the local government…and yes, it is going to take the discipline of the governor. As much as I want to say ‘yes,’ you’re going to hear some ‘no’s,’” he told assembled state and county leaders at the closing address for the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City.

He did not get into specifics as to what the ‘no’s’ may entail — budget cuts, local project vetoes, or other options. Instead he focused on rallying the MACo attendees to work together in order to help the state reach its full economic potential.

Moore’s remarks come about a month after the Department of Legislative Services issued a report detailing state structural budget deficits that loom after his first General Assembly session, during which most of his legislative efforts were passed by a Democratic majority in Annapolis.

Deficits projected in the report for 2028 exceed $1 billion and approach levels not seen since The Great Recession.

Most of the state’s annual budget is pre-set by prior legislative mandates, and top Moore officials noted recently that 17 of the last 20 budgets have required cuts to balance.

He argued that the projections of Maryland facing economic troubles have been projected for several years, including under then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R).

“Since at least 2017, the Department of Legislative Services has been forecasting structural budget deficits. Those projections were made under the last administration — not this one. Those are their numbers, not ours,” Moore said.

The governor did not mention that an influx of federal pandemic funding in the last three years meant analysts had projected moderate surpluses earlier this year. When Moore introduced his budget in January, legislative analysts projected hundreds of millions in structural surpluses — $232 million and $263 million in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 respectively.

It is now projected that the fiscal 2025 budget will start with a $418 million deficit.

But top Moore administration officials stood by some of the pieces of legislation that have cut future revenue projections, including a measure that enhanced existing tax credits for some military retirees, a permanent extension of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and an acceleration of the state’s minimum wage to $15.

Those are the types of investments, top aides said, that are critical to strengthening the competitiveness of the state’s economy and families’ financial well-being.

Other budget pressures pre-date the new governor, including the General Assembly’s push for a 10-year multi-billion-dollar education reform plan, which legislative analysts have highlighted as a contributor to the projected deficits.

Moore said Saturday that the inflated federal funding that helped states weather the pandemic is expiring and contributing to the economic struggles Maryland is facing.

“The trouble underneath the surface was masked by federal cash and big stock gains during COVID,” he said. “Maryland and every other state in the nation has benefited from billions of dollars in federal money to get us through the COVID emergency. That the state of Maryland and every other state have benefited from record highs in the stock market brought in tax revenue to keep the budget healthy. But we all knew that those days would not last forever.”

The governor offered some silver linings for the uncertain state economic outlook by noting accomplishments he said will help push the economy forward, including the minimum wage increase, investing in transportation infrastructure, and keeping $2.5 billion available in the rainy day fund.

Moore and his top officials say the state has untapped potential as one of the most educated and diverse states in the country, with resources like the port of Baltimore and more than 70 federal laboratories.

By addressing broader economic conditions — the state’s economy grew at less than half of the national pace over the last decade and Maryland’s population is growing slower than neighboring states — the state’s revenue condition could improve, Moore said.

An improved economy would be key to greater income and corporate tax revenues, according to the administration. In 2022, Maryland’s personal income grew at 1.3%, while national wages went up 2.4%. (Though the state has the highest median household income in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.)

During his closing address, Moore outlined a handful of guiding principles he believes will lead to a healthier budget outlook down the line, though he did not offer specific actionable steps his administration will take.

“We’re going to be prudent. We’re going to be data driven, and we will prioritize our spending in a way that strengthens our economic engine. Not just for the now, but for the future,” he said. “And discipline — discipline will be the thing that pushes us forward. The discipline to be collaborative. The discipline to be innovative. The discipline to choose the hard thing, instead of the easy thing.”

He claimed that if Maryland is able to pull itself out of its economic stagnation, neighboring states such as Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware will “will look at what we did, and they will envy our strength.”

“This is Maryland’s time. And our greatness will be won here, in this moment, together, in partnership,” Moore concluded.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the state’s fiscal outlook, the room of MACo attendees gave the governor a standing ovation following his remarks.

