Speaker 1 (role not specified) told a St. Mary's County meeting that state-led green building policies and other legislative proposals could raise construction costs and create liability concerns for local government and residents.

"I know I have to give, kudos to Mr. Houser who comes up here and does does a fantastic job of explaining this stuff to us," Speaker 1 said, adding that committee members receive extensive legislative packets that sometimes include items with local effects. The speaker said, "there's a lot of stuff that we see in these legislative packets and, stuff that we don't see that, will directly affect the county."

The speaker specifically asked about environmental provisions tied to the Lexwoods project and what liability the county might face, saying any county liability "directly affects you out there, the citizens." The speaker warned that new state involvement in construction standards could "run up costs," particularly in the current economy.

On state green-energy efforts, Speaker 1 said the emphasis on making everything "green" could increase costs for residents. "This is gonna do nothing but drive up costs and make, make it harder for people to, survive, basically," the speaker said, while adding they personally support green energy "but I do support doing it in a smart way and not through mandates or, tax credits, which actually, in the end, we all pay for, but we don't really see the, benefits of it in our individual homes."

The speaker also noted that work continued during a recent snow-related break in state and federal offices and thanked staff for ongoing efforts. They said the group would be "off next Tuesday," an operational scheduling note rather than a policy decision. The remarks closed with a brief personal comment: congratulations to the Washington Commanders.

No formal motions, votes, or directives were recorded in the transcript for these remarks.