Legislative Doings — a Look at the 2021 General Assembly Session
Peter Heck & Jane Jewell • March 16, 2021
The 2021 session of the Maryland General Assembly convened on January 13 and, barring an extended session, will run through April 12. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, this year’s session has adopted unprecedented procedures to protect legislators, their staff, and constituents who wish to testify in-person on bills.
Many of the Assembly’s procedures are being conducted online, while others take place in a socially-distanced environment, with only some members present at any given time. However, unlike last year’s session, which was terminated in mid-March by the pandemic, this year’s Assembly will have a full three months to conduct its business.
The session has already produced some significant results.
Early on was a mostly party-line vote to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of the Kirwan Education bill, also known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Act. This will allot nearly $40 billion over the next 10 years to improving the state’s schools. Hogan justified his veto by citing the hefty tax increases he said will be needed to fund the programs, especially after the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic.
Proponents say it is a long-overdue measure to address the educational inequities between wealthy and poor districts in the state. State Senate President Bill Ferguson of Baltimore City said the state has resources to fund the plan through 2026, and that he expects the rest of the funding to be made up from sports betting, online sales tax, increased tobacco taxes, and a new digital advertising tax — which Hogan is expected to veto in its turn.
On another education issue, the Assembly appears ready to approve $57 million for the state’s four historically Black colleges and universities, Morgan, Coppin, Bowie, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Hogan vetoed a similar bill passed in 2020 to compensate for the decades-long inequities in funding and other support between the HBCUs and the state’s predominantly White institutions. The House of Delegates has already taken steps to override that veto, but the override won’t be necessary if this year’s slightly different version of the bill passes both houses. Funding would come, in part, from the state’s cigarette restitution fund, which has about $245 million available from a 1998 settlement between the state and the tobacco industry.
As always, a central focus of the Assembly session will be approval of the state’s budget for next fiscal year. Hogan released a proposed $49.35 billion budget in January, cutting state expenditures by 2.2 percent over the previous year. His budget would increase spending for healthcare by about $650 million, while educational programs would remain close to the same as in 2020. In a message to Assembly leaders along with the draft budget, Hogan said a freeze on state spending and hiring during the pandemic helped keep expenditures under control. On March 8, the governor submitted a supplemental budget that would give state employees a $1,000 bonus. By law, the Assembly must approve a balanced budget by April 5, so there is still time for considerable wrangling over the details.
Also on the Assembly’s plate are measures to ban firearms in polling places; to require uniform voting equipment for all voters; to improve police accountability; to allow state health services to provide free menstrual hygiene products to low-income Marylanders; to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana products for adults; and to remove “Maryland, My Maryland” as the state song.
The latter measure is in response to the song’s origins as a call for the state to secede from the Union as the Civil War loomed. Growing up, many of us sang the lyrics, “The despot’s heel is on thy shore,” assuming — possibly with encouragement by our teachers — that the despot was England’s George III, king during the American Revolution, or the invading British army during the War of 1812. But no, the despot was Abraham Lincoln, and the writer was urging Marylanders to take up arms in rebellion against the national government. Traditionalists will undoubtedly object to the proposal, but it is hard to conjure up any good argument for keeping the outdated anthem.
Peter Heck is a Chestertown-based writer and editor, who spent 10 years at the Kent County News and three more with the Chestertown Spy. He is the author of 10 novels and co-author of four plays, a book reviewer for Asimov’s and Kirkus Reviews, and an incorrigible guitarist.
Jane Jewell is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
