Hogan

Gov. Larry Hogan announced in a news conference Thursday that he is lifting COVID-19 restrictions on nursing homes and child care centers as Maryland’s COVID-19 positivity rate continues to drop.

In addition, he said Maryland reported zero coronavirus deaths that day "for the first time in 187 days since March 28."

Hogan said that Maryland nursing homes may now resume indoor visitations. This applies to all nursing homes that are not experiencing a current outbreak and haven’t had new positive cases in the last 14 days. 

The House of Delegates voted along party lines Friday to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill prohibiting oyster harvesting in five Chesapeake Bay tributaries — Harris Creek, the Little Choptank River, the Tred Avon River, the St. Mary’s River and the Manokin River.

A bill increasing Maryland’s minimum wage passed the state Senate along party lines Thursday with enough Democratic votes to override a potential veto by Gov. Larry Hogan. The legislation would gradually raise the wage to $15 an hour by January 2025 for most businesses.

Maryland elected officials are fighting over who should decide academic calendars for public schools.

Gov. Larry Hogan in 2016 signed an executive order requiring schools to start after Labor Day and end by June 15. He is now trying to write that change into the state code, while the Senate gave initial approval on Thursday to a bill reversing Hogan’s order.

Gov. Larry Hogan previewed his $46-billion fiscal 2020 budget Thursday, and education appears to be his top priority.

Maryland may join the growing list of states that get most of their electricity from renewable sources. Legislation state lawmakers plan to take up when they return to Annapolis next month would require Maryland to hit that goal by the year 2030.

A new nine-member commission is being tasked with redrawing Maryland’s sixth congressional district, under an executive order Gov. Larry Hogan signed Monday.

The move follows a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Baltimore earlier this month that the Western Maryland district was unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit Democrats. The court gave the state until March to submit a new, more fair map.

Maryland voters overwhelmingly backed a second term for Republican Gov. Larry Hogan Tuesday, but at the same time they rejected several Republican candidates for state and local offices.

On Wednesday, state leaders reflected on what that means — or doesn’t mean — for the state.