MENU

Sections

More

September 19, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

News Maryland News

Md. Citizens Redistricting Panel Starts Second Round Of Public Hearings, Draws Draft Map

by Leave a Comment

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission kicked off its second round of public hearings Thursday night, and drew up their first complete draft congressional map.

Commission members reviewed several draft maps of individual congressional districts drawn up by their resident redistricting expert, Nathaniel Persily, for “illustrative, instructional and potential discussion” purposes at the meeting.

Those maps mostly deal with individual regions of the state and are available online, but aren’t meant to reflect the commission’s final plans. Commission members also drew up a draft congressional map and agreed on a few general principles such as not crossing the Chesapeake Bay and creating a western Maryland district that includes Carroll County.

In addition to those principles, the draft map combines the three southern Maryland counties with southern Prince George’s County; combines most of Anne Arundel County with Howard County; keeps Baltimore City whole by combining it with portions of northern Anne Arundel County; and includes part of northern Montgomery County in the western Maryland district.

The draft map, which would add a second Republican-leaning district in western Maryland, generally features fewer county splits than the state’s current congressional maps. Baltimore is currently split between three congressional districts, and in the draft it is entirely contained within one. Anne Arundel County is currently split between four congressional districts, and is split between two in the draft map. Baltimore County also sees less splits in the draft.

The commission is still conducting public hearings and accepting map submissions for the public, so the draft map is likely to change.

The individual congressional districts included in the draft congressional map may be viewed in the pdf below.

2021-0909-individual-district-maps-for-draft-cong-plan

 

Just two speakers from the public testified at last week’s hearing: Zulieka Baysmore, a Baltimore resident who was a candidate in the 2020 Republican mayoral primary, and Reuben Collins, the Democratic president of the Charles County Board of Commissioners.

Collins noted that Charles County was one of the fastest-growing counties in Maryland, according to U.S. Census data, and said commission members should “look at amplifying opportunities for minority representation” in his county.

Baysmore urged commission members to keep districts competitive in their proposed maps rather than “fully red or fully blue.”

The commission has received 10 map submissions from the public to date, Maryland Department of Planning Director of Public Affairs Kristin Fleckenstein said at the meeting. The commission’s next virtual public hearings are set for 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13, and Tuesday, Sept. 14.

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission was created via executive order by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and includes three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters. The commission is tasked with drawing up congressional and legislative maps that Hogan plans to submit to the General Assembly.

The General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate, will have the final say over proposed maps. The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission announced Friday that it would hold its first public hearing at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo as part of its map-making process.

By Bennett Leckrone

Hogan Makes Booster Shots Available to Nursing Home Residents, People With Health Issues

by Leave a Comment

Marylanders age 65 and over who live in nursing homes and other congregate care facilities became eligible for COVID-19 booster shots on Tuesday, under an order from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R).

Seniors who live in assisted living facilities, residential drug treatment centers, and group homes for people with disabilities also became eligible for the shots, which health experts have said can bolster protection against the coronavirus.

Gov. Larry Hogan

Hogan issued the order after the state’s Antibody Testing Program determined that more than 60% of vaccinated residents had “some form of waning immunity over time, and showed that as many as one-in-three are now particularly vulnerable.”

He also cited an Israeli study which concluded that a booster — typically a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines — led to an 11-fold reduction in infections and a ten-fold decrease in severe illness.

“All of the evidence makes it abundantly clear that we cannot afford to delay taking decisive action to protect our most vulnerable citizens,” Hogan said.

The state’s research tested more than 500 nursing home residents.

The state Health Department also issued guidance on Tuesday ordering all pharmacies and health providers to provide a booster shot “without any need for a prescription or a doctor’s order to anyone who considers themselves to be immunocompromised,” Hogan said.

“No one in this category should be turned away from receiving a booster,” he added.

The governor said Maryland has a strong supply of vaccine and does not anticipate reopening mass vaccination sites when the general public becomes eligible for booster shots.

A potential White House hopeful in 2024, Hogan continued his criticism of the federal government, saying that states “have had to operate without clear guidance” from the CDC or FDA as to when booster shots will be recommended for people under age 65 and those without health conditions.

“The limited guidance we have received has been confusing and contradictory,” Hogan said, echoing complaints he made on a Sunday talk show, “and it is still unclear when and how more people will become eligible.”

According to the state Department of Health, an average of 17 of every 100,000 Marylanders tested positive over the last week, a 15% decrease since the beginning of September.

Hogan said his administration is “proud” that Maryland is unlike the states that have “spiking numbers… with their case-rates surging out of control and their hospitals overflowing.”

According to the CDC, community transmission of COVID is “high” in 19 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdiction, and “substantial” in the remaining five. 

Hogan also announced a $3 million “Community COVID-19 Vaccination Project,” which he described as a “door-to-door canvassing effort to directly engage Marylanders living in areas with low vaccination rates and in effort to encourage more vaccinations.”

