Last week, MML staff testified before the House Government, Labor, and Elections Committee in strong support of HB 99, a bill vital to ensuring that cities and towns have the final say in how their newly annexed land is developed. The legislation is sponsored by Delegate Schindler, a former municipal official from Hagerstown, Maryland.

Under current law, municipalities often face a "zoning freeze" after an annexation, regularly referred to as “The 5-year Rule.” Even when a town has a clear, community-vetted comprehensive plan, they are frequently barred from implementing higher-density or different land uses for five years unless they receive express permission from the county.

MML seeks amendments to SB 64 & HB 10 in support of public notice modernization.

Last week, MML staff testified before the House Judiciary and Senate Judicial Proceedings committees in favor of a critical modernization package for SB 64 (and cross-filed HB 10).

On Wednesday, January 21, Governor Wes Moore formally introduced his budget bills (SB 282/HB 390 & SB 284/HB 392) for the State of Maryland’s 2027 fiscal year. See our municipal analysis below.

The City of Bowie is hosting Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) course MGT-312 – Senior Officials Workshop for All-Hazards Preparedness on March 10, 2026. The course is intended for elected officials and senior level staff.

On January 20 at noon, we will offer a Lunch and Learn: Tutorial Session on Key Contact Functionality to introduce/refresh key contacts on how to add their officials into the platform. Each city/town is allowed two Key Contacts; please make sure that at least one municipal contact plans to attend.

Key contacts are municipal staff who have been designated by their municipality to have access to MML's database platform. This functionality allows key contacts to add new officials into our system as well as register officials for our events.

The Banner City/Town Program bestows formal recognition each year to cities and towns that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to MML programs and activities. This program serves as a guidepost on how to make the most of your MML membership.

For decades, the League's oldest ambassador program, "If I were Mayor, I would..." Essay Contest has educated fourth graders (and teachers) about municipal government and the role of the mayor. In late December, a postcard announcing the 2026 essay contest was mailed to schools and municipalities. Contest materials are now available on our website. 

Essay submissions are now open. The essay contest deadline is March 5.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly enacted legislation establishing eight new Sustainable Growth Planning Principles to guide land use and development policy statewide. In response, the Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) has released the Sustainable Growth Implementation Guide, a new resource intended to help jurisdictions understand how the Principles may be applied in planning documents, projects, and policy development. 

MDP developed the Guide with input from multiple state agencies and through Regional Planner Roundtables, where local planners identified areas where additional clarity or technical support could be useful. This Guide is designed to offer a flexible framework that can help jurisdictions anticipate market changes and better align local planning efforts with the state’s goals related to economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and community well-being. It includes examples, best practices, and models for integrating them into local planning processes, and is intended as a companion manual to the new Principles.

The Maryland Municipal League (MML), with membership in attendance, demonstrated its commitment to environmental stewardship through participation in two major events this November. Tyler Brice, MML Manager, Advocacy and Public Affairs, attended both the Greater Baltimore Climate Summit and the "Wandering Maryland's Waterways" Bus Tour, engaging with local and state leaders on critical resilience and water quality issues.

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recently issued a memorandum clarifying how state and local law enforcement officers must operate when working alongside federal agencies. The OAG’s “Maryland Law Enforcement Standards When Working with Federal Agents” (October 2025) establishes clear expectations that Maryland officers remain fully bound by state law—even during joint operations or federal task forces. The guidance is intended to help departments avoid conflicts between state and federal standards and maintain community trust. Among other things, the OAG memo outlines what officers must do, may do, and must not do when participating in joint operations, covering areas such as:

• Use-of-force and de-escalation standards;

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The Maryland Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will hold a virtual meeting for local governments on Wednesday, September 17, at 11:00 a.m. to provide an update on the Purdue and Secondary Manufacturers opioid settlements. These agreements are currently in the sign-on phase, so timely participation is critical.

OAG will review:

Governor Wes Moore has signed an executive order to increase housing production across the state. The order improves the use of state-owned land to create more efficient development, reduce state permitting timelines, and bring more homes to market faster in an effort to tackle housing affordability and promote the Moore-Miller Administration’s commitment to addressing Maryland's 96,000 unit housing shortage across the state.

The “Housing Starts Here” executive order:

The Maryland Department of Planning (MDP) is presenting a webinar, Building Local Resilience, on Wednesday, August 27 between noon and 1:30 p.m. Panelists will discuss methods for constructing resilient communities through guidance, resources, and planning best practices. The webinar will address the foundations of resilience at the local level, highlighting strategies such as Resilience Hubs and other capital projects that deliver the needs of the public and protect infrastructure. MDP will be joined by resilience partners from the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), the City of Baltimore, and Groundswell. Groundswell is a nonprofit that builds community power through community solar projects and resilience centers, clean energy programs that reduce energy burdens, and research initiatives that support clean energy futures for all.

The Maryland Community Investment Corporation (MCIC) is a new entity created by Governor Moore’s administration to bring equitable, community-driven investment to Maryland. It aims to connect grassroots organizations, developers, and anchor institutions to funding opportunities and technical assistance - especially through tools like the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. 

MCIC's goal is to bridge the gap for organizations that have historically been left out of complex funding programs, with a focus on:

Since June 2024, the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) has issued approximately 191 grower, processor, and dispensary conditional licenses in its first licensing round. Conditional licensees are now in various stages of becoming operational, which includes obtaining local zoning approval for a business location. A conditional licensee must obtain local zoning approval before MCA can issue a final license.

State law delegates authority to Maryland’s counties and municipalities to adopt reasonable zoning requirements for cannabis businesses within the parameters established in Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article §36-410. The MCA is not authorized to make zoning determinations on behalf of political subdivisions and defers to them to make determinations for their communities, provided they are not unduly burdensome, e.g., more restrictive than the parameters in Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article §36-410. 

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 2025 Banner Cities and Towns:

Bel Air, Berwyn Heights, Bladensburg, Brentwood, Brunswick, Cheverly, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, Denton, District Heights, Edmonston, Emmitsburg, Frederick, Friendsville, Frostburg, Gaithersburg, Glenarden, Greenbelt, Hagerstown, Hampstead, Hebron, Hyattsville, Keedysville, Kensington, La Plata, Laurel, Leonardtown, Middletown, Mount Airy, Mount Rainier, New Carrollton, North Beach, North Brentwood, Preston, Rising Sun, Rockville, Seat Pleasant, Sykesville, Takoma Park, Taneytown, Thurmont, Union Bridge, Upper Marlboro, Westminster, Williamsport