Affordability. Accountability. Opportunity.
After being sworn in as Maryland’s new House Speaker on the first day of the 2026 legislative session Wednesday, Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Anne Arrundel and Prince George’s Counties) says all work will be carried out through the lens of those three words for the next 90 days.
The top priority for state legislators will be balancing Maryland’s fiscal year 27 budget — state financial experts project there will be at least a $1.2 billion structural deficit to close.
Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) says this will not be a year of structural fixes, but rather one of dipping into reserve accounts and making small cuts to make ends meet.
Peña-Melnyk, Ferguson and Governor Wes Moore have all committed to balancing the budget without raising taxes or fees, leading the House speaker to call on her colleagues to get innovative and creative to close the gap.
“What ideas do you have where we should make some strategic cuts this year to balance our budget? Think about that. Where do you see programs not serving their intended purposes,” she asked lawmakers on the House floor.
In addition to the budget, Peña-Melnyk says her focus will be on increasing affordability around housing, healthcare and energy.
“Those will be our priorities. Those are the issues that your constituents and mine care about when I’m knocking at the door. The house that my husband and I purchased in 2001, we couldn’t afford that now,” she said.
While over 400 pieces of legislation have already been filed between the two chambers, the first bill in each generally represents landmark policies that tackle these top priorities.
HB0001 would place further limitations on what types of costs utility companies can recover from ratepayers, aiming to curb rising energy bills seen across the region.
SB0001 would prohibit certain law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings.
The legislation is geared toward ICE agents, who have faced backlash nationally for often covering their faces when carrying out immigration enforcement.
Peña-Melnyk affirmed the legislation would be supported in the House of Delegates.
“Immigrants deserve to live with dignity and respect. How can we as Americans stand by the disrespect, the abuses, people losing their lives, racial profiling, civil rights violation?” she told members of the press following her speech on the House floor.
Senate Republican Leader Stephen Hershey (R-Caroline, Cecil, Kent & Queen Anne’s Counties) told reporters Tuesday he wants to wait to hear from law enforcement before taking an official stance, but called the bill a “diversion and distraction from real issues.”
“Is this really something that most Marylanders want to see us address, or is this just politicking in an election year and a certain group trying to placate to their base?” Hershey said.
In her opening remarks, Peña-Melnyk stressed her desire to work bipartisanly this session, looking to cultivate an environment of inclusivity and civility during her tenure as leader of the House of Delegates.
“Some noted I extended these olive branches even though it’s not politically necessary – that I do not need the votes of the Republicans in a House with a Democratic supermajority. I disagree,” she said. “It’s politically necessary.
The legislature will continue to convene in Annapolis until the end of April.
