Del. Lily Qi (D) represents a portion of Montgomery County in the House of Delegates, but has been absent for thei first weeks of this year’s session. (File photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters)
With a third former delegate soon to be elevated to the state Senate since the Jan. 8 start of the 2025 General Assembly, the House of Delegates has been operating at less than full strength the entire time. But even without the House vacancies, which will get filled over the next several weeks, the chamber would not have had all 141 members present.
That’s because Del. Lily Qi (D-Montgomery) has missed the entire session so far. She has been in China, where she was born, dealing with what colleagues have described as a family emergency. In an email Thursday to Maryland Matters, Qi reported she just informed legislative leaders that her father died this week.
“I will be back in a few days after his funeral,” she wrote. “It’s been a very difficult and agonizing time for our family and I am glad I’m here for his final days. I need some time to process a lot of things before I can focus on what to say, but I am looking forward to coming back to my legislative life very soon.”
Del. Linda Foley (D-Montgomery), who represents District 15 alongside Qi and Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo (D), said Qi’s absence has been mitigated by the fact that the session has only been under way for a few weeks, and that Qi’s in-district colleagues haven’t had to do any extra-heavy lifting so far.
“It’s still early,” Foley said.
There are currently two House vacancies: In Anne Arundel County District 30A, where former Del. Shaneka Henson (D) was appointed to the Senate, and in Baltimore City District 41, where former Del. Dalya Attar (D) just joined the Senate. In Baltimore County’s District 8, Del. Carl Jackson (D) is awaiting appointment to the Senate after being recommended for the job this week by the county’s Democratic central committee. When he moves across the State House hallway, which is expected to happen early next week, it will create a third House vacancy.
Lopez on leave of absence
The Maryland Department of Human Services will have an interim leader for the foreseeable future.
A spokesperson for the department confirmed that Secretary Rafael J. Lopez has taken a leave of absence. A reason was not given.
“Sec. Lopez is on leave,” Lilly Price, the spokesperson, said in an email to Maryland Matters. “Principal Deputy Secretary Carnitra White will perform his duties until he returns.”
Price declined to answer other questions about the absence.
White takes the helm as the agency is appealing a Board of Contract Appeals ruling that voided a five-year contract for a new electronic benefits system. The deal with Conduent State and Local Solutions was approved by the Board of Public Works last July, but the contract board voided the deal in December and declared it illegal. The agency has since appealed.
In December, the Board of Public Works agreed to a $3.8 million contract extension to keep Conduent working while the new deal is litigated in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
A farewell ovation
During the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland meeting Thursday, former colleague Jill P. Carter smiled, blew a kiss and mouthed “thank you” during a warm send-off. Carter, a Democrat, had been the state senator from Baltimore’s District 41 until she was nominated to a seat on the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals, an appointment that was confirmed Monday by the Senate Executive Nominations Committee.
Carter received a citation that caucus Chair Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery) said honors Carter’s 20 years in the General Assembly. Because Thursday may have been the last time Carter gets to address the caucus, the former Baltimore City senator took the opportunity to give caucus members some advice.
“I was guided for my entire time here by the struggle and wisdom of our ancestors. I hope that you will do the same. Our future children, yet unborn, are depending on us,” she said. “We talk about dismantling systemic racism, understand that this is the system. This is the system that we are supposed to use an opportunity to dismantle vestiges of racism and discrimination of the past.”
Carter continued: “Never be afraid of anyone here. Never be afraid of anyone in leadership. There’s no boss. There’s only one boss and that’s the people. As long as you can explain and justify anything that you do here, you do what you know in your heart and soul is correct for our people. I think that we have to take this opportunity to fix these injustices that play in our school and our communities.”
Delegates call for freeze of electricity rates
Two state delegates are asking the Public Service Commission to impose “an immediate and indefinite moratorium on rate increases” for utility customers.
Delegates Adrian Boafo (D-Prince George’s) and Marlon Amprey (D-Baltimore City) made the request in a letter to Commission Chair Frederick H. Hoover. The legislative duo, both of whom serve on the House Economic Matters Committee, cited concerns about “exorbitant utility bills that have stunned and frustrated consumers across the state.”
““The magnitude of these price hikes can only be characterized as highly irregular, if not unprecedented,” Boafo and Amprey wrote in their letter. “They are particularly injurious to Maryland families who are already struggling to keep pace with the rising price of essential goods and services and who, as we write, must decide those items they can live without in order to keep the lights on.”
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore) said he was “extremely concerned” about sharp rate increases, but stopped short of backing the moratorium call. He told reporters Friday that the commission is the right body to address concerns about rates.
“There are other states where the rates are set by the legislature each and every year, and I think that we’ve seen some pretty big market distortions as a result,” Ferguson said Friday. “In the case that things became totally out of control, I’m sure the legislature would step in and find a way. I think we’re not quite there yet. I think we have plans to provide additional tools so that we can reduce costs through the means of the market.”