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‘Tornado of Misinformation’ Spawns Bill Limiting County Authority Over Cannabis

An effort by some counties to use zoning to limit if not prevent the opening of cannabis dispensaries has drawn the ire of the powerful chair of a House committee in Annapolis.

House and Senate panels are considering legislation that would make it tougher for local governments to restrict where cannabis dispensaries can locate. House Economic Matters Committee Chair Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) said counties are trying to countermand the newly legalized cannabis market and the state’s efforts to limit if not end illegal sales.

In the months that followed the first legal recreational sales in July, some counties looked to zoning to slow the opening of new dispensaries. Those efforts are now the focus of legislation designed to block those attempts, which sometimes seek to prevent any sales of the drug or are born out of the concerns about the clustering of alcohol and tobacco shops in Black and brown communities.

“This was thought out,” said Wilson, speaking of the state’s entry into legal recreational cannabis sales. “This was not done randomly. And this is not about state control. It is about protecting people, protecting us and protecting a now legitimate business. So I want to make sure we understand that we are not here to stuff them, to cluster them.”

Wilson’s HB 805 prohibits counties from imposing zoning regulations more restrictive than those imposed on retail liquor stores. Current law prohibits dispensaries within 500 feet of a playground, recreation center, library, public park, or place of worship. Wilson’s bill qualifies that restriction to pre-existing facilities.

Wilson said he will ask for an amendment to increase the distance between dispensaries from 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet.

Counties can reduce but not increase the statutory distance requirements for dispensary locations.

Some lawmakers worry the bill will usurp county zoning authority.

Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), chair of the Education, Energy and Environment Committee and sponsor of the identical SB 537, said the state has the same interest in ensuring cannabis dispensaries can open as it does ensuring counties allow clean energy production.

“We need energy,” said Sen. Alonzo T. Washington (D-Prince George’s), a member of the Senate Finance Committee. “We don’t need cannabis.”

Some legislators representing rural, mostly Republican counties, also oppose the proposed changes.

Del. Steven J. Arentz (R-Upper Shore) said counties such as those he represents are being punished for what has happened in other counties.

“You’re taking other people’s problems, making them ours,” said Arentz.

The bill has the support of the Maryland Association of Counties, which is proposing certain amendments.

The first would expand the minimum distance between dispensaries to 2,000 feet. The association also wants to keep dispensaries more than 100 feet from residential areas.

“If my kid’s out front playing in the yard, I think it’s reasonable to expect that they wouldn’t be 100 feet from a cannabis dispensary,” said Kevin Kinnally, legislative director for the association.

The state is about to dramatically expand its cannabis industry as the result of a 2023 law.

Currently, there are 101 licensed dispensaries in the state. The licenses are distributed relatively equally across the state’s 47 legislative districts. Another 75 licenses are about to be issued in a social equity round.

When it is all said and done, there will be a maximum of 300 dispensaries in the state.

There are about 6,500 liquor stores in the state.

Prince George’s County has 18.1 liquor stores per 100,000 people, according to the Prince George’s County Health Department.

That same county of roughly 1 million people is eligible for about 20 total cannabis dispensary licenses.

Nineteen of the state’s 24 major political subdivisions will receive between one and three of those social equity dispensary licenses in the coming round. Montgomery and Prince George’s counties will receive nine and 11 will go to Baltimore City, according to the Maryland Cannabis Administration.

“I honestly am sorry, I just don’t trust counties to do it because I’ve watched what they’ve done,” Wilson said. “They complain about the way the smoke shops open up and they give them [use and occupancy permits] and they give them health occupancy, the health licenses to open up.”

Last year, the Prince George’s County Council considered legislation prohibiting cannabis dispensaries in commercial zones. The bill would have pushed dispensaries into industrial areas, which include business parks. That bill was not acted on.

But the council, in a letter this month, asked the county’s legislative delegation to oppose Wilson’s bill.

Wilson blasted unnamed local officials who have complained their counties will be flooded with dispensaries in the same way liquor stores have proliferated or that the state law would allow vape and smoke shops to also sell cannabis. He complained about what he called “a tornado of misinformation.”