By Danielle J. Brown and Danielle E. Gaines

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Lawmakers and Regulators Contemplating Changes to Cannabis Law

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Maryland’s cannabis industry is less than two months old and lawmakers and regulators are already contemplating tweaks in the coming General Assembly session.

Since July, the new recreational adult use industry has recorded sales of almost $90 million. The expectation is that sales will surpass $1 billion.

Will Tilburg, acting director of the Maryland Cannabis Administration, said the new law — which runs roughly 100 pages — was an attempt to learn from the mistakes of other states that legalized recreational use before Maryland.

“There’s nothing we’ve seen that is raising alarms that needs to be fixed,” said Tilburg. “I think everybody, the governor’s office, Cannabis Administration, ATCC (Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission), and the legislators are evaluating everything to see if there’s stuff. ”

But Tilburg and Senate Finance Committee Chair Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s) told local leaders at the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference that some tweaks are likely when the legislature returns to Annapolis in less than five months.

Tilburg called the new law “comprehensive” but added that “it’s not perfect.”

“I mean, alcohol was legalized 90 years ago with the repeal of prohibition,” said Tilburg. “Every year, there’s a few hundred bills related to the alcohol industry. So, we do expect that this year in the 2024 session and moving forward, we will see additional legislation to tweak this industry.”

Griffith agreed.

“I don’t think there’s any possibility we get through the ’24 session without some tweaking on the cannabis,” Griffith said. “This is not going to be ‘We fixed it and we’ve solved all the issues and we’ll never have a bill on this subject again.’”

Speaking to Maryland Matters, neither Tilburg nor Griffith could immediately offer specifics.

This fall, the state is expected to roll out its first tranche of licenses aimed at bringing racially diverse licensees into the burgeoning industry.

Historically, the state has faced difficulties in finding ways to ensure diverse participation. A first round of licenses in the medical cannabis industry resulted in lawsuits after no minority owners were awarded licenses.

Additionally, law enforcement continues to look for ways to enforce driving under the influence laws in the absence of a roadside test that can determine intoxication in the way that standard breath tests are used in cases involving alcohol.

New restrictions barring searches based on the smell of cannabis are hampering the interdiction of illegal guns, according to Maj. Zachary O’Lare, Prince George’s County Police Department operations commander.

Gun seizures in Prince George’s County are down 49% since July 1. Prince George’s County Police Department Maj. Zachary O’Lare attributed the decline to a new law that prohibits searches based on the odor of cannabis. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

In 2022, the Prince George’s County Police Department reported 1,237 handgun violation arrests. Roughly 40% of those were tied to searches in which the odor of cannabis was the probable cause for the search, O’Lare said.

O’Lare said in the six weeks since cannabis was legalized, illegal gun seizures are down 49%.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said his department is seeing similar decreases.

In Prince George’s County, O’Lare said the hope is a focus on identifying impaired drivers will increase gun seizures.

Whether or not the legislature takes up the controversial issue of cannabis-related searches remains to be seen.

House Economic Matters Chair Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) told members of the Maryland Municipal League that he doesn’t expect to consider a lot of cannabis bills in the next session.

“I will be doing one bill on cannabis,” he said. “So please don’t come with all these amazing ideas because it hasn’t gelled yet. We don’t know what’s broken. We’re not going to know by January.”

Wilson, however, left open the door for “an omnibus bill.”

But Griffith acknowledged that enforcement and other nuanced issues could be on the table.

“I do think that where he (Wilson) and I and our committees can come together and reach consensus, if we can get one bill that takes all that into consideration that would be ideal,” said Griffith.

But, she noted, there may also be issues that require consideration of the General Assembly’s tax and judiciary committees as well, complicating consideration of an omnibus bill. “And I’ve never seen a bill assigned to three committees,” she said.

By Bryan P. Sears

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Farm Bill Timeline in Flux as a Messy September for Congress Nears

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The roundtables, listening sessions and appearances at farm shows have largely wrapped up and lawmakers tasked with reauthorizing the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs are comparing notes and beginning to draft the massive, multi-year farm bill.

