PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Maryland General Assembly Completes Legislative Session William J. Ford WI Staff Writer ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland General Assembly completed its 90day session at midnight on Tuesday, April 12 passing a comprehensive package to combat climate change, to provide statewide paid family and medical leave and to allow voters to decide in November whether to legalize recreational marijuana. With billions of dollars in savings, lawmakers approved a $58.5 billion fiscal year 2023 budget. In addition, nearly $2 billion in tax relief for seniors and incentives for local businesses. “It’s been a historic session,” Senate
President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said during a press briefing Monday at the Senate floor. “When you look across the board, I am so incredibly proud of the work that we’ve done.” Similar to Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) led her chamber for a third straight year in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. The one difference between the two: Jones, a Black woman, leads a larger group of lawmakers where she occasionally bangs her gavel and speaks with a firm voice to restore order. Jones became the state’s first African American and first woman elected as House speaker and the third Afri-
5 Confetti and balloons fall from the Maryland Senate balcony by midnight April 12 to signify the General Assembly completed its 90day legislative session. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
can-American woman to serve as a presiding officer in a state legislature in the nation behind Rep. Karen Bass (D-California), and New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. “People will scrutinize you, or label you, or try to put you in a category [to say] ‘that’s how they are.’ There has to be an adult in the house,” Jones said in an interview April 8. “I just try to look to serve and lead the House of Delegates. We can’t lose sight of the people we are representing and try to make a difference.” More important, Jones said the goal
of passing this year’s legislative priorities for Marylanders “was to make sure no one was left behind. Whatever what was important to you, we covered.” Included among the more than 2,000 bills approved before the last day known as “Sine Die,” Latin for “without day:” • Raise the minimum age for marriage in the state from 15 to 17. It would prohibit 17-year-olds from marrying a person more than four years older. • Besides physicians, expand access to abortion that would allow nurse
Maryland Lawmakers Approve $400M Prince George’s Plan
ARETHA Economic Development Project Aligned for Metro Blue Line William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
DISTRICT24 With the Maryland General
Assembly completing its 90-day legislative session, one major plan approved seeks to boost transit-oriented development in
5 A rendering of what Prince George’s County officials envision to rebuild around Metro’s Blue Line corridor that includes Addison Road-Seat Pleasant. (Screen shot: Photo courtesy of Prince George’s County)
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Prince George’s County. Lawmakers approved a $400 million economic development plan, to spruce up the vicinity along Metro’s Blue Line corridor in the county that includes the area around FedEx Field in Landover, home of the Washington Commanders. Morgan Boulevard serves as the closest Metrorail station to the stadium. The money, which would come from the Maryland Stadium Authority through the state lottery, wouldn’t be used to help build a new stadium that remains under contract through 2027. Gov. Larry Hogan touted the state’s commitment for a project that would not only improve economic development, but also create jobs. “All of this great progress for Prince George’s County is another example
that together we are changing Maryland and changing lives for the better,” the Republican governor said April 7 during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new cancer center in Largo. The stadium property situated inside the Beltway in the 24th Legislative District includes the municipalities and neighborhoods of Glenarden, Capitol Heights and Lake Arbor. The county has already secured nearly $46 million for the Blue Line corridor project around the four Metrorail stations – Largo Town Center, Morgan Boulevard, Addison Road-Seat Pleasant and Capitol Heights. Some of the work focuses on widening of streets, a possible amphitheater and public art installed at each
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practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistant with training to perform them. • Approved to borrow $1.2 billion to upgrade the state-owned stadiums of the Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens.
COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD TO RETURN TO ALL ELECTED
One law approved focuses on the Prince George’s County school board to make it an all-elected body. The legislation requires a 13-member work group to assess several components which include: composition; qualifications and compensation of board members; methods to select the board; analysis of gender and racial diversity within the county; and protocol for board audits and how to address those findings. A parent with a child enrolled in the county public schools, a public school student and a member of the school would be part of the group. The board operates in a hybrid structure with nine elected members, four appointed and a student member from the high school. A report would be prepared by October 2023 with the goal to have a fully-elected board by 2024. Former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III led to organize the current set up as a way for local government to become more involved in the school system. Since state lawmakers approved a bill in 2013, the county executive appoints three members and County Council chooses one person.
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