By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“When voters hear what this amendment actually does, they reject it. Stripping over 50 years of constitutional protections for fair and compact districts so partisan politicians can draw maps that can never be challenged in court again is wrong, and Marylanders know it.” - Yuripzy Morgan of Protect Maryland Votes, which opposes ballot Question 3 on congressional redistricting, on its poll that showed a plurality of voters oppose the measure.
It’s a rainy, chilly first day of fall. Sounds like a good day to stay inside and get caught up on the news. We’re here to help.
The Office of Inspector General for Health has been busy, conducting almost 1,400 investigations and audits of local health departments and healthcare providers in recent years that found almost $42 million that was owed to the state. But until recently, those audits were not public unless you knew to ask for them, something the inspector general says is changing as part of her office’s commitment to transparency. Danielle J. Brown has that story.
The courtroom fighting over Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would loosen the rules on congressional redistricting, has ended and now the campaign fighting is starting up. The first shot came Tuesday, when opponents released a poll that they say shows voters have serious doubts about the proposed constitutional amendment, as Bryan P. Sears reports.
We also have news on the opening of a new Microsoft quantum computing research center in College Park from Pera Onal, plus other state and local news and headlines from the week below. Stay dry and enjoy!
A vacant hallway at Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma, Alabama, in 2024. (Photo by Will McLelland for Alabama Reflector)
By Danielle J. Brown
The Office of Inspector General for Health conducted almost 1,400 audits and investigations over the last four years that found more than $42 million in improper or unrecovered payments -- but those reports have only recently been posted for public review.
Those findings by the Office of Legislative Audits came in its first evaluation of the inspector general's office since it was made independent from the Department of Health in 2022. Besides reporting the $42 million in payments due from local health departments or healthcare providers, the audit also noted that while the inspector general made its reports available to audited agencies and health departments, it only made them available to the public on request.
The only recommendation in the OLA audit was that the inspector should "consider publicly disclosing the results of its audits and investigations to the extent possible." But the inspector general was already moving in that direction, creating a public-facing website in August and posting the first 20 reports there earlier this month. More reports are on the way, officials said.
A proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution that could remove state standards for redrawing congressional districts faces a plurality of opposition, according to a new poll from a group that opposes the ballot question. (Maryland Matters illustration)
By Bryan P. Sears
An effort by Democrats to rewrite the standards for future congressional redistricting efforts apparently isn’t sitting well with a plurality of Maryland voters.
Roughly 4 in 10 voters said they oppose Question 3 and only 28% supported it in a poll released Tuesday by Protect Maryland Votes, a group that is opposing the proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution. The poll comes just as mail-in ballots begin to go out to Maryland voters and one month before early voting begins. The poll of 600 likely Maryland voters was conducted between Sept. 10 and 13 by two firms: Ragnar Research Partners and Lincoln Park Strategies, Republican and Democratic polling firms respectively. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
The poll also found that 57% of voters surveyed oppose gerrymandering in Maryland. Included in that are 67% of Republicans, 54% of unaffiliated voters and 52% of Democrats. There was also support for letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots in primary elections. More than 7 in 10 Democrats said they favored letting unaffiliated voters participate in primary elections, while 66% of unaffiliated voters said they favored the change, as did half of Republicans.
A spokesperson for a group backing passage of the amendment criticized the Republican polling firm involved and dismissed the poll.
IN OTHER NEWS
Quantum in College Park: State officials, University of Maryland leaders and quantum research representatives celebrated the opening of the Microsoft Quantum Research Center in the university’s Discovery District Tuesday.
Birthright citizenship: A federal judge in New Hampshire seemed skeptical that a civil rights group could continue to fight President Donald Trump’s second attempt to rein in birthright citizenship under a previous lawsuit, saying a new lawsuit might be needed.
States sue to preserve offshore wind: An eight-state coalition sued to halt Trump administration’s payments to private firms to cancel offshore wind leases in an ongoing legal battle over the government spending billions of dollars to block wind projects.
A’triggering’ death: A man found hanging from a tree Sunday in Upper Marlboro died by suicide, Prince George’s County officials said Monday, but the symbolism behind the death left emotions raw as county leaders tried to quash lynching speculation.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Tribal leaders shunned: Seven federally recognized Native American tribes are ending their bid to formally join the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, saying they have been disappointed by the response from Bay Program leaders to their request for a formal seat on the board.
In-state immigrant litigation: The Justice Department is asking a federal judge for summary judgment in its lawsuit challenging a 2011 Maryland law that can grant in-state tuition to some undocumented immigrants living in the state.
Remembering Walter Boynton: Walter Boynton, a preeminent Chesapeake Bay scientist and communicator, died Sept. 14 after a long illness, leaving a legacy of more than 50 years of pioneering research and advocacy for his adopted watershed. He was 79.
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