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WYPR – 88.1 FM Baltimore reports that Maryland’s lone Republican congressman U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, who represents the first district, said he would support a national abortion ban if a fetus has a heartbeat.
If the legislation was passed by Congress, abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy would be illegal nationwide. The six week mark is often before many women know they might be pregnant.
Read for the full story here.
Michelle Siri, a candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks at an abortion rights rally in Wheaton on Friday evening. She is running with John King, standing to her right. Photo by Josh Kurtz.
Everybody saw it coming.
And yet, the Supreme Court decision Friday to strike down Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 decision guaranteeing abortion rights across the country, may be reordering Maryland politics just 3 1/2 weeks before the state’s primaries.
“It’s going to be a different world,” Del. Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery), a leading abortion rights advocate in the General Assembly, said in an interview Friday. “Yesterday and tomorrow, totally different worlds.”
Maryland has fairly robust abortion protections, enshrined in state law 30 years ago by a statewide referendum. Abortion rights supporters took to the streets Friday evening in Wheaton, Annapolis and elsewhere, expressing their disgust and horror with the Supreme Court ruling.
But even with Maryland’s status as one of a dozen states that preserve abortion access up to the point of viability (usually 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy), abortion rights supporters moved with a new sense of urgency Friday, vowing to elect more pro-choice candidates and to press for even stronger protections in state law, including a state constitutional amendment to preserve abortion rights.
Separately, local leaders began setting policy and funding decisions in response to the court ruling.
Dozens of Democratic officeholders and political candidates issued statements decrying the Supreme Court ruling and vowed to preserve and protect abortion rights in Maryland, cognizant of the likelihood that the number of abortion seekers coming to Maryland will increase dramatically, with close to half of U.S. states set to outlaw the procedure in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
The Republican reaction in Maryland ranged from overjoyed to circumspect.
With mail-in ballots already arriving at voters’ homes, early voting set to take place between July 7-14, and the primary on July 19, abortion could be uppermost on voters’ minds in the days ahead. Democratic primary voters have a full menu of abortion rights supporters to choose from in the races for statewide office — governor, attorney general and state comptroller. So the choice there may be who is best-equipped to expand abortion protections in the state.
“An overwhelming majority of Democrats support women’s reproductive rights… and there is little daylight if any between any of the Democratic candidates who are currently running for governor on these issues,” said Mileah Kromer, a political science professor at Goucher College and director of the Goucher Poll.
That point was brought home Friday evening, when Democratic gubernatorial contender John King, who has been endorsed by the group Pro-Choice Maryland, and his running mate, Michelle Siri, shared the stage at the Wheaton rally with former Del. Aruna Miller, running mate to another candidate for governor, Wes Moore. Similarly, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich was just a few feet away from one of his Democratic primary challengers, County Councilmember Hans Riemer, and both spoke.
The leading Republican candidates for governor had notably different reactions to the Supreme Court ruling.
Former Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz, the favorite of the GOP establishment, issued a statement promising to preserve the status quo if she is elected.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court changes nothing with regard to abortion in Maryland,” she said. “As I have repeatedly said, while I am personally pro-life, the issue is settled law in Maryland and has been for 30 years, since Marylanders voted on it. Despite fear-mongering from others, as governor, I’ll do nothing to change current Maryland law.”
Schulz has largely hewed to the position of her political patron, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), who she is trying to succeed. When Hogan was first campaigning for governor in 2014, he said he was personally opposed to abortion but would not seek to change state law.
But is that line still cogent in the current political environment?
“I think that she’s going to be pushed on the issue more than Hogan was pushed on it during his eight years or during his two elections, just because of the decision today,” Kromer said of Schulz.
Hogan may not have helped Schulz’s cause when he vetoed a bill this year to expand the types of medical practitioners who can perform abortions — which the legislature overrode — and then withheld funding to provide training for those medical professionals. It served as a reminder that even with abortion protections in place, a governor can have an impact on how the laws are administered.
“I think Kelly Schulz’s statement was particularly interesting,” said Alexandra Hughes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) and the late Speaker Michael Busch (D). “Fundamentally, [she] is a political pragmatist. Her problem is, there are a lot of suburban and urban women who are not buying this Susan Collins ‘walk the line’ thing.”
Schulz’s principal GOP primary opponent, Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), posted a minute-long video on Facebook praising the Supreme Court decision.
“Thank God, thank President Trump, thank the Supreme Court for doing what is right,” said Cox, who has been endorsed by Trump in the primary. “My wife and I for years and years have been fighting for the unborn. That’s one of the reasons why we’re in politics.”
Cox also took a swipe at Schulz, saying “my opponent wants to enforce taxpayer-funded abortions. She will do nothing to stop illegal actions against these precious babies.”
Democratic fissures
The upcoming primaries may expose certain Democrats who have opposed abortion rights.
Lily Bolourian, executive director of Pro-Choice Maryland, said the organization has in recent days retooled its endorsement policy to only focus on the strongest advocates on abortion rights. And, she said, the group is determined to defeat as many anti-abortion Democrats as possible.
“There is no room in the Democratic Party or in any progressive movements for anti-abortion elected officials. Period,” she told Maryland Matters. “It’s unacceptable, and we intend to continue building power to target any politician who voted against the Abortion [Care] Access Act.”
