By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“I really can't underscore what an incredible moment that we're at right now. For years and years ... we've always had something holding us back, whether it was internal struggles or the dysfunction of the Stronach group. We're really at the moment where we're responsible for our own our own future here.” - David Richardson, executive director of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, on the state’s ownership of the Preakness, Pimlico and Laurel Park.
In Annapolis, they were talking horses and housing yesterday, and in Washington they were talking voting rights. Welcome to Thursday.
The state is now essentially in the horse racing business in Maryland, where it is investing hundreds of millions into Pimlico and recently bought Laurel Park and the Preakness Stakes. State officials assured House members it’s a good bet, even as the Preakness has been frozen out of a new series with the other Triple Crown races. Bryan P. Sears has that story.
Developers decried the regulations that they said drive up the cost of housing in Maryland, and state officials agreed that red tape is one factor — among many — behind a housing shortage. But they told a House committee that solutions are in the works, as Danielle J. Brown reports.
William J. Ford reports from the first day of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual meeting in Washington, where speakers weighed how to respond to the Supreme Court’s elimination of racial protections in the Voting Rights Act — including possibly reshaping the court.
Those stories, and headlines from the week, are below for your Thursday. Enjoy!
Horses on the track at Laurel Park, where the Preakness was run this year. The state now owns Laurel Park, Pimlico and the Preakness, and state officials told House members Wednesday that it’s a good investment. (Photo by Joe Andrucyk/Patrick Siebert/Office of the Governor)
By Bryan P. Sears
State officials put a best hoof forward on behalf of the horse racing industry Wednesday, expressing confidence that efforts to prop up and preserve the industry will not be in vain.
The briefing before the House Appropriations Committee comes as Maryland horse racing faces continuing questions about its viability. Those concerns remain even as the state has pumped hundreds of millions into the industry -- restoring Pimlico Race Course, buying Laurel Park and the rights to the Preakness Stakes -- effectively assuming ownership.
The viability of the industry remains an open question even after the state bought the intellectual property rights to the Preakness, the second leg in racing's Triple Crown. Kentucky Derby owner Churchill Downs had offered $85 million to buy the rights to the Preakness from 1/ST Racing. Maryland had a right to match that offer and it did, closing the deal in July.
Days later, Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Authority, which owns the Belmont, announced a six-race championship race series, the first two races of which will be the Derby and the Belmont Stakes — bookends of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. The Preakness was not included, but state officials are confident they can make it work.
Even relatively small bumps in prices to housing can bar thousands of Marylanders from being able to buy a home. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
By Danielle J. Brown
Developers say that having to navigate the “complex web” of federal, state and local regulations contributes to the rising cost of housing and rent, which winds up pricing more and more Marylanders out of housing options.
Lori Graf, CEO of Maryland Building Industry Association, told the House Economic Matters Committee Tuesday that, at a national level, the costs it takes to comply with health, environment and other government regulations account for 26.4% of the final cost of a new housing unit. She added that each bump in housing costs knocks thousands of Maryland families from the dream of homeownership. It’s estimated that for every $1,000 increase in the cost of a medium-priced new home, an additional 2,955 households are priced out in Maryland, Graf said. It’s why she and other members of the building industry urge Maryland lawmakers to cut back on the red tape that slows down the approval process for new development in the state.
Their comments followed a presentation by the Department of Housing and Community Development for the committee outlining the many factors contributing not only to Maryland’s housing shortage of some 100,000 units, but also the state’s skyrocketing housing costs – some of the highest in the nation.
IN OTHER NEWS
Calling for change after Callais: With “the crown jewel” of civil rights legislation gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court, and up to 20 seats of Black members of Congress at stake in November, voting rights advocates called for a makeover of the high court.
USDA delay: A federal district judge hit the brakes on a sweeping reorganization of the Agriculture Department that would have moved half its Washington-area workers to sites around the county, issuing a temporary stay Monday amid ongoing litigation.
Blackouts on the horizon?: Even if new power plants are built in the next 15 years, as data center projects come online, the regional electricity grid would fall short of demand an average of six times per decade for Pennsylvania and the PJM region, a new report says.
TODAY'S COMMENTARY
The best way to mark Constitution Day, this Thursday, is to fight the influence of money and foreign influence in our politics through active civic participation, writes Mike Pellittiere, who particularly calls on his fellow veterans to step up.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Caucus meets under a cloud: The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference is typically “a big homecoming,” but this year could be the last for some members, as changes to the Voting Rights Act threaten Black representation on Capitol Hill.
RELIEF is on the way: Savings from a sweeping utilities reform bill this year are on the way, but energy regulators told state lawmakers Tuesday that they have seen rising rate requests from power companies in the meantime, and expect to see more.
State appeals ruling that struck digital ad tax: State officials are asking a circuit court to review a Maryland tax court ruling last month that struck down a first-of-its-kind digital ad tax challenged by three tech companies, Apple, Google and Peacock TV.
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