The project will also provide health education in “at-risk neighborhoods.”

“The vaccines are the single most effective way to protect people from severe illness, hospitalizations and deaths,” he said, adding that only 0.2% of fully-vaccinated Marylanders have been hospitalized.

At a time when right-wing media personalities and outlets are touting unproven treatments, Hogan encouraged people who test positive and begin to experience symptoms to consult with their health-care provider about monoclonal antibody therapy.

“These monoclonal antibodies are the only approved and effective treatment for COVID-positive individuals who are symptomatic but not yet severe enough to require hospitalization,” Hogan said.

Maryland has completed more than 10,000 infusions at 30 facilities, Hogan said, an effort that has cut hospitalizations and deaths significantly.

By Bruce DePuyt

It’s Map Drawing Time. Citizens Redistricting Commission Opens Public Submissions

by

Marylanders can now submit their own proposals for redistricting to the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, state officials announced Thursday.

The Maryland Department of Planning’s new submission portal allows users to map their proposals for congressional and state legislative districts, and includes instructions on how to draw districts.

Members of the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission will review maps that are received by noon on Sept. 24, according to the planning department. More submissions will be accepted when that panel begins its third round of hearings in October.

The map submission portal uses redistricting data which counts incarcerated Marylanders as residents of their last known address, as required by Maryland law, according to the release.

The nine-member commission — which includes three Democrats, three Republicans and three unaffiliated voters — is set to start a new round of public hearings on Sept. 9. That hearing will be virtual.

The commission worked with Stanford Law School professor Nathaniel Persily to hash out some rough criteria for maps on Wednesday. Although the commission won’t make its redistricting proposal for some time and will consider citizens’ proposals, members said they hope to have some early drafts ready for public comment by next week.

Commission members also mulled whether to keep the Eastern Shore whole or cross the Chesapeake Bay to create a district consisting of part of Southern Maryland and the Lower Shore. Commission Member Kimberly Rose Cummings (R), a Dorchester County resident, noted that some Lower Shore residents told panelists, during an initial round of public hearings, that they have more in common with Southern Maryland residents than with residents of north and central Maryland.

There is historical precedent for crossing the Chesapeake Bay in a congressional district, as the state’s 1st Congressional District once included portions of Southern Maryland as well as the entire Eastern Shore from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. The 1st District currently includes all of Maryland’s Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Carroll countries.

Commission Co-chair Alexander Williams Jr. (D), a Prince George’s County resident and retired federal judge, said that rapidly developing Charles County has more in common with parts of Prince George’s County than with other parts of Southern Maryland. Commission members chose to leave both options on the table for public comment and map submissions.

As for drawing a district in Western Maryland, commission Co-chair Walter Olson (R) said the panel should look to include Carroll County with Frederick, Garrett and Allegany counties. Olson and Williams served on an emergency commission to redraw the state’s 6th Congressional District before the Supreme Court reversed a 2018 order to redraw the district. Olson said that, during the emergency commission’s run, Carroll County residents “overwhelmingly” asked to be included in a Western Maryland district.

Whether the Western Maryland district would draw from portions of northern Montgomery or Howard counties remains an open question for commission members.

None of the commission’s initial criteria are set in stone, rather they are meant to be a baseline for public comment during upcoming public hearings.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission via executive order to draw congressional and legislative maps that he will propose to the General Assembly. Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate, and lawmakers will have the final say over the state’s next set of maps.

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) created their own bipartisan redistricting commission, the Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, to draw congressional and legislative maps. The legislative commission held its first meeting this week and is set to kick off a statewide round of public hearings on Sept. 20 with a hearing focused on Prince George’s County.

By Bennett Leckrone

Legislative Redistricting Commission Promises Transparent Process at First Meeting

by

Maryland’s General Assembly will have the final say over the state’s next set of congressional and legislative maps, and legislative leaders’ bipartisan redistricting commission held its first meeting Tuesday evening.

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission, convened by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), will conduct public hearings before proposing congressional and legislative maps. Karl Aro, former executive director of the non-partisan Department of Legislative Services, is the commission’s chair.

The Department of Legislative Services will be responsible for drawing maps based on the commission’s input, Aro said. He said the map drafts will be confidential until the commission is ready to release its proposal to the public.

Jodie Chilson of the Department of Legislative Services said that any member of the General Assembly will be able to request a map be drawn.

“Any request that comes to us for that would be confidential even with respect to the commission,” Chilson said. “Once the map is drawn and you get it, you can do with it what you want, but as we’re drawing it that would be confidential.”