That’s a reference to Kelly’s legislation expanding the array of medical providers who can perform abortions. When the bill initially passed the House, 89-47, six Democrats voted against it: Dels. Dalya Attar of Baltimore City, Anne Healey of Prince George’s County, Shaneka Henson of Anne Arundel County, Cheryl Landis of Prince George’s, Mary Ann Lisanti of Harford County, and Geraldine Valentino-Smith of Prince George’s.
After Hogan vetoed the bill, the House voted 90-46 to override the veto. Attar, Henson, Landis, Lisanti and Valentino-Smith voted against the override. Healey did not vote. It takes 85 votes to override a gubernatorial veto in the 141-member House of Delegates.
“Democrats who voted against the abortion access bill are going to get pressed about it on the [campaign] trail,” Hughes predicted.
Landis and Valentino-Smith are not seeking election this year. Lisanti is running for state Senate in a competitive primary with former Del. Mary-Dulany James. Henson is one of two Democratic incumbents running in a two-member district, without opposition, so she will be safe in the primary.
It’s unclear whether Attar faces a competitive primary, in a district where Dels. Samuel Rosenberg (D) and Tony Bridges (D) are also seeking reelection. Former Del. Bilal Ali and Chris Ervin, a trucking company owner and civic activist, are also competing in the Democratic primary.
But Pro-Choice Maryland is clearly targeting Healey, who was first elected in 1990. The group has endorsed Ashanti Martinez, a research and policy analyst with CASA, the immigrants’ rights group, and he launched a digital ad earlier this week slamming Healey.
“It’s tough to understand why, in one of our state’s most progressive House districts, Anne Healey, a purported Democrat, is aligning herself with the positions of the far right,” a narrator says in the ad.
Healey could not be reached for comment Friday. But the Women Legislators of Maryland caucus released a series of statements from the caucus leaders, including one from Healey, the immediate past president.
While eight statements were full-throated denunciations of the Supreme Court decision, Healey’s was somewhat more measured.
“Regardless of what the Supreme Court said today, abortion in Maryland remains a private, medical decision,” she said. “The law we have in place makes sure that only the pregnant woman herself has the final say. I voted earlier this year to secure this policy as part of the Maryland Constitution. I would do so again.”
Her statement was in reference to a bill sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) this year that would have set up a November referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. The bill passed through the House but stalled in the Senate, to the consternation of many abortion rights supporters in and out of government. (Henson, Landis and Lisanti also voted in favor of the speaker’s bill.)
Healey is running on a ticket with the other incumbents in District 22, including Sen. Paul Pinsky (D), who spoke at the abortion rights rally in Wheaton on Friday evening, and Del. Nicole Williams (D), a vocal abortion rights advocate. But the delegation in that district has traditionally not been as close as lawmakers in many other districts.
The Abortion Care Access Act passed 28-15 in the state Senate this year, and the vote to override Hogan’s veto was 29-15. In both cases, two Prince George’s County Democrats — Sens. Michael Jackson and Ron Watson — voted against the measure.
Jackson, who also represents Calvert County, has nominal opposition in next month’s primary. Watson is in a three-way race against Raaheela Ahmed, a former member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education, and Sylvia Johnson, a business owner, in a district that has traditionally elected some anti-abortion legislators.
Asked Friday if he is concerned that abortion could become a late-breaking or defining issue in his primary, Watson replied, “I’m not worried about it. We have a lot of important issues we have to deal with in this upcoming legislative session.”
It takes 29 votes in the 47-member Senate to override a governor’s veto, so the veto-proof majority is in jeopardy this year. Sen. Obie Patterson (D-Prince George’s), an abortion rights supporter, is retiring, and his likely successor, former Sen. Anthony Muse (D), has opposed most abortion rights measures during his legislative tenure.
Pro-choice Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard) is considered vulnerable in November, though Democrats tried to firm up the Democratic majority in her district in the latest round of redistricting. Democrats and abortion rights advocates have a pick-up opportunity in Anne Arundel County, where Sen. Ed Reilly (R) is retiring and Democrats are rallying around attorney Dawn Gile, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
In the 18th District, where an abortion rights supporter, Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D), is seeking a second term, Pro-Choice Maryland has endorsed his challenger, Max Socol, because of what Bolourian called Waldsteicher’s “failure to lead” on the constitutional amendment that stalled in the Senate this year.
Bolourian said her group has “absolute confidence in Max’s tenacity to push to get the strongest abortion access bills passed. My core message to anti-abortion Democrats is to expect us.”
A special session?
The House has twice launched the idea of a constitutional amendment to codify abortion rights, in 2018 and this year, but both times Senate leaders resisted. Now it is a top priority for several Democrats, including the men running for governor.
Jones reiterated that point in a statement Friday.
“It is a dark day for our country,” she said. “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will put women’s lives in jeopardy across America. Here in Maryland, access to the full range of reproductive health services will not be limited by this decision. I will continue to put the full weight of my office behind a Maryland constitutional amendment to protect women’s healthcare and reproductive liberty. The recent decisions of the Supreme Court are dragging America backwards. We cannot and will not give up. Now is the time to mobilize for the country we all deserve.”
Earlier this week, Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) issued joint statements condemning Thursday’s Supreme Court decision on a gun rights case, and on calls to hold a special legislative session to discuss a proposed gas tax holiday. But they notably went their own way when it came to reacting to the Roe v. Wade verdict.
