Maryland Governor Declares Emergency for Food Banks Amid Federal Shutdown, While State Senator Faces Federal Extortion Charges

Governor Wes Moore declared a state of emergency and announced $10 million in assistance to food banks and partners statewide as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are set to expire at the end of October due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. This action comes as thousands of Maryland's federal workers and contractors face financial uncertainty during what has become the second longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Comptroller Brooke Lierman joined state lawmakers in pushing for state action to make up for federal food assistance that may run dry, with the situation described as critical for vulnerable residents across the state.

Meanwhile, a separate political crisis unfolded as State Senator Attar, her brother, and a Baltimore City Police officer were taken into federal custody facing charges in an alleged blackmail scheme. According to a recently unsealed federal indictment, the three are charged with an alleged effort to blackmail a political consultant from speaking out against Attar in the run-up to the 2022 election. The case adds to Maryland's long and storied history of political scandal, raising questions about ethical conduct among elected officials.

The state's human services agency also remains under scrutiny as Republican delegates have called for Governor Moore to fire Rafael J. López, secretary of the Department of Human Services, and consider an overhaul of the agency following continued problems with Maryland's foster care system. López repeatedly insisted to lawmakers that he and his staff are working to transform an agency that was the subject of a scathing audit and was responsible for the care of a teen who died while in foster care living in a Baltimore City hotel.

In other state developments, families may need to wait until after the Maryland General Assembly returns to Annapolis for long-awaited help with child care costs as the childcare scholarship program has largely been a victim of its own success. When it began in 2018 as the Maryland Child Care Subsidy, enrollment stood at more than 12,000 children, but by the last fiscal year, enrollment stood at 46,295, more than the state could afford, which sparked the freeze on enrollment according to data presented Thursday.

Infrastructure projects continue moving forward as design nears completion for the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild, with huge steel pieces, barges, and cranes now visible in the blank spot where the bridge once stood. Carroll County also updated a set of defunct laws on solar energy development to match state requirements after a split vote earlier this month. The proposed route change for the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project could redirect the controversial power line through land that the Carroll County town of New Windsor uses for its water maintenance systems, representing one of eleven tweaks to the project route.