Maryland General Assembly’s 2019 Legislative Session Ends

The General Assembly has adjourned with a tribute to House Speaker Michael Busch.

(AP) Senators and delegates stopped working at about 11:30 p.m. Monday to gather in the House of Delegates to remember the longest-serving speaker in the state’s history who died Sunday.

Gov. Larry Hogan says Busch was a mentor, a coach and a friend to many. He says he truly became “an institution within the institution of state government.”

Del. Kumar Barve says Busch kept a simple focus on what was “good and decent for individual people, for communities or for situations.”

Lawmakers adjourned after a moment of silence for Busch, who was 72.

Lawmakers passed a measure to increase Maryland’s use of renewable energy.

The Senate voted 31-15 to agree to changes made by the House to send the bill to Gov. Larry Hogan.

The measure would increase the state’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard from 25% by 2020 to 50% by 2030.

The House put a provision in the bill to allow waste-to-energy incineration plants to be in the “top tier” of renewable energy, making them eligible for the same kind of subsidies as wind and solar.

Supporters say it will help kick start the state’s offshore wind industry, with incentives for 1200 megawatts of ocean-based power.