Ferguson’s statement said in part: “In the weeks and months to come, women will likely come to Maryland seeking reproductive care in a State that understands the importance of the right to privacy and equality. While many may now question the future of reproductive rights in America, in Maryland, that right will always be protected and enshrined in State law. We will welcome those who seek care in our State.”
Some Democrats and abortion rights advocates are now pressing the presiding officers to schedule a special session to move the constitutional amendment on abortion rights and force Hogan to fund the training this year for abortion providers. That seems unlikely for now — though matters could change.
King and Siri reiterated the call at the rally in Wheaton Friday evening.
“If folks can jump up and down out there and call for a special legislative session for a gas tax holiday, we sure as hell can have one for our bodily autonomy,” said Siri, the head of the Maryland Women’s Law Center and former president of the state’s Planned Parenthood board.
Local government reacts
Within hours of the Supreme Court decision, the Montgomery County government banned county employees from engaging in official travel to any of 25 states deemed likely to roll back access to abortion in the wake of the ruling.
“By taking action to restrict access to reproductive health care services, the following states have possibly put the health and safety of our employees at risk while on official business,” Chief Administrative Officer Richard S. Madaleno wrote in a memo to county managers.
“Our County taxpayers expect the County’s resources to uphold County values and Maryland state law,” he added.
Conference or other travel approved prior to the ruling must be canceled in those instances where monetary penalties will not be imposed, Madaleno said. The ban on official travel to anti-abortion states would not apply to members of the County Council, though they would be encouraged to follow the executive branch’s lead, a county spokesman said.
The 2023 National Association of Counties annual convention is scheduled to take place in Texas.
In an interview, Elrich, the county executive, said Montgomery intends an aggressive effort to woo companies located in states “that are about to move back to the Stone Age.”
“These tech companies that brought in all these young people to Austin, [Texas], I can’t imagine them being really comfortable there right now,” he said. “We want to encourage those companies to come to a state where everybody’s free.”
In light of the rise in remote work, Elrich said Montgomery’s campaign will target both out-of-state employers as well as employees.
Several large companies announced after the ruling that they intend to compensate workers who are forced to travel to access abortion services.
The states on Montgomery’s travel ban: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In Baltimore on Friday, Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city would provide $300,000 in grants to organizations that offer abortion and family planning services.
“It is crucial that we invest in abortion and family planning so that we can welcome women seeking these services with open arms,” Scott said. “We are morally obligated to make Baltimore a safe haven for care-seekers, and we are committed to doing just that.”
Earlier this week, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby (D) and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) vowed that they would not prosecute women seeking abortions from other states, medical providers, or anyone who assists women who obtain abortions in Maryland.
“They’re doubling down to protect our staff and abortion providers all across Maryland,” said Karen Nelson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland.
Battles ahead
Abortion rights foes in Maryland exulted in the Supreme Court ruling.
“Today we CELEBRATE!” Maryland Right to Life wrote on a Facebook post Friday.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, on Twitter, wrote: “Today’s Supreme Court decision on life is a historic moment in our nation. We renew — and invite all to join — our commitment to support both women and their children.”
Kelly, the state delegate and abortion policy leader, said Marylanders who support reproductive rights should not take Maryland’s current laws for granted. She said she fears that national anti-choice groups will start to focus more on Maryland, both with political advocacy and spending, and in intimidation of abortion providers and women seeking abortions.
“We become a target,” she said. “We are the southernmost state on the East Coast that’s considered a safe haven for abortion.”
Kelly said the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade shows how formidable the anti-abortion forces are.
“We’ve seen what this movement has been able to do,” she said. “They don’t have to expend their energy on states like Mississippi anymore. They can focus on Maryland.”
By Josh Kurtz
Bruce DePuyt and Nene Narh-Mensah contributed to this report.
The Baltimore Banner, a multi-platform news organization established by The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, today announced the launch of its digital news publication. The publication will bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the community as it works to develop a sustainable business model for local news.
Late last year, Maryland businessman Stewart Bainum, Jr. and his family announced the founding of the Venetoulis Institute of Local Journalism, with a goal to launch The Baltimore Banner in the summer of 2022. Today, The Banner has 42 journalists on staff that will provide solutions-based reporting covering state and local government, arts and culture, criminal justice and education. The Banner expects to have approximately 70 reporters and editors by the end of year, which will make it the largest newsroom in Maryland.
“We established The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism to reinvigorate local news through nonprofit ownership and to bring trustworthy, locally-owned news to the Baltimore region,” said Stewart Bainum, Jr., Chairman. “I know Ted would be enormously proud of today’s launch of The Baltimore Banner, but he would also say that our work is just beginning. I’m grateful to the collective team, countless supporters, and the talented professional journalists for their tireless effort and commitment to the publication over these past few months. The work we are doing has never been more important for our community and our democracy.”
“Our growing team of journalists has already begun covering stories that matter to the residents of Baltimore and the region” said Kimi Yoshino, Editor in Chief. “Consistent with our mission, our reporting will go deeper as we examine and re-examine issues, look for solutions and highlight arts and lifestyle stories that will help strengthen and inspire our community.”
“While today is the culmination of a two-year journey to bring a news organization to Baltimore that tells the varied stories of its different communities, it also marks the first day in a long journey towards sustainability,” said Imtiaz Patel, Chief Executive Officer, Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. “Thanks to Stewart’s generous gift, we can start having an impact immediately with a newsroom at scale. How well we serve the communities of Baltimore will be how we will judge our success.”
