The Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS) program at the University of Maryland pairs faculty expertise with student ingenuity to tackle sustainability issues facing Maryland communities. Partnering with local, county, and statewide Maryland agencies and jurisdictions, PALS creates customized coursework to target specific economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges identified by the partner community. The collaborative university-community partnership delivers recommendations, strategies and tools to address a community’s most pressing challenges, providing a road map for creating sustainable, thriving places to live, work and play. 

Total Funding Available: $10,000

The Maryland Municipal League Emergency Management Officials Department's (EMOD) latest quarterly newsletter is here.  The latest issue includes valuable content for anyone interested in better understanding and serving your community's emergency preparedness needs.

Do you know an individual, business, organization, or local government making outstanding contributions to smart, sustainable growth in Maryland? It’s time to recognize their work!

The Maryland Department of Planning, in partnership with the Maryland Sustainable Growth Subcabinet, is now accepting nominations for the 2027 Sustainable Growth Awards. Help us celebrate the local projects, policies, and leaders driving resilient, inclusive, and vibrant communities across our state.

The Maryland Municipal League is excited to have launched its newest member initiative designed to build more one-to-one engagement with member municipalities. Field service representatives have been reaching out to cities and towns across the state and are actively scheduling meetings to gather your feedback and connect membership to League services and other resources.

There are only two weeks left to apply for the READY Local Governments Training Program.

Applications Are Due July 31 at 5:00 p.m. E.T

If an eligible entity has not completed a cybersecurity assessment within the last 12 months, it may submit a request for Maryland’s Local Cybersecurity Support Fund (LCSF) funding to be used towards a cybersecurity assessment by a vendor approved by the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT).

The LCSF Program, codified in Md. Code, Pub. Safety § 14-104.2, helps local governments including school systems, school boards, and local health departments strengthen cybersecurity and protect essential services.

The Task Force to Modernize County and Municipal Revenue Structures is set to have their first meeting virtually on Friday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. during which MML will provide a presentation. The link to the virtual meeting will be posted here under the "Other" category, on the Maryland General Assembly's website. 

The Task Force is the result of MML's 2026 priority legislation HB 1142, which established the Task Force, set its membership, outlined its purpose, and required a final report. The crux of the Task Force's work is to study existing local revenues and recommend legislative changes to address deficiencies. MML has two representatives on the Task Force: Michael O’Connor, Mayor, City of Frederick and MML Past President and Chad Rooney, Town Manager, Chestertown. On December 1, 2026 the Task Force is set to publish its final report on its findings and recommendations. 

The Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT) announced that partnerships with the security research community have helped identify and fix more than 200 unique cybersecurity vulnerabilities on public-facing State of Maryland IT assets. The effort is part of DoIT’s broader cybersecurity strategy to remediate vulnerabilities and strengthen state defenses.

DoIT recently hosted Hack the State 2 with 12 security researchers vetted by BugCrowd. Through legal reporting channels and bug bounty incentives, researchers identify qualifying vulnerabilities. Hack the State 2, combined with the existing Vulnerability Disclosure Program (VDP) launched last October, positions Maryland as a leader among states in this area. Few, if any, other states have programs of this size and scope. This program is one of several cybersecurity advances the State has made in the last year. In February, the State released the Cybersecurity and Privacy Policy Suite, a comprehensive governance framework that is hardening state systems by mandating advanced “zero-trust” cybersecurity practices. It has also expanded its cybersecurity information-sharing umbrella to ensure that local partners and critical infrastructure providers have access to up-to-date threat intelligence. 

Maryland’s Office of Overdose Response is inviting members of the public to participate in its upcoming town hall series focused on using prescription opioid settlement funds. Marylanders are encouraged to share their ideas for how settlement proceeds can best be used to decrease overdoses and increase access to substance use disorder prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services.

These town halls are open to the public and registration is not required to attend. However, attendees who would like to speak should complete the registration form found at StopOverdose.maryland.gov/ORF.

The State of Maryland's Municipal Technical Assistance Program (MTAP) continues to assist Maryland municipalities in understanding the eligibility, compliance, and reporting requirements of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CLFRF) program.

The second annual National Economic Mobility and Opportunity Conference will be held August 19 - 21, 2026 in Washington, D.C. The conference brings together local government leaders, practitioners, researchers, nonprofit organizations, and community partners from across the country committed to creating places where all residents can thrive.