The departments of Planning and Legislative Services finalized data to be used for redistricting on Tuesday, Legislative Services Senior Policy Analyst Michelle Davis told members of the panel. The U.S. Census data used for redistricting was released last month, but state officials needed to adjust that data to comply with Maryland law, which requires that incarcerated people are counted as residents of their known address. She said that data will be available to the public soon.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel), a member of the panel, pressed for a bipartisan map-drawing process, and said he hopes commission members work together when it comes to creating a single, cohesive map.

“We’re not in the majority and don’t pretend to be there, but I would like to be included as opposed to Republicans going off and doing their maps, Democrats going off and doing their maps,” he said.

Simonaire noted that after the 2010 Census, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) created a redistricting commission to conduct public hearings, but according to depositions from the Benisek v. Lamone case, most map-drawing during that process was done away from the public eye by political operatives and incumbents.

“We ended up with some of the worst maps in the nation … especially on the congressional side,” Simonaire said.

Aro said he hopes the legislative commission will produce a map that makes people feel that their communities are largely kept whole, but warned that some areas will likely have to be split due to how complex the process is. He likened redistricting to “doing brain surgery with a sledge hammer.”

“My hope too is that the geography will look, for lack of a better word, prettier,” Aro said. “It should. I imagine we’ll just have to work our way through it.”

Ferguson said public input will be “absolutely essential” to the commission’s work and pledged a transparent process.

“We will have a fair and transparent process, and in order for that to happen we need to hear from the public,” Ferguson said.

Jones likewise underscored the importance of public input.

“For those Marylanders watching this online, we are asking you to show up at our hearings, write us letters, and send us your ideas,” Jones said. “We are listening.”

Jones also acknowledged that the redistricting debate likely won’t end when the General Assembly adopts maps.

“There’s a good chance that these maps will end up in court,” she said. “That is the nature of redistricting. We will follow the advice of counsel at every step, making sure that the rights of all Marylanders are protected.”

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission will conduct region-based and statewide public hearings in the coming months, and will kick off with a public hearing in Prince George’s County on Monday, Sept. 20. The location of that meeting wasn’t immediately available, but the meeting will be live streamed.

Other lawmakers on the commission are Senate President Pro Tempore Melony Griffith (D-Prince George’s), House Majority Leader Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery) and House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany).

The Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission is one of two panels tasked with conducting public hearings and drawing up a proposed set of congressional and legislative maps in the coming months: Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) created the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission earlier this year to create maps that he will propose to the General Assembly.

That commission includes three Republicans, three Democrats and three unaffiliated voters, and completed one round of public hearings before the release of U.S. Census data in August.

Hogan plans to introduce both the congressional and legislative maps that are drawn by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission. The governor is required to introduce legislative maps, but statutes are silent on who is responsible for introducing congressional maps. The General Assembly is allowed to make changes to those maps and draw their own.

While both commissions are tasked with drawing up maps, the ultimate authority for mapmaking in Maryland rests with the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Hogan can veto only congressional maps, although lawmakers easily overrode his vetoes on such measures as police and education reform during the 2021 legislative session. He can’t veto the General Assembly’s legislative maps, but his proposed maps would become law if the General Assembly doesn’t pass a redistricting plan within the first half of the 2022 legislative session.

At a media briefing ahead of the legislative panel’s first meeting Tuesday, Simonaire and Buckel reiterated their support for Hogan’s Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

“The best way to do redistricting is in a bipartisan or nonpartisan fashion, letting the citizens drive the redistricting process rather than the politicians in the back room,” Buckel said.

Simonaire previously predicted that the legislative commission’s final vote would come down to a party-line split. He said Tuesday that he remains “skeptical” of the legislative redistricting commission.

Congressional maps could be adopted by the General Assembly later this year, with legislative leaders considering a special session in December to tackle congressional redistricting.

By Bennett Leckrone

Experts Support Mask Mandates for Students but Say Vaccine Mandates Will Be More Difficult

by

As many students across Maryland return to school this week while the delta variant continues to drive the state’s COVID-19 case rates higher, requiring masks inside school buildings is the “lowest hanging fruit” schools could take to protect against the coronavirus, public health experts told lawmakers on Monday.

“Children with masks on play just as hard and learn just as well as children without masks, but they’re protected from acquiring COVID and spreading it to others,” Karen L. Kotloff, a professor of pediatrics in the University of Maryland Medical System, told the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.

“I think that is the lowest hanging fruit and the easiest intervention that can be done,” she continued. “Masks are easy.”

Meanwhile, other measures such as requiring that students and teachers to get vaccinated or for students to maintain physical distance in classrooms are more difficult, she continued.

Mandating masks is a low-cost way to reduce COVID-19 transmission rates, said Tara Kirk Sell, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Monday’s legislative meeting came after the Maryland State Board of Education passed a universal mask mandate for public schools in a hastily-scheduled meeting last week. Previously, the decision to issue masking mandates for students, teachers and staff was left to local school boards in reopening decisions to be approved by Maryland State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury.

