Maryland speaker tells Prince George's County leaders budget pressures will force trade-offs on housing, health and energy

Speaker Jocelyn Peña Melnick, the newly installed speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, told Prince George's County council members at the council's retreat that the General Assembly will confront a tight fiscal picture this session and urged early coordination with local officials.

"We have a ... deficit," Melnick said, stressing that the state must make difficult choices and that county priorities — including FY27 capital requests and health infrastructure — have already been shared with delegation leadership. She said the legislature will review the county's submissions and work with the county executive and council to pursue priorities where possible.

Melnick framed the coming session through three lenses — affordability, accountability and opportunity — and identified housing and energy costs as central concerns for her review of legislation. She described a multidepartment county–state effort on Medicaid data sharing and subsidies instituted last session to blunt possible federal coverage losses, and said she has convened state agencies to coordinate enrollment and redetermination data to avoid losing coverage for eligible residents.

On immigration policy, Melnick said the House has twice passed a bill to prohibit memoranda of understanding that deputize local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law; she said the measure had not yet cleared the Senate but was a stated priority. She also noted work to define “sensitive locations” (public schools, libraries and government facilities) and said the attorney general will provide guidance for local agencies when federal immigration agents appear.

Council members pressed for state help on utility costs, foreclosure relief for displaced federal employees, and clarity on whether the state's school-funding "blueprint" would be delayed by budget constraints. Melnick said a state work group is looking at energy solutions including net metering and battery storage and that, given projected multi-year deficits, lawmakers are likely to avoid changing the blueprint this year.

The delegation chair thanked county leaders for early engagement and encouraged them to submit requests for support or opposition on bills as the session unfolds. Melnick said she will bring county concerns to leadership and seek opportunities for collaboration.