Household water bills rose an average of 62% from 2015 to 2025, faster than the inflation rate and more than twice the rise in grocery prices, a new analysis shows. It rose 19% faster than household incomes on average -- but twice as fast as incomes in Maryland.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/11/r...

With Maryland’s advance voter registration deadline approaching Tuesday, student organizations on college campuses across the state are working to get more young people registered and prepared to cast their ballots.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/11/c...

Traditional health insurance pressures doctors to work at volume, or if they add layers of bureaucracy that independent physicians can't easily handle, writes Dimitri Coupet, who says it's time to consider formalizing a direct payment of care model.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/11/i...

Hurricane Isaias made landfall Friday night in Florida, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across a large the Southeast and causing at least four deaths. Remnants of the storm were expected to bring heavy rains to Maryland on Sunday.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/11/r...

State officials are taking another close look at how Maryland’s nonprofit hospitals store billions of dollars in “captive insurance” companies domiciled in the Cayman Islands to determine if those funds should be subject to state taxes.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/10/o...

Maryland law has very specific rules for removing books from school library shelves, but that doesn't always stop a determined local school board, writes Sonia Kumar, which is why she says the fight against book banning begins with voting for our school boards.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/w...

The signs, mailers and texts promise cash, quick sales and a seamless way to unload unwanted homes. But advocates say the business of buying homes for cash can confuse vulnerable homeowners and rob them of equity. And many states, like Maryland, are cracking down.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/r...

Prediction markets have emerged as a flashpoint in state and federal relations, as a host of states, including Maryland, struggle with the Trump administration over who regulates the platforms and whether state laws restricting gambling on elections apply.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/r...

Measles cases for the calendar year surpassed 4,000 for the first time in decades, with as many as five deaths in Pennsylvania, as the federal government steps in with financial help for states, but also fans vaccination fears and skepticism.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/r...

The annual Maryland heat season ended with record-breaking heat-related illnesses and deaths: The 61 fatalities shattered the 2012 record of 42 deaths, and 1,657 emergency calls topped last year's 1,634, the previous record. Health experts point to climate change.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/d...

A growing number of voters are taking their anger about affordability to the polls this midterm election and blaming President Donald Trump’s tariffs as a culprit for rising expenses, polls show. In Maryland, tariffs cost the average household another $2,732.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/r...

A perfect storm of harsh immigration enforcement, aging journeymen and a data center building boom is wreaking havoc on the nation’s supply of skilled trade workers, leaving businesses scrambling for plumbers, electricians, carpenters and others in short supply.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/09/r...

In a message to employees this week, the Social Security Administration said alternative work scheduling will end starting Nov. 16 and all employees will transition to a standard five-day workweek.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/s...

Months after reaching a record settlement over mud pollution from a Harford County housing project, state environmental regulators have fined the developer another $24,000 for continuing to foul a Gunpowder River tributary.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/m...

Maryland lawmakers are learning how hard it is to control utility rates, writes Randy Altschuler, who says they should instead focus on increasing power generation in the state, and insist that funds intended for energy programs be spent on energy programs.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/m...

Maryland People's Counsel David Lapp, the state’s ratepayer advocate in utility regulatory cases, will have to reapply for his job after Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown posted the position. Brown says it's nothing personal just the recommended process.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/m...

State regulators issued $125,150 in civil penalties to state, county and local governments over an eight-month period for failing to adhere to workplace safety requirements, lawmakers were told Wednesday.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/r...

A majority of Maryland voters are opposed to building data centers in the state and they have a dim view of artificial intelligence, which they believe will have a negative impact on society, a new poll shows.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/08/p...

Every child in the U.S. with a valid Social Security number is now enrolled in a tax-advantaged investment account, called a “Trump Account,” President Donald Trump said Wednesday, and parents of about 8 million children have opened accounts for their kids.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/07/r...

Leading immigration advocates and experts sounded the alarm Wednesday on the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to undo state laws, including laws in Maryland, that allow some immigrants to pay in-state college tuition in the states where they reside.
marylandmatters.org/2026/10/07/r...