By law, the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) has to approve the State Board of Education’s emergency regulation for it to go into effect. The committee is slated to vote on the matter at a public meeting on Sept. 14, allowing some school systems to start the school year without requiring masks.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan (R) has the ability to waive the 10-business-day waiting period required before the AELR committee can vote on the emergency regulation, but Hogan said Monday that he does not plan to do so.

“I’m not going to create a state of emergency to waive the ability for legislators to hear from the citizens, they just have to do the process that they normally do,” Hogan told WBFF-TV.

Republican lawmakers also implored the committee to not rush the 10-day review period to allow for a deliberative process.

“We have serious concerns regarding the State Board of Education’s unprecedented usurpation of local control in mandating masking for students across Maryland,” a statement from the House Minority Caucus said.

During the Monday briefing, Sen. Jason C. Gallion (R-Cecil and Harford) suggested that only children with underlying medical conditions should wear N95s — tight-fitting, high-filtration medical masks — “instead of making all children wear these cloth masks.”

But Kotloff highlighted that healthy children could also contract the coronavirus.

“You don’t have to have an underlying condition to have a fatal COVID infection, and so how do you know which child that’s going to be … to protect that child’s life?” she said. Furthermore, the more a virus passes back and forth among a population, the more a virus can mutate and become more virulent, she continued.

“Pretty much anything that can happen to an adult can happen to a child,” Kotloff said. Longer-term effects of contracting the coronavirus can also afflict children, such as cognitive impairments, fatigue and chronic respiratory issues.

Nationally, the number of children with COVID-19 grew from 26,000 to 200,000 in the last week, according to Kotloff.

Sen. Bryan Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) questioned whether it was a good policy to have a “one size fits” approach if different areas in the state have different transmission rates.

But Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) underscored that every county in the state currently has a high or substantial transmission rate of 50-100 or more cases per 100,000.

“When everything is substantial, then I think it makes sense that the policy is fairly uniform,” Sell said. “When things come down, people can make some more of those nuanced decisions at lower levels.”

Mandating Vaccinations?

Montgomery and Prince George’s counties public school systems are requiring teachers and staff to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or to undergo weekly tests.

But mandating vaccines for children will be harder than mandating masks, said Daniel Salmon, the director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. If a vaccine mandate is implemented before it has widespread public support, it risks backlash which can significantly undermine the immunization effort.

However, the bar is different for teachers and staff, he continued. “That’s a workplace mandate, which is different. And teachers get to choose whether or not they want to be teachers and where they work and it’s an occupational hazard, so I think it’s a lower bar,” he said.

When people feel forced to get inoculated, “that’s frightening for people,” Kotloff said. Allowing people to express their fears about the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as informing them of the science is the best way to move forward, she continued.

By Elizabeth Shwe

Will Frosh Seek a Third Term as AG? What Happens if He Doesn’t?

by

Political professionals in Maryland have focused intensely on the races for governor and — to a lesser extent — comptroller during the still-young 2022 campaign.

There has been almost no discussion about who will serve as the state’s attorney general for the next four years.

But that will change in a hurry if incumbent Brian E. Frosh (D) decides not to seek a third term as the state’s top lawyer.

Frosh will turn 75 in October, and he did not attend the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City earlier this month or a recent Democratic Attorneys General Association gathering that was held online.

The absences have fueled widespread speculation that the Montgomery County Democrat will not run for re-election. The $205,092 Frosh reported in his campaign account as of mid-January isn’t a lot for a veteran statewide officeholder, either.

“He ain’t running,” one insider predicted confidently.

But others who have spoken with Frosh recently came away with the distinct opposite impression.

Frosh himself would only say that he is planning to announce his decision soon.

Interviews with more than a dozen well-connected Democrats over the last 10 days offer some insight into how events might unfold. Many of the people Maryland Matters spoke with were granted anonymity to discuss the state of play candidly.

If Frosh runs again, he will be considered a prohibitive favorite to win another four years as attorney general, though a Democratic primary challenge — particularly from a younger person of color — cannot be ruled out.

James F. Shalleck, a former federal prosecutor and Republican activist who recently stepped down as head of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, filed papers with the state on Wednesday to run for attorney general. It’s possible that a Frosh retirement will prompt other Republicans to look at the race.

Whomever the Republican nominee ends up being, he or she will face long odds.

Frosh has prevailed in every election he has competed in since 1986, when he won his first of two terms representing the Bethesda area in the House of Delegates. He went on to serve for 20 years in the Senate, including a dozen years as chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

If Frosh opts not to seek a third term, the Democratic primary battle to replace him could get interesting very quickly — though many leading Democrats and party strategists predict that state Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) would be an early favorite.

Smith is relatively new to Annapolis, having been elected in 2014 to the House of Delegates and once to the Senate. (He was appointed to the Senate in 2016 following then-Sen. Jamie B. Raskin’s election to the U.S. House.)