The 2018 version expires Sept. 30, just as many urgent priorities compete for floor time in Congress — namely the government funding bills that, if not passed by Oct. 1, could mean a partial government shutdown.

The expansive agricultural and food policy bill covers farmer safety net programs, conservation and sustainability incentives, international trade, rural area development, and food and nutrition programs for low-income earners — the last of which by far accounts for the largest portion of the bill. The legislation is one of Congress’ omnibus packages, meaning it’s made up of numerous provisions from many lawmakers.

Staff working on the respective House and Senate agriculture committees expect a roughly $1.5 trillion price tag over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office baseline scores for SNAP and mandatory farm programs.

Both parties have rallied around ways to make the government safety net more reliable for farmers facing rising production costs. Differences surface when discussing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, or food stamps, and how to spend conservation and climate dollars earmarked in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

While the outlook for when the farm bill reaches the floor is “murky,” committee leadership “has committed to bipartisanship,” said a Republican House aide knowledgeable about Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson’s negotiations. The aide did not want to be identified because of ongoing discussions.

Thompson, of Pennsylvania, chairs the House Committee on Agriculture.

Some worry that despite Thompson’s goal for bipartisanship, the omnibus to continue America’s farm and food programs will become another battleground for far-right lawmakers.

If Congress does not pass a final farm bill by the end of September, lawmakers will likely will enact program extensions as they have in the past. Aides say the situation becomes more worrisome if lawmakers cannot finish the omnibus by the end of the calendar year.

“Once it leaves his committee it’s at the mercy of the Rules Committee and right now the Freedom Caucus is — not just with the farm bill, and not just with the agriculture appropriations — but pretty much every bill going through, (they have) some of their unrealistic demands on required amendments,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers.

“I’m worried it’s going to not only stall the farm bill, but it’s also going to make the farm bill a partisan bill, which is not good for anyone in agriculture,” he said.

Food assistance

Nutrition initiatives were added to the farm bill in the early 1970s, expanding the scope of the legislation that previously focused on support for certain commodities, including corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, dairy and others.

Nutrition programs are projected to comprise 84% of the 2023 farm bill, compared to the 76% in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, the official name of the most recent omnibus. The increase reflects pandemic-related spending and an adjustment to benefits meant to better reflect grocery store prices.

While the farm bill authorizes policy, a separate agriculture appropriations process greenlights the dollars for farmers and SNAP, as well as the Food and Drug Administration. Talks to advance the funding bill collapsed before lawmakers left for August recess as far-right conservatives pushed to ban the availability of mifepristone, the abortion pill.

Cutting SNAP funding in the agriculture appropriations bill is also a target for the GOP-led House.

Among the Republican proposals are “right-sizing” funding to reflect pre-pandemic levels and adjusting the administration’s Thrifty Food Plan, which increased benefits to match healthy food prices.

Another proposal Democrats are criticizing is limiting state waivers that allow certain adults to be exempt from work requirements because of labor market conditions. Currently 13 states, the District of Columbia and two territories have statewide waivers.

They include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Another 16 states have partial waivers in certain areas.

The GOP already moved the needle this year on SNAP work requirements when House Leader Kevin McCarthy of California won a provision in the debt ceiling deal to increase the work rules age ceiling from 49 to 55 for adults without dependents.

As for the farm bill debate, “Mr. Thompson has been clear: he is not interested in further debate of the age of someone participating in a work requirement,” the GOP aide said.

Democrats are warning McCarthy and GOP leadership that inserting the SNAP debate into the farm bill process could hamper progress.

“The continued threat of making additional changes to SNAP eligibility and benefits is not helpful and even undermines Chairman Thompson as he works with his Democratic and Republican membership to bring a bipartisan farm bill out of the Agriculture Committee,” wrote the committee’s ranking member, David Scott of Georgia, in an Aug. 7 letter co-signed by two dozen Democratic colleagues.

Aside from work rules, the GOP would like to see some policy changes in the farm bill’s SNAP title, including more resources directed toward fraud prevention and “health and wellbeing,” or restricting what people can buy with SNAP benefits, according to the Agriculture Committee.

