2025 Maryland General Assembly Began Its 90-Day Session On Wednesday

Governor and Lt. Governor pay a visit to the House of Delegates meeting.Maryland  State HouseAnnapolis, Md (KM) The 2025 Maryland General Assembly gaveled into session on Wednesday. The session will last until Monday, April 9th, and adjourn at midnight on that day.The House of Delegates held a meeting starting at around 12:00 PM where lawmakers voted on some procedural matters.Governor Wes Moore paid a visit to the House. “This is going to a good session for the people of Maryland. And by the time we get to sine die, the people will know that we call came here and we got the work done on their behalf,” he told legislators.Sine die means that the General Assembly will adjourn on April 9th indefinitely, and has no set date for meeting again.Also attending was Lieutenant Governor  Aruna Miller, who served in the House of Delegates for eight years before she was elected to her current post in 2022. “It is such a joy to be back here and I’ve got tell you some of the best years of my life were the eight years that I got to serve in this Chamber,” she said. “And let me tell you something: you can take the girl out of the House, but you can’t take the House out of the girl.”Maryland’s projected budget deficit estimated at $3 billion will be one issue legislators will face over several; weeks. Governor Moore is scheduled to release his fiscal year 2026 budget on Wednesday, January 15th.  He has said when it comes to cuts, everything is on the table.There are also expected to be some bills coming before lawmakers regarding the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. That’s a proposed 500-kilovolt, 70-mile long electric transmission line expected to travel across northern Baltimore County, central Carroll County and hook into the Doubs substation in southern Frederick County.  The electricity going through this line is expected to power data centers in northern Virginia.It has generated opposition among landowners in its path who are worried the utility planning to build the line, Public Service Enterprise Group, may use eminent domain to take their properties.  Many of those lands are in agricultural preservation.Delegates and Senators from Frederick County will be pushing for funding for the widening of US Route 15 in Frederick. It is the number-one transportation project for Frederick County.By Kevin McManus