Despite his relative youth and junior status, Smith, 39, was appointed chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee — Frosh’s former perch — in late 2019, and helped shepherd the police reform legislative package through the General Assembly earlier this year.

A lawyer by training, the Silver Spring native attended the National Intelligence University and has served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve since 2009. He deployed to Afghanistan for six months in 2019, causing him to miss the end of that year’s General Assembly session.

Smith would be the first person of color to serve as attorney general in Maryland history. Although he lacks a statewide network, he is well-liked in Annapolis and he could attract significant support from a range of Democratic establishment figures.

At least one potential rival said they would not run for attorney general if Smith enters the race.

Smith, who has already begun canvassing his district in advance of his re-election bid, reported $122,083 in his campaign account in mid-January. He declined to discuss next year’s campaign.

Should Frosh choose to retire, Smith almost certainly won’t be the only Democrat who would seek to replace him in 2022 if he decides to run for the seat, though none would probably start with Smith’s level of institutional support. A survey of Democratic politicians, strategists and party stalwarts produces a list of several other possible candidates if Frosh retires — including two who have sought the office before:

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy (D) — She ran for attorney general in 2014, coming in third in the Democratic primary, with 20% of the vote. An ambitious attorney and former state delegate in her first term as county prosecutor, she is considered more likely to want to run for Prince George’s County executive whenever there is a vacancy. But she might eye the AG slot again if she can see a path to victory. She had $74,945 in her campaign war chest in mid-January.

Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D) — An intriguing potential candidate whose name has surfaced repeatedly in recent days, the former lieutenant governor would enter the race a top-tier candidate. An aide declined to make Brown available for an interview, saying he was focused on Capitol Hill matters. But even with a very safe seat, Brown is thought to be restless in Congress, and may envision himself in an executive role again before long. Brown had less than $2,000 left in his state campaign account in mid-January and reported more than $1.4 million in his federal campaign account. But only $6,000 can be directly transferred from the federal war chest to the state fund.

Del. Jon Cardin (D-Baltimore County) — Cardin was the runner-up to Frosh in the 2014 primary and says that while the job of attorney general still interests him, he hasn’t given much thought to the idea that there will be a vacancy. If Frosh decides to retire, Cardin says he will give the race a look. Cardin reported $31,778 in the bank as of mid-January.

Del. Luke H. Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, whose day job is working as a prosecutor in Anne Arundel County, says the job of attorney general interests him, but he fully expects Frosh to seek re-election. Clippinger was campaign manager to Tom Perez when Perez ran an aborted campaign for attorney general in 2006. Clippinger reported $105,893 in his campaign account in mid-January.

Montgomery County Councilmember William Jawando (D) — The former Barack Obama aide has already announced his intention to seek a second term on the council, but he’s also keeping his eyes open for other opportunities and has publicly expressed a general interest in the AG’s job in the past. He’s been the leading advocate of police reform on the county council and has also worked to protect struggling tenants during the pandemic. Jawando had $23,062 in his campaign war chest as of mid-January.

Former Congressman Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (D) — Now a Queen Anne’s County District Court judge, Kratovil, who served one term in Congress representing the Eastern Shore, is known to be eager to get back in the political game and would take a hard look at the AG race if there was a vacancy. Kratovil would likely be the most politically moderate candidate in a Democratic primary for AG — which could be beneficial or a hindrance depending on how the rest of the field shakes out. Kratovil has no active campaign finance account.

Montgomery County State’s Attorney John J. McCarthy (D) — McCarthy, the four-term prosecutor would start with one big advantage: Montgomery is home to one-in-six Maryland voters. But even though he’s facing aggressive Democratic primary opposition for the first time in his re-election contest, the 69-year-old attorney is still favored for another term — something he would have to take into consideration before deciding to roll the dice on a statewide bid. McCarthy had $146,297 in the bank in mid-January.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby (D) — Mosby in many ways has the most political talent and star power of any of the potential contenders — and also the most political baggage. She’s highly ambitious, and after more than 6 1/2 years in office, she’s no doubt thinking about her next political move. She’s got a loyal following in Baltimore. But she and her husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick J. Mosby (D) have faced plenty of unwanted scrutiny over the past several months for various financial dealings and they reportedly are the target of one or more federal investigations. A Mosby spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. Mosby, who is up for a third term in 2022, had $68,487 in her campaign account in mid-January.

Here are some other Democrats who are mentioned as possible candidates for attorney general but highly unlikely to run:

Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) — The popular first-term executive opted not to run for governor next year. Insiders believe she is more likely to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024 if incumbent Benjamin L. Cardin — who turns 78 in October — retires. The county’s former top prosecutor would have been a top-tier candidate for AG the last time the job was vacant, in 2014, and would be again. But she has said publicly she’s committed to remaining county executive.