The United Council on Welfare Fraud, a group representing state and county investigators, met with GOP lawmakers multiple times this year ahead of farm bill negotiations to push for more robust prevention of underground SNAP benefits trading and complex retail skimming schemes that strip benefits from recipients’ EBT cards.

“You have legitimate people who go to buy milk and groceries for their children and they have a zero balance on their card,” said Dawn Royal, the group’s director and past president.

“In recognizing that there are legitimate victims, the government decided to reissue benefits on those cards to the victims up to twice and that’s great, right. So now mom can buy milk for her children and that’s great, but they (the government) did nothing to prevent it,” she said.

The USDA spends less than 1% on fraud prevention and prosecution, according to the group.

Farmer safety net

Another major area of concern for the farm bill among GOP leaders is updating guidelines that trigger risk protection programs for several commodities, including wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, peanuts, sugar and dairy.

Farmers and lawmakers maintain the prices — referred to as reference prices — are outdated. Despite market fluctuations, severe drought or natural disasters, the protections aren’t set in motion until crop prices drop to a certain level.

“Everything we’re doing on the farm now costs a whole lot more money when it comes to planting the crop. But the reference prices for when some type of disaster program would kick in haven’t changed. So it’s much more costly to put a crop in and to protect that crop,” said Josh Gackle, a North Dakota soybean farmer and vice president of the American Soybean Association.

Prices have to dip to $8.50 per bushel before government coverage begins. Gackle says in North Dakota it costs him $12 per bushel to produce the crop.

“The data that was used (for reference prices) goes back to 2012. The world is very different now than it was in 2012,” Sen. John Boozman told Agri-Pulse in an April interview.

“So I can tell you, there is not going to be a farm bill that I vote for that doesn’t take care of the safety nets,” continued the Arkansas Republican who is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Boozman is also eyeing “producer focused” policies in the trade title of the bill, said Patrick Creamer, the committee’s communications director for the minority.

The senator wants to focus on “things that really impact farmers, whether it’s market access overseas or research to help increase their crop yields,” Creamer said.

Democrats agree that farmer safety net programs are falling short. However, they want expanded protection for crops — like apples, for example — that are outside of the major commodities.

“Both program crops and specialty crops have to have some kind of safety net and access to whether it’s (for) conservation research, anything that will make those farmers profitable and able to stay in business,” said a Democratic House aide who did not want to be identified because of ongoing negotiations.

The Senate returns Sept. 5. The House returns Sept. 12.

By Ashley Murray

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Maryland Politics: Van Hollen Endorsees Angela Alsobrooks for Senate

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Maryland’s current junior senator, Chris Van Hollen, was in Silver Spring on Tuesday morning to endorse Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the Democratic primary to join him in the U.S. Senate.

The unusual move comes months before the candidate filing deadline in the race to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D), who announced in May that he would not seek reelection in 2024.

Van Hollen said it didn’t take him long to decide that Alsobrooks is the best choice to join him on Capitol Hill.

“In a field of strong candidates, Angela Alsobrooks is a standout,” Van Hollen said. “And I base that on our long-time working relationship. I’ve had a chance to see her in action day-by-day, in good times and in bad times. And I also know because of that experience what moves her. I know her heart. And I know that she’ll be a great progressive partner in fighting for all the issues that Marylanders care about in the United States Senate.”

Van Hollen chose Alsobrooks over a current colleague in the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. David Trone (D-6th). Another top Democratic candidate in the race is Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D).

Candidates have until Feb. 9 to officially file campaigns.

Van Hollen lauded Alsobrooks for her local response to the COVID-19 pandemic, her “goal of building a dynamic, inclusive economy that works for everyone” and for being “tremendously successful” at working with federal lawmakers on transportation projects and other federal investments.

“What moves her is her passionate commitment to address the real-world challenges being faced by her fellow Marylanders in their daily lives and her determination to do everything in her power to help working families succeed. As the single mom of a teenage daughter and the caretaker of two aging parents, she relates directly to the struggles being faced by so many Maryland families,” Van Hollen said. “She understands the conversations happening at kitchen tables around our community, around our state and around our country.”

