The Maryland Wire: Morning Briefing
Executive Digest & Key Actions
1. Workforce Development & State Grants
$4.7M EARN Maryland Grants Announced: Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland Department of Labor announced $4.7 Million in EARN Maryland Grant Awards to train over 1,700 Maryland workers in high-demand industry sectors including healthcare, biotechnology, manufacturing, and IT.
Rural Health Workforce Funding: The state deployed $16.4 Million in Rural Health Transformation Program Awards aimed at bolstering healthcare staffing, recruitment, and retention across Maryland’s rural jurisdictions.
2. Regulatory & Executive Directives
Local Media Advertising Executive Order: Governor Moore issued an Executive Order directing state agencies to prioritize Local News Outlet Procurement for State Advertising, ensuring state public notice and outreach funds are funneled into Maryland-based news organizations.
Agricultural Diesel Relief In Effect: State enforcement agencies are actively monitoring the emergency diesel fuel transportation relief order enacted via Governor Moore’s Harvest Season Executive Order, which waives specific motor carrier restrictions through December 31 to support fall agricultural supply chains.
3. Board of Public Works & Fiscal Governance
$17M Smith Cove Resiliency Project: The Board of Public Works (BPW) approved a $17M Bay Restoration & Flood Management Grant for Baltimore City to construct stormwater management and living shoreline infrastructure at Smith Cove.
$1.75B Capital Debt Cap Recommendation: The Capital Debt Affordability Committee (CDAC) finalized its formal recommendation of a $1.75 Billion GO Bond Authorization Ceiling for FY 2028 to keep state debt service within manageable fiscal bounds.
4. Statutorily Active Laws (October Implementation)
Tenant Screening Transparency: Landlords are now required to issue standard disclosure documents provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development regarding tenant qualification criteria.
Handgun Permit Renewals (SB 331 / HB 94): As outlined in Maryland State Legislation Guidance and detailed in Patch’s October Legislative Summary, wear-and-carry handgun permits for retired law enforcement officers now operate on a 5-year renewal cycle expiring on the last day of the permit holder’s birth month.
Verification Checklist & Immediate Next Steps
State Procurement Portals: Monitor eMaryland Marketplace Advantage (eMMA) for RFPs tied to the newly funded EARN Maryland workforce programs and Smith Cove civil construction packages.
Local Media Ad Procurement Guidance: Review upcoming Department of Budget and Management (DBM) circulars outlining agency guidelines for local news ad spend compliance under the new Executive Order.
Public Service Commission Filings: Track residential rate impacts ($0.0698/month) following the PSC’s initial 440 MW battery storage procurement round under the Next Generation Energy Act.
The Renewals Are the Story (via The Maryland Wire)
Barry’s October 16 paid piece dug into the lobbying-registration renewal wave ahead of the October 31 deadline: of 76 new registrations checked against last year’s filings, 24 were sampled — 21 were renewals (same lobbyist, same client) and only three were new pairings. In a repeat-player business, Barry argues, the dog that didn’t bark is the story: clients don’t shop lobbyists the way they shop vendors, and the renewal wave is the market voting for incumbents. The full firm-by-firm roster, plus the three new pairings with who they left and where they landed, sits behind the paywall.
Source: The Maryland Wire
Bally’s bets on Annapolis: Bryson Popham hire signals 2027 iGaming push (via The Maryland Wire)
National gaming giant Bally’s Corporation — dark in Statehouse lobbying registrations last year — has retained veteran Annapolis attorney-lobbyist Bryson F. Popham, per Barry’s October 16 paid piece. The read: this single registration is a market signal that big money is positioning for the 2027 iGaming fight. Bally’s operates in Maryland strictly as a digital mobile operator (Bally Bet), and hiring a technical statutory-and-regulatory strategist now suggests it wants to shape the structural rules of an online-casino framework before the first draft hits the floor — with legacy brick-and-mortar operators like MGM National Harbor and Live! Casino as the structural threat.
