Category: General Assembly 2016

By: Bre Harwood The bill regarding emergency cold weather planning, aimed to give a voice to the homeless and provide specific plans to the Department of Human Resources in every county in Maryland. The bill was heard in the finance committee on March 17, to determine its fiscal impact at the state, local, and small business level. The bill proposes establishing cold weather councils in each of the Maryland counties, as well as establishing council members in each county who would work together to create certain plans to better the livelihood of individuals who are homeless. In addition, it would require the creation of a reporting system from cold weather deaths of those who identify as homeless. The plans made by the cold weather councils must be provided to the Department of Human Resources “on or before” Oct.1 of each year. The bill ultimately went on to be passed in the financial committee; however, there were various opposing positions to this bill. “It has...

By: Carly Berkowitz Advocates for the downtown Frederick hotel and conference center are hoping for the passage of a bill that would approve certain state funding for the project. The bill would authorize the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue bonds and use the proceeds from the sale of the bonds to help pay for the public infrastructure of the conference center. “Our goal is to get some kind of funding from the state this year so we can get some kind of state commitment and move the project forward,” said Delegate Carol Krimm, representative of District 3A and sponsor for the bill. (more…)...