Along with staffing veteran journalists such as Justin Fenton, Liz Bowie and Tim Prudente, Managing Editor Andrea K. McDaniels and Deputy Managing Editor Richard Martin, The Banner established a “Creatives in Residence” program, which aims to amplify the work of artists and writers from the Baltimore region, and will feature work from D. Watkins, Kondwani Fidel, Kerry Graham, and Mikea Hugley, among others.
The launch of The Banner comes nearly a month after the announcement of a joint operating agreement with Your Public Radio (WYPR) 88.1FM, Baltimore’s NPR news station that will allow the nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to deliver quality journalism across the state.
The Spy interviewed Stewart Bainum about the Baltimore Banner a few months ago. That conversation can be seen here.
The Baltimore Banner can be found here check out the latest coverage at www.thebaltimorebanner.com.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) works in his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday. Photo by Bruce DePuyt.
When Sen. Chris Van Hollen felt a sharp pain in his neck, then felt light-headed, two minutes into a speech at the Rocky Gap Resort last month, he had to make a quick decision.
Should he tell his audience, which had gathered for the Western Maryland Democratic Summit, that he wasn’t feeling well, and sit down? Or should he ignore his symptoms and “muscle through”?
He decided to continue speaking, propping his arm on the lectern for balance. “It was a pretty good speech, after all,” he recalled with a chuckle.
To those in the crowd, he showed no visible signs of being in distress at the time.
Although he finished his remarks, his condition deteriorated, and that evening Van Hollen was rushed from his home in Kensington to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. That’s where he received the “scary” diagnosis: The pain he was feeling was due to a neck vein that had burst — a “sub-arachnoid bleed.”
He had suffered a “minor” stroke, doctors said.
Doctors kept him in the hospital for a week, for observation. He then recuperated for a few days at home before returning to work — remotely while the Senate was in recess, then in the office.
A 63-year-old who is seeking a second term in November, Van Hollen (D) is back in the office, looking and sounding no different than before the May 14 episode.
“I feel much better,” he said in an interview in his Capitol Hill office on Wednesday. “Getting better by the day.”
The bleeding in the senator’s neck stopped on its own. Van Hollen said doctors have told him they don’t know what caused the tear, but they believe the likelihood of a recurrence is very small.
“They looked at my entire vascular system and said there is no underlying condition,” he said. “They also don’t know why this happened.”
Dr. Dimitrios Sigounas, a GW cardiologist who treated the senator, expressed optimism about Van Hollen’s prospects for a full recovery.
“This type of a venous bleed has no long-term consequences in terms of a patient’s ability to recover,” he said in an interview. “It has an excellent prognosis, with nearly zero percent risk of recurrence.”
Signounas said he kept Van Hollen in the hospital for a week “to make sure that there wasn’t anything that needed treatment.”
“There should be no long-term effects on cognitive ability or stamina,” the doctor added. “He should make a complete recovery.”
Van Hollen still feels “some residual, periodic neck pain,” for which he takes Tylenol. He is also on blood pressure medication “temporarily.”
“When you have blood in the head in places that it’s not supposed to be, it creates pressure, and it takes time for that to subside,” he said.
Doctors have suggested that Van Hollen ease back to his old routine. He said his wife Katherine is policing his schedule.
“(They said) no yard work,” Van Hollen said. “I said, ‘Okay, that sounds good to me.’”
Van Hollen said he’s received “hundreds and hundreds” of text messages, calls and cards from Senate colleagues, state and local leaders throughout Maryland, and constituents. “I’m grateful for the outpouring of support and well-wishes and love,” he said, his voice cracking.
“I have a fresh appreciation for doctors, nurses and all the health-care providers, really,” he added. “It’s just a first class team at GW.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris phoned him during his seven-day hospital stay. “I’ve been there, buddy,” the president said, a reference to the aneurysm he suffered while working in the Capitol decades ago.
Now that he’s back at work, Van Hollen is working with fellow Democrats to advance gun safety legislation. He said his party is also looking to “salvage” elements of the Build Back Better bill, including the provisions that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, climate measures, a proposal to expand veterans health care, and an end to certain tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
“Of all the issues that I’ve dealt with here in Congress, [firearms safety] has been the most disappointing in terms of lack of progress,” he said. “At the point where disappointment merges into just anger at the inaction.”
By Bruce DePuyt
First District congressional candidate Heather Mizeur (D) rebuked incumbent Rep. Andy Harris (R) on Friday for speaking to a conservative conference taking place in Hungary. In a statement, she accused him of being an embarrassment and a “failed” representative who clings to “radical” views.
CPAC Hungary, a three-day event in Budapest, features Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán and Fox talk show host Tucker Carlson, both of whom have embraced race-conscious immigration and abortion policies that are gaining traction on the right.
Harris criticized abortion-rights supporters during his speech but he made no mention of “replacement theory,” which holds, among other things, that more restrictive abortion laws would help the U.S. replenish its supply of white babies.
The six-term lawmaker, the only Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, did warn of the threats posed by “woke political correctness,” Marxism and socialism.
“History has taught our countries that these ideologies have failed in every age and destroyed every nation that they have entered,” he said. “Our countries are each engaged in a renewed fight to remove these corrosive elements from our way of life, our classrooms, corporate boardrooms, entertainment events and even the media.”
Harris said that children are “coming under increasing attack by left-leaning educational and political indoctrination,” and he applauded Hungary for “strategically” avoiding war, inflation and “cultural, moral and even intellectual decline.”
