thomas v mike miller

Maryland is faring particularly poorly under the sweeping changes to federal tax code that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans enacted in 2017. The comptroller’s office reports the state’s average tax return so far has decreased by about 6.1 percent — to $983 — since last year.

Frustrated by Maryland lawmakers' attempts to undo his executive order to start the state's public school year after Labor Day, Gov. Larry Hogan says he'll submit a bill that would make school boards ask voters if they want to start school earlier. Hogan says he's offering "genuine local control."

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan used his first State of the State address since being re-elected to push for targeted tax credits for retirees, longer sentences for gun offenders and more state oversight of local school systems.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Tuesday her office would cease prosecuting people for possessing marijuana regardless of quantity or criminal history.

Making Maryland "foam free" and curbing the cost of prescriptions are among the priorities Democrats in the General Assembly say they've agreed in principle to push for this session. Under their proposals, Maryland could become the first state to ban polytyrene packaging, better known as Styrofoam.

A battle is shaping up in Annapolis over whether — and by how much — to increase Maryland’s minimum wage. Advocates want a bill passed that will raise it to $15 for everyone. Opponents, including groups representing small businesses, hope to block an increase — or at least soften its impact.

Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-mayor of New York and benefactor of Johns Hopkins University, says it’s “ridiculous” that the institution doesn’t have an armed police force. Bloomberg spoke to reporters after closed-door meetings at the State House in Annapolis with Democratic lawmakers.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has released his first budget of his second term — a $46.6 billion spending plan that would boost money for public education and give raises to all state employees.

Advocates for increasing Maryland’s minimum wage will push legislation to gradually raise the hourly rate to $15 by 2023, a starting point for negotiations on what’s expected to be one of the hottest topics of this year’s General Assembly session.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is releasing his latest budget proposal and celebrating his second inauguration this week in Annapolis, while members of the General Assembly begin a push for what might end up being the hottest issue of the session: raising the state’s hourly minimum wage.

Baltimore County state Sen. Kathy Klausmeier presided over the Maryland Senate for the first time Friday, substituting for President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who was absent due to cancer treatment. Klausmeier is the new president pro tem of the state Senate. She's been in the legislature since 1995.

Longtime Maryland state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller is expected to announce Thursday that he is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, according to two sources.

Though the session opened at about noon, lawmakers representing Carroll County had been coming up with legislative agendas and crafting bills for months in preparation. Many have refined bills they introduced in the past that failed to make it and plan to reintroduce the legislation.

With spouses and children by their sides, Maryland's 188 lawmakers were sworn into office. While lawmakers are expected to hash out tricky issues over the next 90 days, the first day was largely reserved for celebration and optimism.

The Sun editorial board's run-down of what needs to happen during this year's General Assembly session and what can wait for another year.

Calling the level of violence in Baltimore “completely unacceptable,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is describing a crackdown — one that has 200 officers in a “strike force” to fight crime and expanding a program in which city criminal cases are charged federally.

As Maryland’s 188 lawmakers prepare to head into their annual 90-day session, political party leaders gave them conflicting messages about bipartisanship.

Maryland’s top political leaders are supporting a plan to rename the State House’s main press work area in honor of the five employees who were killed at The Capital newspaper office last year.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a high-profile case in March alleging unconstitutional, partisan gerrymandering in Maryland’s redistricting process. State Attorney General Brian Frosh appealed the case to the high court in November after a panel of federal judges threw out the 6th District map.

Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday appointed six more members to a commission charged with redrawing Maryland’s congressional district map after a federal court ruled one of the state’s districts was unconstitutionally drawn to diminish Republican influence.

Although President Donald Trump has little to do with running local governments in Maryland, he played an outsize role in politics here in 2018. Trump’s actions prompted backlash among the electorate, which in November voted out several high-profile Republicans in the state.

Who were the winners and losers in Maryland politics in 2018?

Maryland Senate President Mike Miller says he'll push in the 2019 General Assembly session for several law enforcement initiatives in Baltimore, including approving a police force at Johns Hopkins University. Miller says he also wants to help the city hire 500 new police officers.

This week marks the orientation for 60 new Maryland General Assembly legislators — 43 in the House of Delegates and 17 in the state Senate. Before they can decide the future of the state, they first have to find their desks, figure out their committees and learn where to park.

