A core legislative / governing theme has emerged this 2024 session of the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis, MD.
Power and decision rights are being taken away from Maryland counties and localities and being centralized in Annapolis. Well, to be specific, centralized in the hands of a few Democrat politicians who convene in Annapolis a few months a year (thankfully). Or, the power to decide things for different counties and zip codes is being centralized into a state bureaucracy that resides next to the corridors of power or at the feet of the governor.
You serfs don’t deserve local choice or representation. A few insider Democrats in Annapolis know best.
As a quick example, on March 14th, it was reported by journalist Gabrielle Lewis of FrederickNewsPost.com that “House Bill 1407 [which passed in committee] would prevent all jurisdictions from adopting zoning laws or other regulations that limit or ban the construction and operation of Tier 1 renewable sources under Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).”
“It’s gonna just eliminate those conversations [at the local level], and folks will pretty much be able to do whatever they want,” [Delegate] Wivell said. “I think we’ve had, just in the past couple years in Washington County … a couple sites that have been highly controversial where the neighbors just don’t want them. … I assume the same would be in Frederick County.”
[Delegate] Pippy [also voting against it] said in an interview that there was a lot of opposition to the bill — including from the Maryland Association of Counties — which played a large role in his [no] vote.”
This is just one example of top-down state power grabbing this session, out of dozens, maybe even hundreds. Another example is the move by Maryland Statehouse Democrats to centralize power and control over all county public libraries and what the people who work in those local libraries can choose to display or order. MoCo Delegates like Bernice Mireku-North (Democrat, District 14) are championing this centralization power play. The bill would basically financially blackmail libraries all across Maryland into doing what a few people in Annapolis want — or they’d risk having state funds / grants cut off.
You can, of course, guess what books / graphic novels (very graphic novels) and magazine these folks want prominently displayed to children in Maryland when they enter a county library.
All this siphoning of local choice and power away from counties and on to Annapolis isn’t really being fought by MoCo’s County Council. In fact, you won’t hear a peep from them about it. Marc Elrich may want the power to create local taxing authorities to push his wasteful, ideological spending ideas… but he doesn’t seem to care too much that zoning decisions, library decisions, school spending decisions, and more are being taken out of the county’s hands and placed into a few anointed ones by the Chesapeake Bay.
A reasonable, critical thinking observer might then ask: if all the major decisions on energy, spending, property zoning and library curriculum are going to be centralized in little Annapolis… what is the point of the MoCo Council? Can’t we at least reduce these career politicians to part-timers who have to actually work or… perhaps… get rid of the body altogether?
More to come.
Related posts:
Zoning (or: whom to blame for expensive housing)
A Mere Five Months After Touting the “POWER” Act for Offshore Wind in Maryland, MoCo Politicians Prove To Be Poor Economic Forecasters
Economic Storm Clouds Are Gathering, But the Montgomery County Council Seems Pre-Occupied with Other (National) Topics