Source: The Maryland Wire
Sportsbook millions flood Maryland legislative races: Win for America discloses $80.65M
The online-sportsbook industry’s political machine is spending big in Maryland’s legislative races, per an October 17 MDBayNews deep-dive into State Board of Elections filings. Win for America — registered with Maryland officials September 29 — disclosed $80.65 million in donations: $39.15 million from DK Crown Holdings (DraftKings), $27 million from FanDuel, $8 million from Hillside (a bet365 affiliate), and $6.5 million from FBG Enterprises (Fanatics). Recipient PAC American Future has reported $3,672,627.82 in Maryland independent expenditures since May — in every general-election pairing the records show, supporting the Democrat and opposing the Republican: $346,221.25 against Jessica Haire in the District 30 Senate race (supporting Sen. Shaneka Henson), $214,330.18 against Raj Goel in District 34 (supporting Mary-Dulany James), $212,754.22 against Barry Beauchamp in House District 38B (supporting Josh Hastings), $163,227.62 against Stuart Schmidt, $155,533.53 against Kevin Ford (supporting Stephanie Popescu), and $2,677 for Chuck Cook. Nationally, Win for America’s larger share went to the Republican-side American Conservative Fund — Maryland has been the Democratic-side story.
Source: MDBayNews
Judge orders Moore to answer David Smith’s evidence requests by Oct. 26
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Mark W. Crooks denied Gov. Wes Moore’s bid to pause evidence-gathering in the defamation lawsuit filed by Baltimore Sun co-owner David Smith, ordering Moore to answer Smith’s written questions and document requests by October 26. In a separate order, Crooks moved Smith’s deadline to oppose Moore’s motion to dismiss from November 20 to December 18, with Moore’s reply due January 19, 2027. Smith alleges Moore defamed him by mischaracterizing his comments about President Trump and suggesting ties to Jeffrey Epstein; Moore asserts First Amendment protection. The rulings don’t decide the merits — they keep the case moving through discovery and dismissal briefing in parallel.
Source: Baltimore Focal
Federal judge rejects AG Brown’s bid for ICE records on Baltimore holding facility
U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin dismissed Attorney General Anthony Brown’s bid for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records in the state’s probe of conditions inside the temporary holding facility at 31 Hopkins Plaza in Baltimore, calling the subpoena “fatally facially defective.” Brown’s office subpoenaed ICE in January for documents on medical care, food, and sanitation at the controversial facility. Kelsey Hartman, a spokesperson for Brown’s office, said Friday the opinion is under review; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called the lawsuit frivolous.
Source: Baltimore Banner
Moore gives Trump ‘credit where credit is due’ on Medicare drug prices, backs piggyback bill
Gov. Wes Moore gave President Trump’s Medicare drug-price negotiations rare praise — “we give credit where credit is due” — while pledging to sign 2027 legislation letting the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board adopt Medicare’s “Maximum Fair Price” as an upper payment limit without repeating the board’s full cost-review process. The board has already set limits on Jardiance and Ozempic for state workers’ plans starting in 2027, with expansion to private-sector plans in 2028. Del. Jennifer White Holland is expected to carry the House bill, and Vincent DeMarco of the Maryland Healthcare for All Coalition says 29 Senate candidates and 98 House candidates — majorities in each chamber — have indicated support.
Source: Baltimore Banner
Salazar to retire as financial regulation commissioner Oct. 31
Antonio P. “Tony” Salazar is retiring as Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation, effective October 31, Labor Secretary Portia Wu announced October 9. Salazar has held the post since July 5, 2017 — nearly a decade overseeing the banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders chartered or licensed in Maryland. The announcement named no successor.
Source: Maryland Department of Labor (via EIN Presswire)
Ulman to chair Maryland Entertainment Industry Council
Former Howard County Executive Kenneth “Ken” Ulman is the new chair of the Maryland Entertainment Industry Council, Gov. Wes Moore announced October 5, serving alongside co-chair Meryam Bouadjemi. Ulman — also a former MACo president — leads Margrave Strategies and serves as chief strategy officer for economic development at the University of Maryland College Park Foundation.