Del. Vanessa E. Atterbeary (D-Howard) — Atterbeary took the reins on the House’s police reform effort in 2020 and 2021, demonstrating solid leadership skills. But as a favorite of House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and with an ever-shifting legislature, she may have committee leadership opportunities coming her way in the next few years.

Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City) — She was a major mover in the police reform debate in the most recent legislative session — an issue she has worked on relentlessly for years. Carter seems most interested in running for Congress again someday, but some supporters will no doubt encourage her to take a look at AG if Frosh retires. On the other hand, she could be in line for the gavel at the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee if Smith is running for another office.

Former Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) — Elected attorney general in 2006 and 2010, the Montgomery County Democrat would be a viable candidate to get his old job back if his second run for governor falters, but those who’ve spoken with him in recent days came away convinced he intends to remain in the race for the top job and maintains he has a legitimate chance to win.

Del. Brooke E. Lierman (D-Baltimore City) — Lierman is a civil rights attorney, so a race for attorney general makes sense on paper. But she’s already immersed in and committed to her campaign for comptroller, which is well underway — and she is the early frontrunner.

Former U.S. Labor Secretary and Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez (D) — Perez ran for AG in 2006, after J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) announced his retirement, but his candidacy was derailed after the state’s highest court ruled he hadn’t practiced law here for 10 years, as required. He would be Maryland’s first Latino AG if elected, but Perez has told associates he intends to remain in the race for governor.

Former state Sen. Robert L. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) — Zirkin retired from the state Senate in late 2019, giving up his post as chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. But even though he seemed through with politics at the time, he’s only 50, and he may yet have a second political act.

By Bruce DePuyt, Hannah Gaskill, and Josh Kurtz

Md. Citizens Redistricting Commission Brings on National Election Law Expert as Consultant

by

The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission is bringing on Nathaniel Persily, a nationally recognized expert on redistricting, to help draw up their congressional and legislative maps.

Commission Co-chair Walter Olson, a senior fellow at Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, announced at a Wednesday night meeting that Persily would serve as the panel’s adviser. He called Persily an “eminent” figure in the field of redistricting.

Redistricting expert Nathaniel Persily

Persily, the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, previously served as a court-appointed expert for the redrawing of Maryland’s legislative plan in 2002. He has also been appointed by courts to help redraw legislative or congressional districts in Connecticut, Georgia, New York and North Carolina.

Persily will serve as the commission’s chief map-drawer and resident redistricting expert, and will use the panel’s input to craft congressional and legislative maps.

Persily is advising commissions across the country as part of the current round of redistricting — including the Prince George’s County Redistricting Commission. His role will be paid, Department of Planning spokeswoman Kristin Fleckenstein said in an email, but an exact funding figure wasn’t immediately available Wednesday night.

The multi-partisan Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission was created by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) to draw up congressional and legislative maps that he will propose to the General Assembly. Lawmakers will have the final say over what the state’s next set of maps look like, and Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) announced their own bipartisan redistricting commission earlier this summer. That commission is chaired by former Department of Legislative Services Executive Director Karl Aro, who was appointed alongside Persily to redraw the state’s legislative maps after a 2002 lawsuit overturned the state’s legislative map.

Both of the commissions are planning to hold public hearings after Census redistricting data is adjusted to comply with Maryland law by having incarcerated individuals reallocated to their last known address. Fleckenstein said at the meeting that the data is expected to be ready next week.

By Bennett Leckrone

Md. School Board to Vote Today on Requiring Masks; Franchot, State Senators Back Statewide Mandate

by

The Maryland State Board of Education will hold a meeting this afternoon to determine if students will be required to wear masks during the 2021-2022 academic year as the delta variant continues to drive the state’s COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates higher.

​​“I believe that having an in-school mask mandate is going to help us to meet our goal of having students stay in classrooms and minimize the disruption that will be caused by quarantines,” said Rachel McCusker, the teacher representative of the Maryland State Board of Education, at the end of a marathon meeting held Tuesday.

The board voted unanimously to meet at 3 p.m. today to discuss the matter further.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudury said that he was looking to see if he had legal backing to deny school systems’ COVID-19 plans if they follow all of the State Department of Education and Department of Health recommendations except for universal masking.

“I have been very clear, all school systems should start the school year with masking,” Choudury said early during the eight-hour meeting Tuesday.

Thus far, each jurisdiction has been tasked with deciding its own school reopening plan, which must be approved by Choudury.

To assuage public concern, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) on Monday tweeted a map created by the Department of Legislative Services detailing masking and vaccine mandates by school district.

According to the map, which was last updated Tuesday, 14 of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions plan to require students to wear masks. On Wednesday night, Cecil County Superintendent of Schools Jeff Lawson announced that the school district would require masks for students and staff at the beginning of the school year.

State senators sent a letter Wednesday to the Maryland State Board of Education, imploring board members to issue an emergency regulation requiring a universal masking mandate for students and teachers across the state.

