Seante Minority Leader Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore). (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
Three members of a panel overseeing implementation of the state’s signature public school reform plan will have to appear before the Senate Executive Nominations Committee, after Republicans on the panel took the unusual step of putting a hold on their nominations.
The GOP lawmakers asked Monday that nominations of William “Brit” Kirwan, Jennifer M. Lynch, and Justin K. Robinson to the Accountability and Implementation Board be held until all three appear before the group. All three currently serve on the board, which oversees implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
Such statewide appointments typically do not have to appear for a public hearing, but the request comes as education funding and the Blueprint are consuming more of the state’s limited budget. The program is projected to drive billions in budget deficits over the next five years.
“I think that they need to be accountable to the citizens of Maryland,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore). “I think that the only way that we can make them accountable is inside this committee.”
Had Republicans not asked for the delay, it is likely the Senate would have considered all three on Friday.
The request is unlikely to derail of the reappointments. There are just four Republicans on the 19-member Executive Nominations Committee.
Kirwan led the commission — shorthanded as the Kirwan Commission — that crafted the Blueprint reforms. He has been a vocal public advocate for staying with the plan even as some counties and Republican lawmakers have complained that it is rigid, overly prescriptive and expensive.
Maryland faces a growing budget gap that widens to more than $6 billion in 2030. Critics say most of that deficit is driven by the funding demands of the Blueprint plan.
“They are responsible for about $40 billion over the next 10 years of our state budget,” Hershey said. “I think it’s important that we have an opportunity to question not only the role of the AIB, but funding mechanisms and how we plan to go forward in the current budget.”
Senate Executive Nominations Chair Clarence Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel) said he was willing to give Republicans some latitude in asking for the nominees to appear before the committee.
“I agree that AIB has a really important function … and these are folks that will be serving for potentially up to six years during their term,” Lam said. “This is an opportunity to ask questions. If members have those questions, I think this is a fair chance to be able to ask those questions to these nominees before they’re reappointed.”
Lam said he prefers to bring all three nominees back at the same time. That could happen as early as next week, he said.
Reunited and it feels so good
It has been years since Alex Mooney was a political player in Maryland, but we still can’t help but note the developments in his career.
He spent a dozen years representing Western Maryland in the state Senate, then served as chair of the Maryland Republican Party for 2 1/2 years. After migrating across the border to West Virginia, he served as a congressman from 2015 until this January. Mooney lost a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate from West Virginia, sacrificing his House seat along the way.
Now, Mooney, whose mother’s family immigrated from Cuba, has surfaced as a senior adviser to NumbersUSA Action Inc., a national organization that advocates for “sensible immigration” policies.
“How does a country maximize benefits and minimize harm?” the organization asks on its website. “These are the questions that any immigration policy must answer. First and foremost, we promote a civil forum to consider these questions. We are moderates, conservatives & liberals working together to empower voters to achieve a sensible immigration policy.”
Mooney’s new gig reunites him with former Maryland state Sen. Michael Hough (R), who was his chief of staff on Capitol Hill and has, since last fall, been NumbersUSA’s director of federal relations.
“Mike is that rarest of combinations — an adept politician who understands good policy,” said James Massa, NumbersUSA’s CEO, when Hough was hired. “We’re thrilled that he’s bringing his two decades of state and federal legislative experience, especially with immigration reform, to our Capitol Hill operation to help pass sensible border policies.”
Washington opposes state Supreme Court nominee
The Maryland Senate voted to confirm a slate of appointments Monday night from Gov. Wes Moore (D). And while all were approved, one — Justice Peter K. Killough — faced nominal opposition from a state senator from the same county.
Sen. Alonzo Washington (D-Prince George’s) asked for Killough’s nomination to be separated from the rest. Without additional comment, both he and his seatmate Sen. Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick), voted against Killough.
Washington, in an interview after the vote, said a conversation with Killough about the rate of Blacks incarcerated in Maryland left a lasting and negative impression.
“The conversations I had with the judge over months ago when we met — he didn’t understand the fact that … Black men are the most incarcerated here in Maryland than any place in the country. He denied that fact,” Washington said. “And I believe if you’re going to be a Supreme Court justice nominee, you should be rooted in the facts that exist here in Maryland.”
Both the senator and the justice are Black.
In Maryland, more than 72% of those in state prisons were Black even though three in 10 people in the state are Black, according to a review of records from the end of fiscal 2023.
“He did not affirm that it was true,” Washington said. “OK, that was a fact. And I believe if you’re going to be a Supreme Court justice, you have to uphold the facts that are here.”
The Senate voted 38-2 to confirm Killough.
Next year, we’ll do Mad Libs
The governor is scheduled to give the annual State of the State address Wednesday to a joint session of the legislature and a room packed with other assorted dignitaries.
It will be his third as governor and it will be the latest in a countless number of speeches since we first started paying attention candidate Moore.
It’s a good bet that the speech will focus on the budget challenges the state is facing, the need to balance spending cuts with higher revenues and state services. There’s sure to be a line about a rising Francis Scott Key Bridge and falling rates of crime and drug overdoses. We will likely be told that the Trump administration poses challenges, but that the state stands ready to work with the White House for the betterment of all. There’s a fair chance there will be a sports reference.
We’ve heard many of the catchphrases before and applause lines will be perfunctory and reflexive. So, how to stay engaged for the event?
Print out a copy of the Maryland Matters State(ments) of the State Bingo card and follow along. There’s a way to do it online, but if we knew tech do you think we’d be working as reporters? This will have to do for now. Since everybody has the same card, there’s no prize if you win, just the satisfaction of being almost as cynical as the folks down in the press room.
Ferguson looking for “hard conversation” in Moore address
When the governor stands to deliver his third State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly at noon Wednesday in the House chamber, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore) said he’ll be listening for Moore to outline how he plans to navigate troubled waters.
“I think that I would expect him to have a very clear discussion about the challenge of the budget ahead. I think we have to really be clear with Marylanders and with members of the legislature how we got here and why a balanced approach is the best mechanism for dealing with this problem,” Ferguson told reporters Friday.
Maryland faces turbulent times including billions in budget deficits and higher costs of living exacerbated by spiking energy bills hitting mailboxes across the state and concerns about the newly sworn-in President Trump.
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“I think Marylanders are very, very uncertain about costs, about their federal government,” Ferguson said. “I am hopeful that the governor will provide a clear vision about where we’re headed, given the challenge that we have.
“I think he also has to be very honest about the level of uncertainty that is going to continue to exist and how we will navigate through it to the best of our ability with the information we have at the time — to make the best decision we can on a prioritized basis,” he said.
Ferguson said prioritizing means protecting the things we care about most, but that also means “that there are going to be things that we care about not as much as others and are probably going to have to be treated differently.”
“That’s often something that can be hard to say to the population as a whole as well as to the members who care very deeply about things,” he said. “We have to have the hard conversations this year.”