By Bryan P. Sears

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More Juvenile Justice Bills Considered and They May Be Included in Bigger Package

Sen. Cory V. McCray (D-Baltimore City) testifies before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Feb. 22, 2024. Photo by William J. Ford.

As Maryland’s top Democratic leaders continue to assess legislation to tweak the state’s juvenile justice system, all or portions of other juvenile-related bills could be incorporated in the bigger legislative package backed by the governor and key committee chairs.

Sen. Cory V. McCray (D-Baltimore City) wants the state Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) to report all shootings that involve juveniles who are under the department’s supervision.

The legislation McCray is sponsoring — Senate Bill 652 — would require the agency to document whether juveniles were involved in fatal and non-fatal shootings, the age of each individual and the jurisdiction where the juvenile resided. The DJS report would be required to describe the process and actions conducted by the department after each incident.

After McCray presented the bill before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Thursday, he said he doesn’t mind if his legislation gets included in the comprehensive Juvenile Law Reform bill.

“I don’t care who gets the credit. It needs to be done,” he said.

McCray said it’s important to know about all youth-involved shootings to help keep young people from retaliating or being retaliated against.

“How we do that is [to ensure] DJS [reaches youth] when they are supposed to,” McCray said.

The agency supports McCray’s legislation, according to a letter dated Wednesday from Karalyn Aanenson, director of legislation, policy, and reform for DJS. The letter states the agency already examines fatalities of youth under its care, but not non-fatal shootings.

The agency recommends that the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform and Emerging and Best Practices review non-fatal shootings. That commission, established by 2022 juvenile justice reform measures, hasn’t been fully seated and its membership would more than double under this year’s proposed juvenile law labeled Senate Bill 744.

Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery), chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the goal would be to allow McCray’s bill to go through the approval process and then incorporate it into overarching juvenile law measures.

Smith said portions of a bill sponsored by Sen. Chris West (R-Baltimore County) could also be included.

Similarities with West’s Senate Bill 636 include the creation of a smaller commission to review and assess the department’s education and treatment programs, make recommendations to improve the department and research evidence-based programs.

West’s bill would assess the costs of the department’s programs over the last five fiscal years.

He said it’s the most important bill he will sponsor during this year’s 90-day session “because of the imperative short- and long-term impact.”

“As we’re all aware by now, both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor [have] signaled their intention to make juvenile justice a top priority this session,” West told the committee. “Regardless of which side one might fall on the policy issues presented by the various juvenile bills pending before us, I think we all agree that it’s absolutely essential that the state of Maryland be in a position to provide effective treatment services to juveniles who have gotten themselves in trouble.”

Another juvenile-related bill being considered separately is Senate Bill 2 sponsored by Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City). The bill is named after NyKayla Strawder, a 15-year-old girl shot in August 2022 by a 9-year-old boy. The shooting took place in Carter’s district.

The bill was slated to be included into the larger juvenile law package, but some of NyKayla’s family traveled to Annapolis and urged lawmakers to make it a stand-alone bill.

The measure would require a police officer to file a complaint to the department if a child younger than 13 years old commits a crime “that results in the death of a victim.”

In addition, it would make it mandatory for an intake officer with the department to file a Children in Need of Supervision petition. The petition, also known as a CINS, enables law enforcement personnel, social service representatives, educators and residents to fill out a form so a troubled youth and the youth’s family can receive a variety of services.

Those referrals, which are managed by the department, have increased, but referrals are not being made in some jurisdictions.

By William J. Ford

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Moore State of the State: teases State Plan, Emphasizes priorities, Partnership with legislature

Gov. Wes Moore (D) used his second State of the State speech Wednesday to tease a major policy announcement expected for Thursday.

Upon entering office, Moore vowed Maryland would “win the decade,” and in support of that goal, he said he would move quickly to make state “policies as bold as our aspirations.”

Moore touted his pending announcement of an updated plan for state government.

“It’s the first State Plan in nearly a decade,” Moore said in prepared remarks released in advance of the speech. “It doesn’t just set the agenda for the next three months. It will chart the course for the next three years. Our state plan is about more than big aspirational targets. We’ve laid out specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound goals. We’ve built these priorities by listening to the people who sent us here: Our constituents.”

