Thousands turned out at the dozens of No Kings rallies scattered across Maryland, part of the millions expected across the country for the third such event. In Maryland, turnout was particularly heavy in Hagerstown, near a proposed ICE detention facility. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/t...

Large crowds took to the streets Saturday in the nation's capital for the third No Kings protest, rallying with others across the United States against what organizers say is an unprecedented expansion of power by President Donald Trump. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/r...

A conference committee quickly settled the few, minor differences between House and Senate versions of the budget Friday, agreeing on a $70.8 billion fiscal 2027 budget that closes a $1.5 billion budget gap with no new taxes. It could get final approval Monday. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/w...

After an apparent breakthrough Friday morning, the House and Senate, both controlled by the GOP, remained at odds over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security, prolonging the shutdown into April. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/r...

A new face in the governor's comms shop, an old face returns -- briefly -- to the limelight in Washington County, a whole lot of debate on a bill that's all but dead ... and when Del. Vaughn Stewart hands you something, be very, very careful, in political notes. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/a...

Anger over a proposed immigration detention center in Williamsport and a gradual reduction in public participation at county commissioner meetings are cited as possible reasons for a surge in Democratic, and younger, candidates in Washington County. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/28/i...

Thousands of No Kings rallies are planned this weekend, but as the third such gathering in a year prepares to kick off, political observers and protesters alike wonder if it's a coming wave of change, or a movement that will fizzle after the crowds go home. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/r...

Just hours after the Senate voted to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday the House will not even consider the bill to end a shutdown that began in mid-February. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/r...

Two years after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed -- killing six workers, blocking the port and severing a critical highway -- officials remember the tragedy and look forward to a new bridge in 2030, as replacement work steadily continues on the project. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/k...

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an order allowing the Department of Homeland Security to pay airport security workers who have gone without a full paycheck since the shutdown began in mid-February. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/r...

Former state Sen. Paula Hollinger, a Baltimore County Democrat known as a staunch advocate for women's health and reproductive rights during nearly 30 years in the General Assembly, died Wednesday at age 85. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/f...

Faced with untangling whether the state has failed to collect a tax on hospitals' offshore "captive" insurance accounts for years -- or if it should be collected at all -- senators proposed a two-year moratorium on the tax while state regulators study the issue. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/s...

Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat gets charitable, Sen. Arthur Ellis gets angry, Sen. Ben Kramer gets an Ethics Committee review, lawmakers observe the annual pilgrimage to Camden Yards for Opening Day and comings and goings in political notes. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/b...

House and Senate negotiators could wrap up work on the fiscal 2027 budget Friday, but the final plan will likely not include additional money for developmental disabilities services, legislative leaders said Thursday. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/27/a...

Two years after a container ship toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six workers and shocking the region, crews are busy driving foundational piles into the Patapsco River for a new bridge — and finishing design plans for a soaring new structure. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/k...

House Democrats vowed to press ahead with an amended Senate bill that is their attempt to salvage some type of legislative win on redistricting this session, even as a Senate leader says the effort is dead on arrival. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/s...

Cell phone use by students in Maryland’s public schools could be restricted from the beginning until the end of the school day, a "bell to bell" ban beginning in the 2027-28 school year, under bills moving through the General Assembly. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/h...

The House is poised to give a final OK to a $70.8 billion operating budget package for fiscal 2027 as early as Thursday, setting up the possibility a final deal could be reached with the Senate and a budget delivered to the governor before the end of the session. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/h...

A bill aimed at addressing injustices in environmental permitting appeared to be on its way to Senate passage last week, but it remained stuck in committee after Monday's “crossover” deadline, as advocates raised red flags about a new version of the measure. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/e...

A sitting state delegate is asking the state's highest court to overturn a lower court ruling that would allow his primary challenger to remain on the ballot despite apparently not currently meeting residency requirements. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/s...

Republican state lawmakers today called for the resignation of Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat (R-Frederick and Carroll) after press reports detailed his refusal to attend legislative sessions and committee meetings over the last month. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/c...

A trio of off-track betting operators are betting on a proposal to allow them to offer slot machine gambling, under a last-minute proposal that could allocate some of the thousands of approved slot machine licenses that were never claimed by state casinos. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/p...

A House committee, without debate and without dissent, added redistricting language to a Senate elections bill Tuesday and sent it the full House, where it could be taken up as early as this week. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/h...

In a scathing decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Maryland tossed out climate change lawsuits filed against fossil fuel companies by Baltimore, Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, ruling the localities were intruding on federal authority. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/m...

Members of six legislative caucuses made history last year when they came together under the theme “We are Maryland.” Tuesday, they were joined by a seventh, the Legislative Muslim Caucus, to outline their goals “down the stretch” and to amplify unity. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/d...

