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Annapolis update: Takoma Park lobbyist flags immigration, housing and environmental bills to watch
Summary
Anne Secott, the city’s Annapolis lobbyist, briefed the council on likely state legislative themes: immigration enforcement rules and 'sensitive locations,' data-privacy protections for immigrant communities, LGBTQ/gender-affirming care protections, municipal revenue reform efforts, environmental justice (the 'Cherish' act), and housing initiatives such as good-cause eviction.
Anne Secott, Takoma Park’s lobbyist in Annapolis, gave the City Council a high-level briefing on the themes likely to shape the upcoming Maryland General Assembly session.
Secott said several priorities the council adopted last year remain and that some items will require renewed attention: immigration-related issues (including renewed scrutiny of 287(g) agreements and an effort to clarify and expand the state’s definition of sensitive locations), protections for gender-affirming care and LGBTQ programs, and work on municipal revenue structures led by the Maryland Municipal League. She noted that after last year some bills passed while others — including environmental and renewable-energy measures — were vetoed and could be reintroduced.
Secott warned the council that fiscal uncertainty, including the federal government shutdown and a shifting state budget picture, will shape what is feasible this session and that municipalities should be prepared to advocate early. She called out possible state action to revisit data-privacy protections for immigrant communities and to protect certain programs and funding streams for local governments.
Council members asked questions about specific items — good-cause eviction (which several council members said might be reintroduced), the state’s renewables and data-center bills, and SNAP support and SNAP-expansion programs such as Double SNAP/Double Up benefits for grocery stores. Council members also asked Secott for written language on how liquor-license concentration issues were handled at the state regulatory level.
Secott said the National League of Cities and the Maryland Municipal League remain active partners for municipal priorities and that staff will return with a refined list of legislative asks prior to a District 20 meeting scheduled the following month.