The plan is considered an expansion of a comprehensive annual report on state government operations issued by the Department of Budget and Management.

Last September, Moore announced the hiring of Asma Mirsa as his administration’s chief performance officer. Each government agency is expected to be required to send data to her for top state officials to analyze and develop policies.

“Money is important,” Moore said in selected portions of the speech released to reporters Wednesday morning. “But strategy, accountability, and partnership are imperative. We need to spend smarter and wiser across all state programs — in a way that respects the taxpayer, follows data, and responds to the needs of our communities.”

The governor and his staff are planning to roll out the strategy during a Thursday town hall meeting open to more than 40,000 state employees.

Moore’s speech ran 10 minutes longer than expected. At nearly 43 minutes, it was just two minutes shorter than the State of the State address he delivered last year.

‘Happy State of the State’

Before entering the House chamber, Moore walked down the steps from the second floor of the State House toward a few dozen people standing behind ropes in the lobby, who waved and acknowledged the governor.

“Happy State of the State,” he said to gathered onlookers.

Moore took a moment to acknowledge 12-year-old K.J. Lark.

“What’s up?” Moore asked the Crofton Middle School student who was at the State House with other members of the student council from his school.

“It felt pretty amazing. Like he recognized me as a person,” said K.J. “We came on a field trip…to see the State House. This is real life. Stuff is happening here.”

The students didn’t know that their trip was going to coincide with the State of the State address.

Moore entered the House chamber to the same level of the applause as a year ago. But gone were the repeated selfies with lawmakers that delayed his arrival on the rostrum. House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) had chided him about the delay last year.

From the opening, Moore fell back on the theme of partnership he has broken in since becoming governor.

“Now I know I talk a lot about partnership,” said Moore. “And I know if the state received a nickel for every time I said the word ‘partnership’ we would have all of our budget issues solved. But let’s be clear, partnership is not the goal. Fulfilling the Promise of Maryland is the goal. Partnership is how we’re going to get there.”

Moore benefits from a legislature in which his party holds a supermajority in both the House and Senate.

“We can’t agree on everything, and we won’t,” Moore said. “The truth is, it would be weird if we did. But we can and we will work together to achieve common goals.”

The governor has also reached out to Republicans, including hosting them at a breakfast late last month in the governor’s mansion.

Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said his party was “fully prepared to work alongside Governor Moore and his administration to seek and find common ground that will advance the interests and welfare of all Marylanders as we embark on this journey of collaboration is also our duty to raise concerns whenever we proceed that actions taken may not be in the best interest of our constituents.”

Hershey, in his party’s response to the governor’s address, described Moore’s goals at various times as bold, ambitious, and lofty, but said they require “much more than grand declarations. It necessitates concrete actions and collaborative efforts.”

Moore, in his first year in office, has rallied supporters to his vision of combating generational issues including the elimination of both childhood poverty and the wealth gap between whites and Blacks.

The state plan Moore will highlight Thursday will be a roadmap to accomplishing some of those goals.

“It will chart the course that we will take for the next three years, and our state plan is about much more than just aspirational targets,” Moore said. “The plan that we are going to lay out it will lay out specific actionable realistic and measurable goals.”

The governor touched on several priorities that were reflected in his recent budget proposal.

“Public safety remains our administration’s top priority and that will not change,” he said.

Earlier this year, Moore announced three bills that make up his public safety package. Topping the list is the creation of the Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention. The program, to be housed within the Department of Health, would treat firearm violence as a public health issue. Moore has asked for $10 million to establish the center.

Republicans are unlikely to see eye-to-eye with Moore on public safety.

Hershey said Moore’s public safety proposals fall short and described the firearm violence center as “an Obama-Biden scheme.”

“Our vision for Maryland is one where public safety is not just the priority, but the foundation upon which all other aspects of society rest. It is impossible to envision a thriving state without a strong commitment to ensuring that repeat violent offenders are held accountable and that our communities are protected from harm,” Hershey said.

Republicans are backing bills that would increase penalties for violent crimes committed by offenders armed with guns, would make the theft of a gun a felony, and would end so-called good behavior credits for offenders convicted of first- and second-degree murder.

The governor wants to expand victim compensation programs and establish an apprenticeship program to eliminate vacancies in police departments across the state.