Maryland Higher Education Secretary Sanjay Rai is stepping down Friday, his last day leading the agency that oversees statewide policies on public and private colleges and universities. marylandmatters.org/briefs/maryl...

Tensions were on full display during a rally by advocates and individuals with developmental disabilities who have grown frustrated with continuing cuts in state funding to the agency that oversees the services helping them live their day-to-day lives. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/25/a...

The House and Senate churned through hundreds of bills in double and triple floor sessions Monday, but that doesn't mean there was not serious debate, as lawmakers took up bills on everything from gender identity to lead hunting ammo. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/24/e...

The giant prehistoric shark megalodon moved one step closer to becoming Maryland's official state shark Monday, one of a handful of commemorative bills that won final approval from one chamber or the other in recent days. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/24/d...

Lawmakers make some noise about a quiet former colleague, Del. Charles Otto, Sen. Arthur Ellis makes his congressional campaign kickoff, and a bill on septic systems that was clogging Senate progress gets flushed back to committee. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/24/c...

TSA workers missed work Monday at the highest rate since a partial government shutdown began in mid-February, and BWI was among the airports most affected, with 38.1% of workers calling out from work Monday, as ICE agents were sent in as backups. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/24/r...

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical Monday of the validity of mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. The case could affect hundreds of thousands of voters in 14 states, including Maryland, in this fall's midterm elections. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/r...

The Trump administration is again trying to send the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the west African nation of Liberia and urging a federal judge to dismiss a bar on his removal, according to legal documents filed over the weekend. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/r...

Monday is "crossover day" in Annapolis, when the odds for a bill's passage fall sharply if it has not at least been approved by one chamber. On crossover 2026, a number of bills are safe but many major initiatives are on the bubble or racing against the deadline. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/c...

As state lawmakers move toward short-term reductions to the EmPOWER program, which helps homeowners pay for energy-saving improvements, residents and the businesses that rely on the program try to figure out what's next. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/c...

School officials in Prince George's County and Washington, D.C., are considering school name changes after sexual abuse and assault allegations surfaced against the late labor leader Cesar Chavez. marylandmatters.org/briefs/princ...

Maryland was 1.5 million trees on the way to its goal of planting more than 5 million native trees across the state by the end of 2031 to help reduce carbon in the atmosphere, under the state's Tree Solutions Now Act of 2021. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/o...

Over a million veterans may now be eligible for education benefits they didn’t know they had, after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs withdrew its appeal in a case that challenged limits on education benefits for veterans who served continuously. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/23/o...

The House and Senate both gave unanimous approval to bills requiring police training for "elopement" -- when someone with autism or dementia wanders way -- two pieces of a multipronged package of bills working steadily through the legislature. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/21/e...

Sen. Ron Watson walked away from a Prince George’s County school system job due to potential ethical concerns, but he didn't walk away from the issue, and his bill to make it easier for lawmakers to have second jobs got an important boost Friday. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/21/b...

It may never even take effect, but that did not make the debate any less intense Friday over the Keeping Charities Nonpartisan Act of 2026, which could regulate the ability of charitable organizations to participate in partisan activity. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/21/a...

The Supreme Court of Maryland restored the law license Friday of Annapolis power lobbyist Bruce Bereano, more than 26 years after it disbarred him in the wake of a federal mail fraud conviction linked to his lobbying firm. marylandmatters.org/briefs/supre...

Maryland is one of 13 states that are reportedly under investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because the states require health insurance plans to cover abortion care. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/20/r...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it will need more time to assess environmental impacts at two proposed immigrant detention center sites, as ordered by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration, stalling the projects for now. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/20/r...

A federal judge extended his order Thursday blocking work on a Washington County warehouse that Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to turn into an immigrant detention center to house up to 1,500 people. marylandmatters.org/briefs/judge...

Since late February, Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat (R-Carroll) has shown up to register his presence in the House in the morning, then left, skipping meetings and votes, all but throwing in the towel on his career out of frustration with Annapolis. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/20/b...

Legislative Republicans said Thursday they will press for a 30-day gas tax holiday to ease skyrocketing gas prices spawned by the Iran war. Democrats were either silent on it, or asked how the GOP planned to make up for $100 million in lost revenues. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/19/a...

Supporters could begin soliciting volunteers to serve on the long-awaited, and long-delayed Maryland Reparations Commission as soon as next week, ending a year of starts and stops on the measure. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/19/a...

The U.S. Treasury Department will take over the Department of Education’s responsibility for collecting on defaulted federal student loan debt, President Donald Trump’s administration announced Thursday. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/19/r...

It's well known that oysters filter water, but a new study says they may have another benefit: Oysters may save the lives of blue crabs, by feeding on a parasite that is often deadly to crabs in saltier parts of the bay and coastal Eastern Shore. marylandmatters.org/2026/03/19/o...