Read more: Eye on Annapolis blog
Resources: Maryland ethics filings

A Baltimore police officer wraps up a line of yellow tape after blocking off Eastern Avenue in Greektown earlier this year. “I think we’re trending in the right direction,” Mayor Catherine Pugh told reporters Wednesday about the city’s crime-prevention efforts. ‘I’m excited by the work.’ (Maximilian Franz/The Daily Record)

Legislators consider bill to decriminalize attempted suicide

ANNAPOLIS – A suicide attempt is evidence of a mental health problem that needs treatment, not a common-law crime that merits punishment, a state senator said Wednesday in urging his colleagues to stop treating people who try to kill themselves as criminals. “We have to affirmatively put in our law that attempted suicide is not ...

Bill allowing unspecified gender on licenses advances

A measure to enable Maryland residents to select an unspecified gender on their driver's licenses has advanced in the state Senate.Senators gave the measure preliminary approval Wednesday.
Photos, private information to be blocked under 9-1-1 bill

ANNAPOLIS — In anticipation of an update to statewide 9-1-1 communication systems by 2021, gruesome imagery of crime scenes or injuries, individuals’ medical histories and identification of domestic violence or rape victims may be protected from public view under legislation in the Maryland General Assembly. Many aspects of a 9-1-1 call are currently available to ...
House committee considers wage history bill once more

For the third year in a row, activists, attorneys and business groups met Tuesday afternoon at the House Economic Matters Committee in Annapolis to consider a bill that would prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their salary history. House Bill 634, titled Wage History and Wage Range, would require employers with 15 or more ...
Md. may give minors consent for preventive HIV care

ANNAPOLIS — State legislation could allow minors to consent to preventive treatment for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis — commonly referred to as “PrEP” — consists of a single pill of a medicine called Truvada taken every day. This can reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV from sex by 90 percent ...
Advocates call for drug price caps in wake of Supreme Court decision

ANNAPOLIS — Undaunted by a Supreme Court decision on a Maryland law generic drug anti-price gouging law, a top health care advocate is calling for lawmakers to pass price caps on prescription drugs. Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative, said the decision by the nation’s top court to not hear an appeal lower ...
Gooden: USM regents support transparency legislation

ANNAPOLIS — The University System of Maryland Board of Regents supports legislation to change the board’s composition and increase transparency, the board’s chair told legislators Tuesday. “The University System of Maryland Board of Regents is pleased to express our support for House Bill 533, which we believe will improve the way the USM Board of ...
Kopp re-elected Md. treasurer, vows to work with legislature

ANNAPOLIS — Treasurer Nancy Kopp, sworn in Tuesday to her fifth term as the treasurer of Maryland, vowed to work with lawmakers on their priorities after some suggested, albeit briefly, that her time might be up. A clerk reading the hand-tallied votes of delegates and senators may have given the impression that the four-term treasurer was a ...
Md., 15 other states sue Trump over emergency wall declaration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh has joined the attorneys general of California and 14 other states in a lawsuit filed Monday against President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra released a statement Monday saying the suit alleges the Trump administration’s ...
Ground Up Podcast: Talking 'bipartisan bro show,' $15 minimum wage and tax cuts in Annapolis

Bryan P. Sears, The Daily Record’s government reporter, updates us on the Maryland General Assembly’s 2019 session. We talk about Comptroller Peter Franchot fighting with Democratic lawmakers in Annapolis, the cost of school funding, tax cuts and a lot more. Sen. Bill Ferguson also talks about his bill to improve transparency in Opportunity Zone investments.