“Continuous in-person instruction this school year is critical, and we must protect students’ ability to learn with other children in school buildings statewide throughout the year,” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said in a statement. “We urge the State Board of Education to promulgate a temporary emergency regulation mandating that all children, faculty, and staff wear masks in every Maryland elementary and secondary school and congregate setting with children in any county with a substantial or high rate of COVID-19 transmission, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Should the board decide to issue the masking requirement for students and staff across the state, the emergency regulation would need to be approved by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR). The committee is led by Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel) and Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City).

Because of its emergency status, the masking mandate would only be in effect for 180 days before its expiration.

With Cecil County now requiring masks, only four of Maryland’s 24 school systems have chosen to keep masking optional. Several of those jurisdictions have some of the state’s highest rates of COVID-19 transmission. And three of the four — Dorchester, Somerset, Worcester — are on the Eastern Shore.

Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), a candidate for governor in 2022, issued a statement Thursday morning saying he also favored a mask mandate for public schools.

“Like so many Marylanders, I’m greatly concerned about the surge of COVID-19 cases in our state and across the country,” he said in the statement. “This surge comes as families are preparing to send their kids back to school — with great uncertainty on how the Delta variant will impact the health and welfare of students, teachers and staff. The COVID infection rate among children is the highest it’s ever been.

“That’s why I support a statewide mask mandate for schools, mandatory vaccinations for school employees, and daily testing for school employees who have religious or health exemptions,” Franchot said. “Additionally, I call on the state to work with local governments and school systems to ensure that all eligible children, educators and staff have convenient access to vaccines. School systems must also provide parents with the flexibility to decide the mode of learning that’s best for their children, whether it’s in-person, hybrid or virtual.

“Our collective fight against this pandemic that has killed nearly 10,000 Marylanders and infected more than 489,000 of our friends and neighbors is far from over. When it comes to the health and welfare of our children, we can’t take enough precautions to ensure that they are able to safely learn,” he said. “What’s more, these necessary health precautions aren’t just for our students, but also for our educators and staff. They and their loved ones deserve the certainty of knowing they won’t be jeopardizing their health to do the job they love.”

Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D) declared a state of emergency there Tuesday morning in an effort to help the county request and procure aid and resources from the state and federal government.

Per a Tuesday news release from Olszewski’s office, the Baltimore County Council will hold a voting session next week to determine if the county should remain under the state of emergency beyond August.

“While we’ve made undeniable progress in our fight against this deadly virus, the rapid emergence of the Delta variant has made it clear that we need access to every tool in our toolbox to be able to respond to it,” Olszewski said in a statement. “We remain committed to doing whatever is necessary to keep our residents as safe as possible and to ensure that when our children go back to school next week they can remain where they belong: inside the classroom.”

“We want to keep our kids in class and keep our schools open,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) said in support of County Superintendent George Arlotto’s decision to mandate that students and teachers mask up. “That’s the reason that we have the mask requirement.”

Robert Mosier, chief communications officer for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said discussions regarding vaccine requirements for teachers are underway. Pittman issued a vaccine mandate for county employees earlier this month.

According to Anne Arundel Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, the county has 55 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at Anne Arundel Medical Center and University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center. He also reported that six people died of COVID-19-related causes in Anne Arundel County in the past week — “the most deaths we’ve had in three months.”

Asked what it would take for him to institute a county-wide mask mandate, Pittman said that he would need to reinstate a local state of emergency, but he doesn’t have enough support from the County Council to do so.

“We don’t have the authorization,” Pittman said. “We had it under the governor’s emergency order and we had it under the county’s emergency declaration … but that we no longer have.”

Pittman said that, to reinstate the county’s state of emergency, five of seven Anne Arundel County councilmembers would have to support it. He said that three county council members “have opposed every mandate that we’ve put into effect.”

“So we don’t believe that we have the votes on the council to do that,” he said.

By Hannah Gaskill and Bruce DePuyt

Hogan, Dem Leaders Announce $400M Initiative to Expand Broadband Access

by

Maryland officials are ramping up their efforts to close the state’s digital divide, with Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and Democratic legislative leaders announcing a new program and workgroup aimed at making broadband more accessible to Marylanders Friday.

Hogan, alongside House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) announced the state’s new Connect Maryland initiative to boost broadband access at a Friday event in Snow Hill.

That initiative includes an additional $100 million in funding on top of the $300 million from the American Rescue Plan Act that Hogan, Ferguson and Jones agreed to send toward broadband investments earlier this year. The initiative also includes a bipartisan workgroup made up of municipal and county officials, along with members of the General Assembly, that will look at how to use the $400 million in dedicated broadband funding.

Hogan said the new initiative will be “transformative” in improving broadband access across the state.

“The COVID pandemic has illustrated just how critical a lifeline high speed internet access is to our lives and livelihoods, whether it’s for school work, telehealth or just staying in touch with our families,” Hogan said.