Harris’ six-minute speech, which included a heavy-metal guitar track, was delivered remotely. The lawmaker is co-chair of the Hungarian-American Congressional Caucus.
Although journalists were denied entry to the conference, the gathering generated headlines when CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp appeared to embrace the idea that immigration threatens to “replace” white people in the U.S.
“If you say there is a population problem in a country, but you’re killing millions of your own people through legalized abortion every year, if that were to be reduced, some of that problem is solved,” Schlapp said, according to vice.com. “You have millions of people who can take many of these jobs. How come no one brings that up? If you’re worried about this quote-unquote replacement, why don’t we start there? Start with allowing our own people to live.”
Orban has emerged as a hero to many American conservatives, who have been exposed to him largely through Carlson. A recent New York Times analysis concluded that Carlson’s show “may be the most racist show in the history of cable news — and also, by some measures, the most successful.”
Several other Republican figures are speaking at the conference, including other members of Congress, and Mark Meadows, President Trump’s last chief of staff.
In her statement, Mizeur sought to tie Harris to Orban, calling him “Harris’s political idol.” She also sought to tie the Harris to the massacre at a Western New York supermarket, noting that Carlson’s show “was cited by the killer who opened fired in a supermarket in a predominantly black area in Buffalo last week.”
Two calls to Harris’s new spokeswoman, Anna Adamian, were not returned as of Friday afternoon.
Mizeur and David Harden are competing in the July 19 Democratic primary for the right to run against Harris in November.
“Andy Harris is a dangerous extremist. His votes are not within the mainstream views of the First District. He is radical and hypocritical,” Mizeur concluded. “He claims to support Ukraine but is speaking today in Hungary with Tucker Carlson to lavish praise on Putin’s greatest European ally. None of this is acceptable.”
Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Monday that Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Environment Horacio Tablada will succeed current Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles starting June 1.
Grumbles is leaving to become executive director of the Environmental Council of the States, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental commissioners based in Washington, D.C. Grumbles has served as the environment secretary since Hogan took office in 2015, making him the longest serving environment secretary in state’s history, according to a Hogan administration news release.
“Horacio Tablada has committed his career to serving the public and protecting the environment and public health,” Hogan said in a statement. “He will lead MDE’s ongoing work to protect and restore the environment, including the Chesapeake Bay, boost jobs and our economy through the safe redevelopment of brownfields, and help the state achieve its climate goals through partnerships.”
This change comes as Hogan wraps up his second term as governor next January and an increasing number of high-ranking administration officials begin to move on.
Tablada has worked for the Maryland Department of the Environment for the last three decades, starting out in the department’s environmental regulatory programs in 1985 and later as the director of the department’s Land Management Administration and then eventually as deputy secretary starting in 2015.
“I look forward to serving the citizens of Maryland and continuing to advance the science-based policies that have resulted in cleaner air, a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, sustainable and restored properties and protection of our children from lead poisoning,” Tablada said in a statement.
Tablada is a native of Nicaragua who came to the United States in 1975. He and his wife live in Elkridge. They have three grown children and four grandchild.
Grumbles has been the Hogan administration’s leading ambassador to the environmental community, though they have not always seen eye-to-eye. He recently faced criticism from environmental advocates and lawmakers for his department’s enforcement and understaffing issues, following concerns about the state’s drinking water systems and a backlog of expired water quality permits.
Last month, the General Assembly passed sweeping climate change legislation that sets a goal for the state to reduce its carbon emissions to 60% below 2006 levels and be carbon neutral by 2045. This goal will be partially met by requiring owners of large buildings to significantly reduce their use of fossil fuels starting in 2030.
In response to the backlog of so-called “zombie permits,” referring to the period after a permit expires and before a new one is issued, the legislature also passed a bill requiring MDE to clear the backlog of these permits by 2026 and inspect each facility that is in significant noncompliance with its water quality permit once a month starting in July. The agency will also be required to inspect facilities operating under “zombie permits” once every 90 days.
Kim Coble, the executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and co-chair with Grumbles of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, said she has “full confidence” in Tablada’s ability to run the Department of Environment, as he has “great command of the technical issues” and knows the agency’s history.
Coble said she hopes Tablada builds on the General Assembly’s work addressing climate change, which made clear with the passage of Climate Solutions Now that climate is a priority and an urgent issue in the state — and that the Department of the Environment has a big role in implementing the bill, Coble said.
“It’s a big, big job, and it’s going to take real leadership from the governor and from the agency to make sure that [implementation] happens,” Coble said.
Coble said she also hopes the Department of Environment will prioritize enforcing water quality permits and have enough staff, which is funded by the governor’s budget, to be able to fulfill its mission.
Victoria Venable, the Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said she hopes the agency can more quickly to update state regulations around methane pollution released in landfills. In 2017, the department held its first meeting on what new regulations could look like, but has stalled in the process, Venable said. Methane has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.
Last year, an environmental group revealed that MDE had greatly underestimated the amount of methane coming from landfills in the state, reporting four times less than the amount actually emitted. The state department of the environment said this was due to mathematical and data-based errors.
Suzanne Dorsey, assistant secretary for the Department of the Environment, will take Tablada’s place as deputy secretary.
In Grumbles, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) gets a veteran regulator who has worked in government and has headed a nonprofit, the U.S. Water Alliance. He has also been director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, assistant administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and senior staff counsel to two congressional committees.