Reflections on Annapolis 1997 vs. 2018

Incoming Sen. Cory McCray will represent Baltimore on the Senate's powerful budget committee. McCray, 36, will take the Budget and Taxation Committee seat held for 24 years by the man he defeated in June’s Democratic primary, Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden.

Maryland Attorney General Frosh's decision to appeal redistricting case shows he's beholden to his political party, not to the people of Maryland.

Republican Gov, Larry Hogan is criticizing Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh's decision to appeal a federal ruling throwing out the map of Maryland's 6th congressional district. The governor is naming an emergency commission to redraw the district's boundaries..

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has decided to appeal a case in which federal judges threw out the 6th congressional district map as unfair to Republican voters. His office says he wants a clear, national standard for drawing such maps and has a duty to defend state law.

Maryland’s leaders face a critical and complex choice in light of a decision in which three federal judges found the state’s congressional district map to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered: comply or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court? State Attorney General Brian Frosh hasn't announced a decision.

The day after becoming just the second Republican to be re-elected governor in Maryland history, Larry Hogan pledged to continue governing the blue state as a centrist as he laid out some of his second-term agenda.

A three-judge federal court panel has ruled Maryland drew the boundary lines for the 6th congressional district in an unconstitutional way to benefit Democrats. The court banned the state from using those boundaries in the future. Attorney General Brian Frosh is reviewing whether to appeal.

The Maryland Republican Party was seeking to ride Gov. Larry Hogan's coattails to curb Democrats' power in General Assembly. Their effort failed.

Backers of a 311-mph Japanese maglev train say it could get travelers from DC to Baltimore in 15 minutes and from DC to New York in an hour. Does it have a chance?

At the very least, Ben Jealous just promised, if elected, to maintain Maryland's egregious partisan gerrymander.

With Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous running on a campaign platform well to the left of center, some prominent Democrats are keeping a conspicuous distance. Some are even embracing the re-election campaign of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

aryland Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot has said that he would not endorse his party’s nominee for governor. And when asked recently by The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board who would get his vote, Franchot went further.

Marylanders covered by Obamacare plans purchased on the individual market are likely to see hefty decreases in their 2019 premiums, thanks to legislation the General Assembly adopted this year. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and Kaiser Permanente are seeking to lower rates for HMO plans.

The Twitter account of Ben Jealous, the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor, "liked" a vulgar tweet that criticized police and mocked #BlueLivesMatter. The campaign reversed the "like" and said Jealous had nothing to do with it.

Gubernatorial candidates Ben Jealous and Larry Hogan again spent a day touting dueling endorsements on Thursday. Jealous picked up support from the Democratic leaders in the General Assembly, while Hogan, the Republican governor, was endorsed by the statewide Fraternal Order of Police.

Top Maryland officials plan to announce Wednesday that the Trump administration has approved a federal waiver would stave off expected increases in health insurance costs for more than 200,000 state residents.

Maryland's U.S. senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen on Tuesday asked Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to investigate a Russian investor's ties to a company that manages the state's election technology.

Abortion rights opponents say it would be a waste of time and effort to pass a constitutional amendment affirming the right to an abortion in Maryland. In a practical sense, they have a point. But the symbolic value of such a step would be high.

Some Baltimore Democrats are pressing leaders of their party to call on Del. Curt Anderson to decline his nomination for re-election as he faces allegations of sexual misconduct.

The FBI investigates whether a Maryland "computer glitch" that might have wiped as many as 80,000 voters off election rolls for last month's primary was part of Russia's alleged hacking of U.S. elections.

No. 1: The establishment lost and the progressives won.

All of the 188 seats in the Maryland General Assembly — 47 in the Senate, 141 in the House of Delegates — were on the ballot Tuesday, forcing many veteran incumbents in the Baltimore region and elsewhere to face possible ouster as voters decided whether to make sweeping changes in Annapolis. 

Ben Jealous' victory is just one sign about where Maryland's voters are in advance of a pivotal election.

From metro stops to farmers' markets to rallies, churches and pride parades, the six Democrats running for governor crisscrossed Maryland this weekend in a final push to sway voters — many who seem to have just started tuning into the race.

The Sun picks newcomers in many of the city legislative races — but says voters should keep around a few veterans, too.