The Maryland General Assembly passed legislation, sponsored in the House by Del. Brooke E. Lierman (D-Baltimore City) and in the Senate by Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel), during the 2021 legislative session to create a statewide broadband office. That legislation aims to ensure “98% connectivity to universal, affordable, reliable broadband Internet by December 31, 2025,” and that all Marylanders have access to reliable internet by the end of 2026, according to an analysis by the Department of Legislative Services.

Jones said federal relief funding will be key to building out broadband in the coming years.

“All of this isn’t possible without funding,” Jones said. “‘Last mile’ installation costs for broadband range from $35,000 to $70,000 per mile, which can amount to up to $7,000 to connect a single household. With hundreds of thousands of households lacking a broadband connection or even a computer or tablet to access the internet, the costs are worth the investment.”

Hogan and legislative leaders also launched a statewide broadband subsidy program to help low-income Marylanders pay for high-speed internet. To qualify for the Maryland Emergency Broadband Benefit Subsidy Program, Marylanders will need to have been approved for the Federal Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.

The federal program provides a discount of up to $50 per month for qualifying households. Maryland’s subsidy program will mean that those households can receive up to $65 per month when state and federal assistance is combined.

In order for a household to be eligible for the subsidy program, at least one member of the household must meet one of the following requirements:

  • Have an income that is at or below 135% of federal poverty guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs like SNAP, Medicaid or Lifeline
  • Be approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program for the 2019-2020 school year or the 2020-2021 school year.
  • Received a federal Pell grant during the current award year
  • Experienced a “substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since Feb. 29, 2020 and the household had a 2020 income of below $99,000 for individual filers or $198,000 for joint filers
  • Meet the eligibility requirements for a participating Internet Service Provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 assistance program.

By Bennett Leckrone

In Closing MACo Remarks, Hogan Reflects on Counties’ Role in Combating COVID

by

In his penultimate gubernatorial speech at the annual Maryland Association of Counties summer conference, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) touted the state’s high vaccination rate and pandemic relief funding — and urged counties to quickly distribute that money to residents who need it.

Closing out the MACo summer conference at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City Saturday, Hogan outlined a slew of relief measures the state has undertaken from the onset of the pandemic, including the emergency funding and tax breaks in the RELIEF Act passed earlier this year.

“It has offered a real lifeline to those hardest-hit, families who are struggling just to get by and small businesses who are desperately trying to stay afloat,” he said.

He also cautioned that, while counties have recently received rent relief funding from the federal government, some of that money has been slow to get to residents and businesses.

“I just can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to try to get this relief out to the people that need it most as quickly as possible,” he said.

Some county officials have blamed federal red tape and cumbersome applications for slow progress on distributing rent relief funding. Hogan’s statewide protections for tenants, which allowed for an affirmative defense in failure-to-pay rent eviction filings, expired earlier this month despite calls from local leaders and advocates to renew them.

After three days of policy panels and partying, the MACo summer conference traditionally ends on Saturday with a speech from the governor. Often the platform is used to unveil new proposals or for political messaging.

Caroline County Commissioner Wilbur Levengood Jr. (R), the president of MACo, accidentally began to introduce Hogan, who is thought to have White House ambitions, as “the 62nd president…governor of the state of Maryland.” He laughed at the mistake.

During his speech, Hogan underscored the partnership between the state and county governments in Maryland over the past year and a half. He said counties and the state worked together to ramp up the state’s hospital surge capacity, procure and distribute personal protective equipment, complete millions of COVID-19 tests and undertake a massive vaccination campaign that has led to Maryland’s high statewide vaccination rate.

“It’s never been more important to have the collaboration and the partnership that we’ve had over the past 18 months,” he said.

The governor went on to say that transportation officials will be rolling out a new consolidated transportation program that will include funding for expanding Route 90 near Ocean City — a project he described as both a boon for public safety and the local economy.

Hogan also highlighted the state’s latest $400 million broadband expansion effort, the Connect Maryland initiative, which he announced alongside legislative leaders Friday. Broadband access, made more salient than ever by the COVID-19 pandemic, was among the most discussed topics at the 2021 MACo summer conference.

While in past years Hogan has occasionally slammed legislation from the General Assembly in his closing speech at MACo, this year’s speech mostly focused on state aid to counties and pandemic recovery. Other than teasing the transportation plan and mentioning his desire to focus on Maryland’s long-term public health and economic well-being, the governor offered no policy prescriptions or initiatives for his final 16 months in office.

Hogan lauded local officials and health care workers for their service throughout the pandemic.

“I’m so proud of the people of Maryland, and I’m grateful for the partnership with the Maryland Association of Counties,” Hogan said. “We are ready to come back from this pandemic stronger and better than ever before.”

By Bennett Leckrone