Moore’s legislative agenda also includes bills expanding access to affordable housing, aid for entrepreneurs and an expansion of childcare assistance.

“In 2022, Maryland was ranked the seventh most expensive state to live in,” according to the printed version of Moore’s speech. “And that statistic tells a story. It’s the story of the entrepreneur in Hagerstown with a bold idea for a new business, but who doesn’t have the money to make rent this month — let alone start a company. It’s the story of a single mom in Leonardtown who works multiple jobs just to put food on the table. This year, we will address two big items on every family budget: Housing and childcare.”

GOP warns of ‘tax heists’

Moore entered office a year ago on a wave of optimism as the state’s first Black governor. He promised quick, bold actions for state government.

Since then, the tenor has changed.

Moore has found some promises, such as filling half of the estimated 10,000 vacant jobs in state government in his first year, easier made than fulfilled.

The governor spent the better part of his first year rarely saying no.

By August, he began hinting at a coming retrenchment of state government.

By January, Moore, avoiding use of the phrase budget cuts, announced some programs would be “rebased” to pre-pandemic funding levels.

Some stakeholders warn that the possibility of tax hikes could impede Moore’s aspirations for expanding economic opportunity in the state.

“The small business community is ready to partner with the Governor, his administration, and the General Assembly on making Maryland the best place to start and run a business,” said Mike O’Halloran, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “But we have to be honest on what it will cost Marylanders to fund the programs that are adding billions of dollars to our structural deficit. Small business owners do not have a choice. They must operate within their means or rethink how they do business. They expect policy makers to do the same. And do it without resorting to tax hikes on them and their customers.”

The state now faces mounting structural budget deficits that quickly approach $3 billion in coming years. And while Moore staved off initial cuts to transportation, local and state leaders are facing more than $3.1 billion in cuts without new ways to pay for road and transit projects.

Much of the state’s growing operational budget shortfalls are the result of growing costs of the educational reforms known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

“Democrat legislators are now proposing an omnibus tax increase proposal that would raise taxes on job-creating corporations, raise the state’s so-called death tax and increase the capital gains taxes,” Hershey said. “Even if these tax heists were passed, this $1.6 billion annual projection does not incorporate how much revenue would be lost from individuals, businesses and jobs, leaving the state as a result of them.”

The tax bill highlighted by Hershey is likely to stall in the Senate this year. Even so, Republicans warn that a reprieve on tax increases is temporary.

Moore’s speech offered an acknowledgement that his honeymoon is over, and he is no longer the newcomer he was a year ago.

“I’m proud of what we’re doing. But I’m most proud of how we’re doing it,” Moore said in the excerpt. “The executive and the legislature are working together again. We chose to sweat the details of governing, knowing that our constituents deserve nothing less. And by moving in partnership, we’ve helped make life better for the people we serve.”

The governor received praise from other Democrats, including Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D). She was one of several county executives who sat inside the House chamber to hear Moore’s remarks, and was especially pleased that he spotlighted the future FBI headquarters relocating from Washington, D.C., to her jurisdiction, the second largest in Maryland.

“I think that is one of the single, largest economic accomplishments that we have seen in Maryland in many, many years. The impact of it cannot be overstated,” Alsobrooks said. “It will literally give a boost to our economy [with] 7,500 jobs, cybersecurity and technology jobs.”

Moore’s words also were emotional for Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), who he personally mentioned — along with a handful of other lawmakers — in his speech.

Atterbeary connected the governor with Elizabeth Clayborne, a medical doctor and an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who Moore singled out during his speech for her entrepreneurial achievements. Both Clayborne and Atterbeary are African American single mothers.

“I can just relate,” Atterbeary said. “I just felt an incredible sense of pride to be able to help people and to have him recognize it was pretty amazing.”

By Bryan P. Sears and William J. Ford

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Lawmakers Renew Effort To Extend Access To Health Care For Undocumented Marylanders

Thousands of undocumented immigrants live in Maryland and many of them do not have health insurance that covers regular health check ups and other needs. Some members of the House of Delegates are renewing an effort to allow Maryland’s undocumented population to buy private health insurance through the state’s insurance market place.