“We are delighted to have a visionary leader of Ben’s caliber step into the role of ECOS executive director,” said Myra Reece, director of the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, who was the ECOS search committee chair. “Not only does he know the association inside and out, but he has an unparalleled depth and breadth of policy knowledge.”
In 2019, when transportation planners were studying more than a dozen potential locations for a new Chesapeake Bay crossing, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. made headlines when he declared there was only one option he would embrace.
“There is only one option I will ever accept: adding a third span to our existing Bay Bridge,” tweeted Hogan, brushing aside the 14 official “corridor” options which stretched the entire length of the bay. “While the federal process requires multiple proposals, the data is indisputable — this option would maximize congestion relief & minimize environmental impact.”
Over the course of the last few months, however, officials from 12 of Maryland’s 23 counties have quietly embraced a new concept for easing congestion at the Bay Bridge: a new span, with eight or more lanes, to replace the existing spans.
The 12 counties, along with summer destination Ocean City, have passed resolutions or sent letters of support for the concept. Some jurisdictions have directed their letters to Hogan (R) and/or transportation secretary James F. Ports Jr. Others have sent letters of support directly to the Queen Anne’s County Commission, where the idea appears to have originated.
The letters of support are short — typically one page — and strike similar themes.
CLICK HERE to read the letters.
“Due to the numerous commuters who use this bridge and the lack of alternative routes, periods of congestion have resulted in major delays despite the rerouting of traffic,” wrote Dorchester County Council President Jay L. Newcomb (D). “This is particularly troubling since it provides vital access for emergency services, patient transports and fire response as well as to medical care, residents’ places of employment and the homes of their family and friends.”
Queen Anne’s Commission Chair James Moran (R) said he and his colleagues have made a concerted push to get local leaders to back the replacement bridge concept. He said the current congestion on and near the span, which impacts communities closest the bridge disproportionately, will only get worse as the Eastern Shore grows.
“We’re asking for an eight-lane crossing,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been lobbying all the other counties, because a project of this magnitude is going to take everybody being on board.”
Last week the Federal Highway Administration embraced the state’s preliminary conclusion that a new crossing in the general vicinity of the existing bridge would draw more traffic away from the current spans than other locations that were studied.
That finding clears the way for a second study that would consider where — within a two-mile “corridor” — a new bridge should go. A “Tier 2” study would cost approximately $40 million, officials have said. The state has yet to commit the funding, though Maryland has a massive surplus and Hogan has indicated that moving forward on a new crossing is a top priority.
The term-limited executive is set to leave office in January.
The two-lane eastbound span is nearly 70 years old. The three-lane westbound span opened in 1973.
Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said replacing the current spans with a single eight-lane bridge makes the most fiscal sense. “I don’t see a scenario where all three remain there. I think that’s not cost-effective,” he said. “I think you have to build something that can accommodate everything, without the cost of maintaining the other two.”
Moran has urged Hogan to fund the next second study immediately, as it would tackle the environmental and design considerations needed to move forward with construction. “Phase 2 of the [National Environmental Policy Act process] will tell you if, in fact, one bridge comes down, or two bridges come down,” he said. “But it is our understanding that one of those bridges will come down for sure — if not both.”
At the Maryland Transportation Authority’s monthly meeting on Thursday, Ports criticized the media for advancing a “false narrative” that Maryland was pursing a third span — what Hogan called the “only … option I will ever accept” in 2019.
“That’s something that’s never come from this organization,” he said. “It came from whomever and the press. But I want to make it clear that that has never come from us. We are not in a position to determine that at this time.”
In a subsequent interview, Ports stressed that, under federal rules, the state cannot pre-determine the best option for any project. “I cannot talk about what the bridge might look like,” he said. “I can’t say that because of the NEPA process. I can’t drive that narrative.”
Ports said persistent reports of a “third span” near the Bay Bridge have caused residents of nearby neighborhoods to “get really, really upset.” He said he and the authority’s executive director, Will Pines, “worked very hard with all of the communities, especially Anne Arundel County and Queen Anne’s County, on trying to get these resolutions from the counties to support this effort.”
Although most of the focus has been on the size and location of the new span, Pines told the authority’s board that planners are focusing on improving mobility in the entire 22-mile corridor that runs from the Severn River to the U.S. 301/50 split.
The study, he stressed, “included both on-land and over-water improvements.”
“This is not just a bridge study,” he added. “It also includes the entire corridor lanes of highway improvements as well.”
Pines said the first study’s selection of “Corridor 7,” the area around the current bridge, does not lock the state in to a third span. A single replacement bridge, he said, would remain a “viable” option.
By Bruce DePuyt
As the July 1 deadline draws near, Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions continue to wrestle with how to locally implement the police accountability boards mandated by sweeping reform legislation passed in 2021.
“We know that it’s coming,” James Massey, the manager of the Cecil County Council, said during an interview Friday.
Massey has been in conversation with the county attorney about the pending legislation and things that need to be discussed with the police union.
“We know that we won’t have it implemented by July 1, but it will be close,” he said.
Implementing new far-reaching policies to govern police misconduct was required by the Police Accountability Act of 2021 and has challenged local officials, who are negotiating with advocates and law enforcement on how to create more transparent disciplinary processes for officers.