Source: Governor’s Office
Chestertown council unanimously hires Manno & Associates as contract lobbyist
The Chestertown Town Council voted unanimously October 5 to hire Roger Manno’s Manno & Associates, LLC as its contract lobbyist for state funding from the Maryland legislature, the Chestertown Report reports: a $54,000 contract running one year from January 1, 2027. (Reported from the announcement; full text behind the publication’s paywall.)
Source: Chestertown Report
The Legal Illusion: prediction markets as untaxed bookmakers (via The Maryland Wire)
Barry’s October 16 Wire piece takes apart prediction-market hype for GR clients: Kalshi and Polymarket numbers are order books, not polls — the UMBC poll has Moore at 51% and Dan Cox at 24%, while traders price Moore’s win contract near 97 cents. The regulatory kicker: by registering as CFTC “designated contract markets” trading “binary event contracts,” the platforms claim federal preemption and pay $0 in Maryland gaming taxes — while licensed sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel pay 15% on gross gaming revenue.
Source: The Maryland Wire
Banner sizes up the rare competitive GA races: 38B’s Hastings vs. Beauchamp
With Election Day weeks out, the Banner mapped Maryland’s handful of competitive General Assembly races — and District 38B on the Lower Shore is the marquee: Democrat Josh Hastings, a Wicomico County councilman with a conservation background, is challenging Republican Del. Barry Beauchamp, and outside spending is pouring into both sides (see above). Democrats didn’t even field a candidate there in 2022 or 2018; the party is treating 38B as a top Shore flip opportunity, and an anti-Republican mailer ties House candidate Chuck Cook to Moore, blaming him for “a more expensive Maryland.”
Source: Baltimore Banner
Howard County Republicans field almost nobody; Kittleman goes unaffiliated
No Republican is running for Howard County executive — or for most local offices — and of more than a dozen county council candidates, just one is a Republican, the Banner reports. Former County Executive Allan Kittleman has switched from Republican to unaffiliated, says the party hasn’t stood up to Trump enough, and opposes one-party rule.
Source: Baltimore Banner
Denise Roberts
Denise Roberts took the most votes of any delegate candidate in Prince George's County's District 25 primary on June 23, 14,282 ballots, 24.76 percent, finishing ahead of her two incumbent running mates. Not bad for someone who arrived in Annapolis by appointment.
Roberts was selected by the county's Democratic Central Committee in late 2023 to fill the seat Nick Charles vacated for the state Senate, and she took office January 8, 2024. She sits on the Ways and Means Committee, on its Election Law and Revenues subcommittees.
Her 25 years in communications and public service ran through nearly every corner of county government: press information officer for the county executive from 2005 to 2009, outreach and communications manager in central services through 2018, then communications director for State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy from 2018 to 2023.
A Howard University graduate in radio, television, and film (1995) with a master's in public relations and communications from American University (2002), Roberts has run her own photography business, D. Geneva Photography, since 2002, and hosted Level Up on Prince George's Community Television since 2014. Born in Cheverly and a Suitland High graduate, she has two children.
Delegate Roberts has the rare distinction of being nice even when she doesn't have to be. Is that rare in Maryland politics? Who can really say?
In the high-stakes, fast-moving ecosystem of Annapolis and Maryland politics, that distinction is definitely a prize worth holding.
Maryland politics has a long-standing reputation for being transactional, fiercely competitive, and dominated by deep-rooted local machines—from Baltimore City wards to Prince George’s County politics and Eastern Shore conservatives. In an environment where political survival often hinges on leverage, party discipline, and sharp elbows, genuine personal warmth without an underlying motive can feel like a rare commodity indeed.
That said, observers of the General Assembly and Annapolis culture often point out an interesting paradox: because the 90-day legislative session forces lawmakers into intense, close quarters every spring, personal relationships and basic decency often end up being the secret currency that actually gets major legislation across the finish line.
Whether it’s truly a rare trait or just a well-disguised one, having that reputation in Maryland political circles is one of the highest compliments anyone can pay a public servant.