The legislation, which does not have a bill number yet, is referred to as the Access to Care Act and is similar to a bill from the 2023 session that passed in the House of Delegates but stalled in the Senate.

It would prompt the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, the state’s insurance marketplace created as a result of the national the Affordable Care Act, to file a federal waiver to permit undocumented Marylanders to buy and use individual health care plans.

Currently, federal laws say that undocumented residents are “not eligible to enroll in federally funded coverage… or to purchase coverage through the ACA (Affordable Care Act) Marketplaces,” according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research and polling organization.

“The way that the Affordable Care Act works as written, is that unless you are here legally or you’re authorized with proper documentation, you are not allowed to purchase health care coverage through the Exchange. And that’s just part of the underlying law,” Michele Eberle, executive director for the exchange, explained.

“We can ask for that rule to be waived so that we can allow anyone, any Maryland resident, whether they have documentation or not, to purchase their health care through the exchange,” she said. The waiver has been approved in other states.

She said that there are about “300,000 Marylanders who don’t have health coverage…about a third of those don’t fall into the category of having proper documentation.”

Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery) said that she filed the legislation for the Access to Care Act Friday, and it should receive a bill number Monday. Sen. Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore City) will be handling the bill on the Senate side, she said.

“It really is beneficial, not only to the families to have health care insurance, but to the state to have as many people as possible,” she said.

“You put more healthy people into the [insurance] pool, it stabilizes insurance rates,” Cullison explained. “We have the worst emergency room wait times in the country, and a lot of that is because people don’t have preventive and primary care, so they end up in emergency rooms, whether they are undocumented or not…If they don’t have health care, that’s uncompensated care.”

Cullison said that in her talks with insurance companies, it’s apparent that expanding health care options to undocumented immigrants is good for business.

“There’s a benefit to them. When I’ve talked with insurance carriers, what they’re telling me is, the more people we can insure, the better for us. It’s better for their companies,” she said.

Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s), previously a research and policy analyst with the regional immigrants’ rights group CASA, said that lacking health care is one of the top concerns for Maryland’s undocumented population. He plans to co-sponsor the bill.

“This is not free health care. This is not a handout,” Martinez said. “This is an opportunity for folks that work hard, who pay taxes, who live here in Maryland, who impact our communities. These are people who go to church with us, their kids go to our schools…We want them to be as healthy as we are,” he said.

Last year, activists from CASA staged acts of civil disobedience around the legislative complex in the final days of the legislative session in an unsuccessful effort to pressure the Senate to pass the measure.

Affordability could still be an issue

If the Access to Care Act were to become law, and undocumented immigrants in Maryland were legally able to purchase health care on the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, many may still struggle to afford the plans currently offered on the marketplace.

“I am very, very supportive of opening up the exchange to all Marylanders,” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said during a news conference at the start of session. “The real question, though, is affordability. And this is where the rubber hits the road.”

Earlier this month, the Maryland Department of Health briefed the House Health and Government Operations committee on how much it might cost Maryland taxpayers to provide health care coverage to the state’s undocumented populations.

According to health department analysts, it could require millions or even a billion dollars in state funding through subsidies that would ease the financial burden of health care for undocumented residents, a population that is often low-income.

California, Colorado and other states provide state-funded health care programs to some low-income residents regardless of documentation status.

In Maryland’s constrained fiscal year, lawmakers are saying it’s unlikely that state funds will towards creating those subsidies in the 2025 budget.

“We don’t have the state dollars right now,” Cullison said.

The Access to Care Act will have a provision that authorizes future legislatures to create those subsidies down the line if they are interested in doing so, Cullison said.

“This is a challenging budget year. And we can’t make any promises about funding going forward. We don’t want to increase our structural deficit,” she said. “So, we can’t consider that right now.”

Ferguson said that the 2024 fiscal year was about “normalizing” the state budget now that additional federal funds from the COVID pandemic are less available.

“In a world of inexhaustible resources, it would be an easy answer, but we have a lot of competing pressures,” he said. “So if we’re just focused on the exchange, I think that’s a little bit of an easier conversation. I just don’t know if that solves the problem of expanding the number of insured Marylanders.”

By Danielle J. Brown

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