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Committee advances Baltimore Children and Youth Fund bill after BCYF president disputes media claims
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Summary
The Education, Youth and Older Adults Committee voted 6-0 to send a revised Baltimore Children and Youth Fund bill to second reader after testimony from BCYF President Alicia Lee, who disputed recent media claims and urged finalization of the fund’s rules and regulations.
The Baltimore City Council’s Education, Youth and Older Adults Committee advanced a revised Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) bill to second reader after hearing testimony from BCYF President and CEO Alicia Lee and brief comments from the law department and the mayor’s office.
Alicia Lee told the committee that a recent media report claiming BCYF used “scare tactics” to pressure grantees was “absolutely false,” and said BCYF had provided accurate information and created spaces for grantees to share feedback. Lee credited collaboration with the bill sponsor’s office for removing earlier provisions she described as harmful — including reductions in youth leadership on the BCYF board, an increase in politically appointed seats, caps on grassroots grants and cuts to community-engagement and technical-assistance budgets — and said the current version of the bill is stronger as a result. “Our grantees are not passive recipients of funding. They are leaders,” she said.
Lee also told the committee that the BCYF rules-and-regulations document remains unsigned and “is 6 years delayed,” saying the fund has not received correspondence on the document in about four months and asking the council to help finalize and sign it so the agency can fully operationalize components of the fund.
The law department representative, Jeff Hochstetler, told the committee he had reviewed the March 19 amendments and identified only non-substantive technical or typographical issues that could be addressed on second reader and that law could approve the amendments for formal legal sufficiency.
Tyler Schnell, deputy director of government relations for the mayor’s office, said the mayor’s office appreciated the collaboration but asked for more time to brief the mayor because of a concurrent charter amendment conversation, saying, “we need more time to do that, not less.”
Councilmember James Torrance said he worked with BCYF, the sponsor and the law department to author an amendment that balances compliance and agency flexibility and said he would vote in favor.
The committee considered two motions: first to recommend the March 19 amendments favorably, and then to recommend the bill favorably as amended. Both motions were moved by Vice Chair Mark Parker; the first motion was seconded and approved, and the final motion to advance the bill as amended was seconded by Councilmember Odette Ramos. The chair recorded six affirmative votes, with one member absent, and the committee moved the bill to second reader for consideration by the full council.
Votes at a glance: The Education, Youth and Older Adults Committee recorded a 6-0 vote to advance the BCYF bill as amended to second reader; Councilmember Jones was absent.
Next steps: The bill will appear on the council calendar for second reader, where any remaining technical edits identified by the law department can be resolved and the mayor’s office may be further briefed before final council action.