For her part, Alsobrooks called Van Hollen an “amazing partner,” friend and mentor.

“We both care deeply about delivering for the people that we represent, and few people do it better than Senator Van Hollen,” Alsobrooks said. “It is what we care about every single day, we recognize that there are people who rely on us … hard working families in Maryland, throughout our country, who rely on us every single day, to ensure that the issues that are of concern to them at their kitchen tables are the issues that are of concern to us as well. That each of us want to live in communities that are safe. We want true economic opportunity for all of our family members, for our children. To have access to health care. To have democracy defended. These are all of the values that we share in common.”

Alsobrooks was earlier endorsed by two other members of Maryland’s congressional delegation: Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-5th) and Kweisi Mfume (D-7th).

By Danielle E. Gaines

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Federalsburg Mayor Says Cannabis Law is Putting Her Family Out of Business

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Federalsburg Mayor Kimberly Abner (right) speaks to Will Tilburg, acting director of the Maryland Cannabis Administration. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

The mayor of Federalsburg said Maryland’s legalization of cannabis is forcing her and her husband to close their business and sell their Eastern Shore hemp farm.

Kimberly Abner, her husband Ken, and her brother-in-law have run a small hemp business making gummy and vape products for the last three years. The bill that legalized adult-use recreational cannabis is pushing them out of the market, she said.

“I’m the face of one of the businesses that you just put out of business. I have a Maryland hemp farm,” said Abner, directing her comments to House Economic Matters Chair Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) during a cannabis symposium sponsored by the Maryland Municipal League. “I have a business that sells federally legal hemp products, and my stores are now calling me to take the product back out of their stores because of this bill.”

Abner and her husband originally wanted to enter the state’s medical cannabis industry but were unable to obtain one of the coveted licenses.

“Since we didn’t get a license, we went with the hemp products because we could get into that market and we can legally sell it and legally grow it in the state of Maryland,” said Abner, in an interview.

The small business, called Cannamedus, has been selling delta-8 and delta-9 gummies and vape products to smoke shops and stores on the Eastern Shore for about three years. They also sell a line of tinctures and topical lotions and creams.

Hemp, as with cannabis, contains more than 100 different cannabinoids including some with intoxicating effects.

Delta-9, the primary intoxicant in cannabis, is also found in hemp. Products containing the substance had been legal in Maryland if the level was lower than 0.3%.

Delta-8, another cannabinoid, can also have intoxicating effects, according to the Federal Drug Administration.

The hemp products were not subjected to the regulations and requirements imposed on cannabis until the 2023 law.

This year, the  Abner farm is barren.

“We’re having to sell our farm,” said Abner. “We’re not growing this year because basically they’re putting Maryland hemp farmers out of business.”

Wilson was lead sponsor of 2023 legislation that allowed for the first legal recreational cannabis sales this summer. Since July, the state has recorded nearly $90 million in sales. The state levies a 9% tax on those sales.

The cannabis legalization bill was opposed by the state’s hemp industry, which filed a lawsuit last month to overturn portions of the law that are causing some like Abner to go out of business.

Abner is not a named party in the lawsuit though her business is a member of the association that is one of the plaintiffs.

She said the state is unfairly targeting her business even as it sells a federally legal product.

“The word ‘federally legal’ is very loosely worded here,” Wilson said. “You’re right, at this point the feds haven’t made it illegal but as a state, we do have the right to make sure that our constituents are safe. And if none of this has been tested, then we have a right to make sure that whatever people consume and put in their bodies is tested. And … we have a right to set the level of what we consider an intoxicant and what we don’t. But as I’m sure you’re aware, that’s what the lawsuit will sort out.”

Abner said her products are tested and said she had reports to prove it.

The new law also set new conditions for the state’s hemp industry. A five-year-old farming bill legalized the production of hemp — a cannabis plant with low levels of the psychoactive chemical THC.

