Maryland senators made their Super Bowl picks Thursday, giving the Philadelphia Eagles more credit than most oddsmakers. “E” is for senators who excused themselves from the vote. (Screengrab from Maryland General Assembly)
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) may have tipped his hand with the color selections.
“A green vote, the right vote, will be for the Eagles. A red vote, the wrong vote, will be for the Chiefs. Who do we think is going to win?” Ferguson instructed his chamber Thursday. “The clerk will call the roll.”
The weighty topic being considered by senators was the outcome of Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Philadephia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. With the local teams out of the running — the Baltimore Ravens lost in the divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 19 and the Washington Commanders lost a week later in the NFC championship game — nearby Philadelphia seemed to enjoy home team status with the senators, who voted 24-11 for an Eagles win. Nine senators refusing to pick a side.
Ferguson was among those solidly in the Eagles camp. The senators have significantly more faith in Philly than most oddsmakers, who were going with the two-time champion Chiefs heading into the weekend.
The vote took less than a minute in all and was a bipartisan affair, with Democrats and Republicans falling down on both sides of the issue. It was a good-natured affair — the trash-talking will likely start on Monday, though.
Herrera Scott out, but fiscal concerns remain
Maryland senators Senate President Bill Ferguson said Friday that he “appreciated” working with outgoing Health Secretary of Health Laura Herrera Scott, but that a number of concerns still loom over the Maryland Health Department.
Herrera Scott’s departure was announced Thursday by the Moore administration. Herrera Scott, who has served as secretary since the start of Moore’s tenure, will step down at the end of the month.
“I think there have been some major issues in the financing through the Health Department that have created some deep concern for us,” he said. Included in those issues were spending projections for Medicaid as well as the budget for the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
“We’re going to have to have some serious financial cleanup that happens,” Ferguson said. “We need to get as certain as possible with dollars coming out of the Health Department.”
Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced Thursday that Herrera Scott will leave her post on Feb. 28, when Deputy Secretary for Health Care Financing Ryan Moran will step in. Moran will serve as acting secretary until April 8 when the new secretary, Meena Seshamani, is scheduled to take over.
If that schedule holds up, Seshamani, who until recently was deputy administrator at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Biden administration, will become secretary one day after the General Assembly ends its 90-day session. But lawmakers expect her to appear for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Executive Nominations Committee before the session ends in 60 days.
“We look forward to meeting with the new health secretary that’s been named,” Ferguson said. “Certainly, we want to have conversations with that person before confirmation hearings.”
Klimm-Kellner is the first for the 8th
A Baltimore County photographer and graphic designer who is also an aide to Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore and Carroll) has become the first to publicly announce her intention to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates.
Caitlin Klimm-Kellner, 35, a lifelong Baltimore County resident, announced on social media Friday that she will apply to fill the District 8 House seat that had been held by Carl Jackson until he as sworn into the Senate seat from the district on Wednesday. She has the endorsement of Dels. Nick Allen and Harry Bhandari, Democrats who represent the district.
Klimm-Kellner is a graduate of Parkville High School — where she met her husband, Sean — and Stevenson University where she earned a degree in visual communications. She lives “walking distance” from her childhood home in Overlea, where her parents still live.
For the past two years, she has worked for Guyton handling constituent services as well as researching and drafting legislation. It’s not her first bid for a House seat: In 2022, she finished third in the Baltimore County District 6 Democratic primary.