A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.
From the Washington Post: Hundreds Attend Md. Rally for Mental-Health, Drug-Treatment Funding
"Hundreds of advocates for mental-health and substance-abuse treatment rallied in Annapolis on Thursday for something Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is pushing to tame: automatic spending increases.
"With the legislature nearing the halfway point of its 90-day session, activists gathered outside the State House to support legislation that would tie the state’s behavioral-health funding to the rate of inflation for medical costs.
"Legislative analysts said the measure, sponsored by Sen. Guy J. Guzzone (D-Howard) and Del. Antonio L. Hayes (D-Baltimore), would require spending to be increased by nearly $17 million during the first year of implementation, with additional hikes during subsequent years.
"Supporters said the legislation is needed to ensure the kind of fair, predictable rates that can help attract and retain qualified professionals to treat the addicted and mentally ill. They noted that the state has provided only six modest expansions of such funding in the past 20 years.
"But controlling the state’s spending mandates has become a top priority for Hogan, who wants to avoid budget deficits that plagued his predecessor, Martin O’Malley (D), after the 2008 recession. Last month, Hogan proposed legislation that would pause some required spending increases during years when revenues are low, with exemptions for K-12 education, state pensions, reserve funds and debt payments."
From the Baltimore Sun: Some Critics Call for Thornton’s Ouster as Leader of Baltimore Schools
"Less than two years into Gregory Thornton's tenure as city schools chief, some Baltimore civic and political leaders have lost faith in his ability to lead the school system — and some say it's time for him to go.
"Thornton's critics — who include legislators, faith leaders and education advocates — say he has sowed division among schools, has failed to articulate a clear vision for the future and hasn't been transparent about budget issues. Nearly two decades of progress in improving the city schools will be lost, they say, unless the school board takes action.
"City leaders have been talking privately for several months about his leadership and their concern that the schools are not improving at a critical time for the city, according to interviews with more than two dozen people. Many said they hoped the board would ask Thornton to leave. Now some are speaking openly about their dissatisfaction with him.
"Thornton, who has introduced efficiencies in operations and reduced operating costs, continues to have the support of the school board, according to its president, Marnell Cooper. Thornton's four-year contract runs through June 2018."
From the AFRO American: Bill Would Move Supreme Ct. Justice Taney Statue from Md. State Capitol Grounds
"Legislation moving through Annapolis could put a statue of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, a Maryland native known for writing the pro-slavery Dred Scott opinion, in jeopardy.
"Monuments from the Civil War with ties to slavery and the Confederacy have been an increasingly controversial matter throughout Maryland in the past year.
"Over 20 Democratic delegates are co-sponsoring a House bill that, if passed, would remove and destroy the statue. The bill is set to be introduced to the Maryland House Health and Government Operations committee on Wednesday and has a companion bill in the state Senate, set for a hearing March 4."
From the AFRO American: Baltimore Voting Registration Deadline Nears
"The deadline for registering to vote in Baltimore is less than 40 days away.
"April 5 is the deadline to register to vote in Baltimore. As of January, there were 368,625 registered voters in Baltimore, according to the State Board of Elections. Baltimore City has a population of 622,793, according to the U.S. Census. Of those, 132,032 are under the voting age of 18. That means that there are approximately 122,136 people who are not registered to vote, more than enough to sway an election.
"One of the lowest mayoral primary election turnouts was in 2011 when only 23 percent of registered voters, or 12 percent of the population, voted, according to Splice Today. Years before weren’t much better with 28 percent of registered voters participating in 2007 and 34 percent in 2003, according to Splice Today. During the presidential election primary in 2012, Baltimore only had a 14.75 percent turnout, even lower than the 23 percent that voted in the mayoral primary election."