The new Maryland law lowered the amount of THC that could be present in the hemp products below federal standards.

Hemp growers who wish to continue to sell in Maryland would be required to get a cannabis grower or processor license.

A first round of licenses aimed at increasing the number of minorities in the industry is expected to be awarded by the end of the year.

In the meantime, agents from the state’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission are visiting stores and ordering products off shelves.

“So, we have two offices that deal with those individuals with licenses and those who don’t have licenses to make sure we get rid of some of these goofy smoke shops selling CBD, which is just, I don’t know, fake weed, you know that this Delta-8 and Delta-6 and Delta-9 are,” said Wilson. “We wanted to make sure that whatever our citizens consumed was safe and it was tested, and it was regulated.”

By Bryan P. Sears

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Blueprint Board Approves Updates to Statewide Reform Plan

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The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board has approved updates to the statewide comprehensive education reform plan, on schedule with a law that calls for the massive plan to be revised each year by Aug. 1.

Some changes the board made Tuesday were discussed July 20, such as requiring local health and social service agencies to share with local school systems the names and contact information of families with children who could be eligible to enroll in free prekindergarten.

This and other revisions — which were recommended by staff of the state Department of Education and other state agencies, as well as by local school leaders, parents and other stakeholders — focus on most of the Blueprint’s priorities: expanding early childhood education, hiring and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers, preparing students for college and technical careers and providing additional resources for students in need.

The other priority is governance and accountability for the Blueprint board, also known as the AIB, that was established by lawmakers to oversee the education reform plan until 2032. The board decided that, together with the Department of Education, they will develop a framework to identify areas of technical assistance that need to be provided to school systems and what agencies should provide it.

“I just feel like this process has worked extremely well and that we’ve been very open and accommodated the input that has come from a variety of different quarters,” said Blueprint Board Vice Chair William “Brit” Kirwan, chancellor emeritus of the University System of Maryland.

Blueprint Board Chair Isiah “Ike” Leggett, who served three terms as Montgomery County’s executive, said the work isn’t over, with another meeting scheduled for Aug. 10.

“This is an important document, but it’s a document to some degree [that] will be subject to changes as we look at new approaches to education and new changes that need to be made,” he said. “We have put in an awful lot of work and we’re still not through. We’ve accomplished a great deal with all our supporting personnel and organizations that have worked with us.”

Last week, the Blueprint board approved all 24 school systems’ first submissions of local reform plans.

Most counties have already planned to increase salaries for teachers, prepare to expand prekindergarten opportunities for 3- and 4-year-old children and provide career counseling for middle and high school students.

The plans also detail how local officials will implement Blueprint strategies through the upcoming 2023-24 school year.

Some members of the AIB praised a couple of school systems for their work during an online meeting Thursday.

Kirwan said that Anne Arundel County public schools’ plan to expand the number teachers to achieve National Board Certification “really stands out.”

AIB Executive Director Rachel Hise said Anne Arundel has one of the highest number of teachers with that credential in Maryland.

Blueprint Boardmember Joseph Manko said Frederick County’s plan to create a teacher pipeline with higher education institutions should be replicated by other school systems.

“Teacher shortages are a challenge across the state, but it seems like in Frederick County there’s been a really deep connection with their local institutes of higher education,” he said.

Between May 20 and June 25, each local school system received two rounds of feedback from staff of the AIB and the state Department of Education.

Twenty school systems received unanimous approval last week for their local reform plans. Calvert, Charles and Garrett counties need to amend documentation on a Career and Counseling Memorandum of Understanding.

Queen Anne’s also received unanimous approval, on the condition that it convert $1,000 teacher stipends from the current and two previous fiscal years into the base salary for all teachers. The stipends were paid because school officials realized they couldn’t provide a 10% increase for teachers this fiscal year, as required by the Blueprint law.

Each school system’s plan will provide a roadmap for local school officials to receive assistance from staff of various agencies as they prepare documents that outline strategies through the 2026-27 school years and in order to submit them to the board by March.