The bill passed last year requires the governing bodies of each jurisdiction to establish police accountability boards and administrative charging committees that will conduct investigations and decide the outcomes of police misconduct complaints brought by members of the public.
Under the law, civilians can submit their complaints to the law enforcement agency or to their county police accountability board, which will have three days to send the complaint to the department for investigation.
The policing agency will then send its findings to the county’s administrative charging committee, which will decide if disciplinary charges should be filed against the officer.
Active-duty police officers are not eligible to serve on these boards.
Though House Bill 670 takes effect on July 1, agencies with collective bargaining contracts that go past that date can maintain their current disciplinary policies until those contracts run out.
After months of debate, some jurisdictions have passed policies with time to spare ahead of the law’s enactment date. But others are still debating final policies. To this point, Somerset County has not addressed how to implement a police accountability board at all.
Dorchester County Councilmember Jay L. Newcomb (D) said he and his colleagues have been in conversation with their legal counsel and the county sheriff to discuss how to move forward with the measure.
“It will probably be on the next agenda,” Newcomb said. “We’re in the process but nothing’s been finalized yet.”
Jason M. Bennett, the Allegany County administrator, said that his jurisdiction has yet to take up the legislation, but is hoping to present something before the Board of County Commissioners in May.
“We have not taken action yet, but are working behind the scenes to get our ducks in a row,” Bennett said in a phone interview.
Cynthia Mumby, a spokesperson for Harford County Executive Barry Glassman (R), said legislation is being drafted. The county waited to see if the General Assembly would extend the enactment date during this year’s legislative session.
While lawmakers approved other tweaks to the law, the deadline to create local boards was not postponed.
“It will be emergency legislation to meet the July 1 deadline,” said Mumby.
‘The utmost care and attention’
Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties finalized their policies last week.
Anne Arundel County’s board will have nine voting members and five ex-officio non-voting members.
Montgomery County’s board will have nine members, all of whom will be nominated by the county executive and approved by the county council.
“Working through this bill has been both challenging and rewarding,” said Montgomery County Councilmember Sidney A. Katz (D). “Complaints alleging police misconduct by a police officer … filed by a member of the public must be handled with the utmost care and attention. Thank you to my colleagues who worked diligently in committee and at full Council, as well as to the many interested residents who took the time to share their thoughts with us.”
Howard County Executive Calvin B. Ball (D) enacted his jurisdiction’s accountability board legislation in mid-February, the same day that the Calvert County Board of Commissioners signed a resolution to create its nine-member board.
Howard County’s board will have seven members — two at-large and five representing each council district — appointed by Ball and confirmed by the county council.
Charles County is actively accepting applications to serve on its board, which will be comprised of two members of each county district and one at-large member. St. Mary’s County closed its application window to serve as one of nine board members earlier this month.
There was controversy in Prince George’s County earlier this year after County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) opened a one-week window for applicants to join the the board in January — before the jurisdiction had even adopted a local policy. The County Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday morning on a proposal to establish an 11-member accountability board.
Some jurisdictions, like Caroline and Baltimore counties, are only just beginning public conversations to take up the legislation. The Carroll County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing Thursday to address the implementation process.
The Talbot County Council held a public hearing on pending legislation earlier this month, but no one showed up to testify.
The Queen Anne’s County Board of Commissioners discussed police accountability boards during a hearing in late March.
The policy has stagnated in some counties.
Wicomico and Frederick counties have had policies introduced, but neither has moved to adopt them.
Garrett County commissioners were briefed on the accountability board legislation in February and will likely adopt the legislation and name board members next month.
Worcester County began discussing police accountability boards last fall. Kim Moses, the public information officer for the Worcester County Government, said the resolution is still being tweaked by the county attorney and is expected to be brought before the Board of County Commissioners in late spring or early summer.
Similar inquiries made to the governing bodies of Washington and Kent counties did not receive an immediate response.
Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) and Del. Stephanie M. Smith (D-Baltimore City) co-sponsored a bill during the 2022 legislative session to give Baltimore City’s existing Civilian Review Board the authority to act as a police accountability board under the law.
The Baltimore City Civilian Review Board is an independent organization that processes misconduct complaints levied against police officers. Members also review department policies and offer recommendations to Police Commissioner Michael Harrison.
Both versions of the bill died in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
An inquiry sent to the office of Baltimore City Council President Nick J. Mosby (D) regarding the city’s implementation of its police accountability board did not receive an immediate response.
Earlier this month, the General Assembly passed a bill that would make tweaks to the existing law, including provisions to require all of Maryland’s state and local law enforcement agencies to adopt a uniform disciplinary policy for officers accused of misconduct. Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) has about a month to decide whether to sign the bill.
Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) vetoed several bills on Friday evening, including measures to expand abortion services in the state and establish a statewide paid family leave program. He also allowed a number of bills to become law without his signature, including sweeping climate change legislation and a juvenile justice reform bill. The legislature is likely to take up veto override votes starting on Saturday. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines.
Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) vetoed 10 bills on Friday evening, including measures that would expand the types of medical professionals who can perform abortions in the state, establish a statewide paid family leave insurance program and impose tighter security restrictions on gun stores.
The governor allowed about 28 bills to take effect without his signature — including the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, which would set aggressive goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland and establish new policies to help achieve that goal, including by requiring more building electrification, creating a “green bank” that would invest state funds into private projects that reduce gas emissions and expanding the state electric vehicle fleet.
Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), sponsor of the climate legislation, said Hogan’s decision to allow the climate bill to become law without his signature reflected growing public concern about the impacts of climate change.
“The governor does a lot of polling,” he said. “And I believe the public demands action. As a legislature we can tail the public or lead the public, and I think the governor read the tea leaves.”
Among the other bills taking effect without the governor’s signature are a ban on the sale and possession of ghost guns, a framework for a legalized cannabis industry in the state and a wide-ranging juvenile justice reform measure that will generally prohibit kids under 13 from facing criminal charges, though charges could be placed in criminal court for the most serious crimes, including murder and sexual offenses.
The General Assembly is set to adjourn on Monday at midnight, giving lawmakers a short window to override the vetoes. Both chambers are convening on Saturday to take up veto override votes.
In a veto letter on the abortion measure, Hogan wrote that he was upholding his commitment to taking no action that would affect Maryland law concerning reproductive rights.
But, he said, House Bill 937 “endangers the health and lives of women by allowing non-physicians to perform abortions.”
As passed, the bill would expand who can perform abortions in the state to include nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants.
“These procedures are complex and can, and often do, result in significant medical complications that require the care of a licensed physician,” Hogan wrote.
Hogan went on to say the bill would “set back standards for women’s health care and safety.”
The bill would also provide $3.5 million in financial support to clinically train health care professionals to offer reproductive services. The bill would also make the state’s existing abortion care coverage under Medicaid permanent, and require private health insurance plans — with exceptions for those with religious or legal exemption — to cover abortion care without cost-sharing or deductibles.
The governor also vetoed Senate Bill 275, the Time to Care Act of 2022, which would offer Marylanders 12 weeks of partially paid family leave each year to care for themselves or a loved one after a serious health issue and up to 24 weeks of paid leave for new parents.
Hogan wrote in a veto letter that if the General Assembly had passed a family leave program that defined small business as those with fewer than 50 employees, he would have been “more inclined to support it.”
The Time to Care Act defines small business as those with employers with less than 15 employees. He also wrote that the bill is supported by “no actuarial analysis, no viable plan for implementation, and leaves the smallest of small businesses vulnerable to insurmountable regulatory burdens.”
As passed, the bill would require an actuarial analysis to be completed by December this year.
Sen. Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore), senate sponsor of the bill, said Hogan’s veto of the paid family leave bill was “unfortunate.”
“Overwhelmingly, Marylanders support it,” he said. He said he is optimistic the legislature will override the veto on Saturday.
The legislation “will be beneficial to a lot of Marylanders that have to choose between work and taking care of a loved one, or taking time and bonding with a new baby,” Hayes said.
The governor also vetoed House Bill 1021, sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), which would require businesses that sell firearms to have 24-hour burglary alarm systems, as well as other safety measures including security bars, metal doors or physical barriers to prevent vehicles from crashing through.
The other bills that Hogan vetoed are:
Senate Bill 1 would allow the Maryland Department of Labor’s commissioner of labor and industry to investigate and send out stop work orders to state contractors and subcontractors that have violated the prevailing wage law.
Senate Bill 53, the Child Interrogation Protection Act, would protect minors from self-incrimination during encounters with law enforcement.
““Many of the provisions in the bill meant to protect youth were concepts that I could support, such as requiring the recording of interrogations, notification to parents/guardians, and developing age-appropriate language to explain Miranda rights to a youth,” Hogan wrote in a veto letter. “The hurdles created by this bill, most notably requiring consultation with an attorney prior to questioning, will effectively eliminate the ability for law enforcement to interrogate a youth.”
Senate Bill 259 expands the state’s prevailing wage requirements to state-funded service contracts for mechanical services like HVAC, refrigeration, electrical and elevator maintenance.
Senate Bill 475/House Bill 580 would add sergeants and supervisors within the Maryland Transit Administration Police to the list of employees authorized to participate in collective bargaining.
House Bill 778/Senate Bill 514 would require the Maryland Transportation Administration to create investment programs to move forward with projects to connect Maryland with surrounding states through the Maryland Area Regional Commuter rail.
House Bill 90 would allow lawyers at the Office of the Public Defender to choose to enter into collective bargaining agreements with the state over their pay, benefits and working conditions. Under the bill, public defenders would also only be able to be disciplined or fired for cause.
House Bill 609 would require the state secretary of Health to provide a written explanation if a local health officer is fired and give the fired officer the opportunity for a hearing.
The governor’s office released the full list of House and Senate bills that will take effect without his signature here and here.
By Danielle E. Gaines and Bruce DePuyt. Hannah Gaskill, Bennett Leckrone and Elizabeth Shwe contributed to this report.
Today, the Spy continues its informal series on profiling candidates running for office in 2022. Over the next eight months, we will be offering long-form interviews with those running for Maryland’s Governor, MD Congressional District 1, and several local elections in Dorchester, Kent, and Talbot Counties.
As per our educational, nonpartisan mission concerning all public affairs on the Mid-Shore, we believe these in-depth conversations offer a unique alternative to the traditional three-minute sound bite or quick quote. We will be talking to each candidate about their background, qualifications, and policy priorities as well as how they differentiate themselves from others running for the same office and the previous Hogan administration.
We continue with Peter Franchot, Democratic candidate for Governor in the July 19 primary. Mr. Franchot has served as Maryland Comptroller since 2007.
This video is approximately 13 minutes in length. For more information about Peter Franchot for Governor please go here.
