Maryland 90-Day Legislative Agenda Includes Climate, Infrastructure, Taxes

Maryland lawmakers are convening Wednesday for their 90-day legislative session.

They will spend much of the session working on how to manage a huge, $4.6 billion budget surplus. That’s because of unexpectedly large revenues resulting from the help of federal pandemic aid.

Democrats, who control the General Assembly, say they will be prioritizing upgrades to parks, bridges, schools and information technology systems to quickly help put more people back to work, rather than long-term spending.

Republicans, including Gov. Larry Hogan, are supporting large tax relief proposals. Hogan wants to eliminate state retirement taxes. The governor also has proposals aimed at supporting police and fighting crime.

Some other high-profile issues include whether to legalize recreational cannabis and how to address climate change.