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (COG) 2026 Climate and Energy Leadership Awards Program application submission deadline has been extended to Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Five projects will be awarded to:

• (2) GOVERNMENT AGENCY (local, state, regional, quasi-govt, utilities or authorities)
• Small Jurisdiction (population < 90k)
• Large Jurisdiction (population > 90k)
• (1) NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (non-profit, for-profit, citizen or community-based groups)
• (1) BUSINESS AND FOR-PROFIT
• (1) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION (K-12, public, private, or higher education)

Through this program winners serve as a role model and are recognized in front of local, regional, and national officials for their innovative climate stewardship projects and programs that engage and serve the region’s underserved communities. Winning applicants will also be featured on the COG website through project descriptions and a short video.

We need your help. To ensure a successful summer conference we need your help at registration and throughout the event. If you've got the time, we've the job for you.  Sign up by June 3 via SignUp.com to assist with registration, be an usher, or be a greeter. Greeters will introduce themselves to lost-looking first timers, assist with directions, the app, encourage visits to the expo, and be the friendly face in the crowd. This is an excellent way to meet new people. Plus, you'll get an MVP Volunteer Ribbon and our sincere appreciation.

Volunteers are the backbone supporting a successful conference. We cannot do it without you.

Check out the Snap Educational Sessions on the Expo Stage and experience where innovation meets action. These fast-paced, 30-minute Snap Sessions deliver powerful, real-world insights designed to tackle today’s municipal challenges head-on.

Each session is packed with practical takeaways and proven solutions you can bring back and put to work immediately. Grab your wireless headphones, tune in, and get inspired by this year’s summer conference Snaps:

Is your city or town anticipating a sizable turnover in elected officials? Would they benefit from engaging in a facilitated team-building dialogue, discussion of roles and responsibilities, as well as a goal-setting exercise to get everyone on the same page?  The Maryland Municipal League has helped more than a dozen member municipalities get their newly elected officials’ terms off to a productive and collaborative start. Standard retreats are five hours long with a facilitation fee of $2,500 for members with populations of 10,000 or less and $4,000 for those with more than 10,000 residents. For more information, contact MML Director of Leadership Development and retreat facilitator Tom Reynolds at [email protected].

The Maryland Open Meetings Act requires that every public body, including municipalities, have at least one person complete Open Meetings Act training to meet the requirements of the state's Open Meetings Act law. That training requirement can be met by either taking the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance in-person core class training or completing an online training module, which can now be found exclusively on the Maryland Attorney General's website.  This training is no longer available through the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service.  For more information, contact Tom Reynolds at [email protected].

With the 2026 Maryland General Assembly session in the rearview mirror, please check out MML's Legislative Summary!

MML’s most engaged members have reached the end of this year’s Banner City/Town journey and have earned their Banner City/Town designation. MML’s oldest ambassador program is a guidepost for members to make the most of their MML membership as these municipalities have done.

Congratulations to MML’s 2026 Banner Cities and Towns:

Bel Air, Berwyn Heights, Bladensburg, Brentwood, Brunswick, Cambridge, Cottage City, Cumberland, Denton, Edmonston, Emmitsburg, Friendsville, Frostburg, Gaithersburg, Galena, Glenarden, Greenbelt, Hagerstown, Hampstead, Hyattsville, Keedysville, La Plata, Laurel, Mount Airy, Mount Rainier, New Carrollton, North Brentwood, Pocomoke City, Rockville, Salisbury, Seat Pleasant, Somerset, Sykesville, Takoma Park, Taneytown, Union Bridge, Upper Marlboro, Westminster

Call for proposals! The 2026 Small Business Anti-Displacement Network Summit on Preventing Climate Displacement is looking for panels or individual presentations about equitable climate resilience and recovery strategies that keep small businesses in place. The online summit will be held November 12-13, 2026.

Co-hosted by the Gentrification & Urban Displacement Lab at the Boston University Initiative on Cities, the summit will examine how climate displacement is increasingly affecting vulnerable communities and small businesses across the U.S. and globally. Climate disasters, the long-term effects of climate change, and climate adaptation or mitigation strategies can kickstart or compound gentrification. New public and private climate-related investments can significantly change communities, displacing small businesses and the residents whom they serve. BIPOC- and immigrant-owned small businesses in low-wealth neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable to climate displacement.