Meanwhile, the AIB made available summaries of each approved school system’s plans along with feedback from AIB staff specifying “areas of strength and opportunity” and “areas for further growth and improvement.”

Here’s a snapshot of the feedback for each school district on the Mid-Shore

Caroline – Strength: “Caroline County provided comprehensive responses in its implementation plan overall, but particularly in describing its K-12 mathematics and literacy instructional plans. Caroline’s process for identifying and selecting both high-quality and culturally responsive instructional materials by utilizing the MABE [Maryland Association of Boards of Education] equity lens and evaluating potential materials against a culturally responsive scorecard is particularly noteworthy. AIB staff look forward to following Caroline’s progress in forming a workgroup to identify specific criteria for culturally responsive materials in the 2023-24 academic year.”

Improvement: “Caroline’s implementation of CTE [career and technical education] programs could benefit from a greater focus on opportunities that CTE pathways present for students to attain high-wage, high-skill jobs. This could also help to encourage more students to pursue industry credentials and enroll in high school apprenticeships.”

Dorchester – Strength: “DCPS is expanding its pipeline of teachers through partnerships with the Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) program, Chesapeake College, and Salisbury University with a specific focus on efforts that will diversify the teaching force to better mirror the student body. Continue to seek solutions to fill hard to staff positions through these and additional collaborations.”

Improvement: “DCPS describes how staffing challenges are impacting implementation throughout the plan, including professional development and supporting students who are not yet meeting college and career [readiness] (CCR) expectations.  As strategies are developed to overcome these challenges, DCPS has the opportunity to consider creative approaches that will position the district as an early innovator in implementing the Blueprint, particularly with regards to meeting career ladder expectations. Such strategies could include teacher leaders returning to teaching for part of the day while creating, leading and monitoring professional development efforts; using high quality, school day tutoring funded through grants; and reallocating central office staffing to ensure teachers are in the classroom and students are receiving necessary support, etc.”

Kent – Strength: “Given Kent’s need to provide CCR [college and career readiness] support for very large numbers of students, the LEA [local education agency] has some strong structures in place now to build on including their Trojan Time period (to offer support/enrichment during the school day) and the summer programming that combines academic catchup with CTE exploration.  The LEA [local education agency] is thinking about the support it provides as needing to be engaging to students [and] Kent County is collaborating with neighboring Cecil County to organize community schools.”

Improvement: “Like most LEAs, Kent’s focus on the career ladder to date has been on supporting teachers working to achieve National Board Certification.  The district needs to think through how to structure new teacher roles and organize staffing to better serve students in their schools.  The LEA will benefit from technical assistance and guidance to develop a career ladder that goes beyond a focus on National Board Certification/salary incentives and leverages teacher leadership to improve teaching and learning.”

Queen Anne’s – Strength: “Queen Anne’s has created a continuous improvement process for their dual enrollment program. Data on how students perform prior to and in their dual enrollment courses will be used to help future students navigate whether to participate and which classes to take and help shape their partnerships with IHEs (institutions of higher education).”

Improvement: “QACPS has historically had trouble staffing math, world language, and secondary science teachers; recent shortages and decreasing enrollment in teacher preparation programs have made it hard for them to staff special education, elementary, and secondary positions in all levels. Queen Anne’s actively recruits at a number of events, but because of these shortages, the LEA [local education agency] needs to consider additional strategies to build strong teacher and teaching assistant pipelines, including through new recruitment and retention strategies (especially those targeting historically underrepresented populations).”

Talbot – Strength: “There is a comprehensive plan and commitment to monitoring key data and intervening early for students who are not on track as they enter high school, including an organizational audit to look for connections between policies and practices that either support or hinder student success [and] partnering with neighboring counties to collaborate on cross-county CTE [career and technical education] program offerings to broaden student options.”

Improvement: “As a smaller county, Talbot faces a number of challenges in Blueprint implementation including expanding early childhood education options (no private providers and no 3 [year] olds enrolled currently) and attracting the needed mix of teachers, support staff, and English Learner specialists. These were acknowledged and strategies were discussed but will need ongoing attention.”

 

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