In The News
The Annapolis Fire Department has received a $1.9 million federal grant. The grant was announced Friday by U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin along with U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes. The money will go toward hiring 12 full time firefighter positions for two years, including training and full benefits.
Foster was among the officials and lawmakers, including Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and John Sarbanes, who announced plans for the program outside a Belair-Edison home selected to receive solar panels as part of another city initiative to install solar panels in low-income areas.
The money will support the Maryland Coastal Zone Management Program, which "improves collaboration between federal, state and local stakeholders and makes long-term investments in strengthening the resiliency of coastal habitats and ecosystems," Sarbanes' office said.
"The effects of climate change are worsening at an alarming rate, and communities in Maryland and around the country will need to accelerate mitigation efforts," Sarbanes said in a statement. "This grant funding will play an important role in improving the resiliency of Maryland's coasts and helping to protect the vitality of the Chesapeake Bay."
At a time when presidential candidates are turning away from public financing for their own campaigns because they don’t want to abide by limits on their spending and Congress has cut off public funding for political conventions, Sarbanes is insisting that “small donor-driven public financing” of campaigns is an idea whose time has come.
“Guns don’t die, people die,” said Rep. John Sarbanes, who attended the event with fellow Maryland Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Dutch Ruppersberger.
The Baltimore event, staged on the steps of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, also drew Reps. Elijah E. Cummings of Baltimore and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes, both of Baltimore County.
Led by Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, several dozen lawmakers sat on the floor of the House, which quickly went into recess -- a move that shuts off live coverage of the chamber by CSPAN.
Reps. John Sarbanes of Baltimore County, Donna F. Edwards of Prince George's County, Steny Hoyer of Southern Maryland, Elijah Cummings of Baltimore, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Chris Van Hollen of Montgomery County were among those taking part in the effort, aides said. Sen. Ben Cardin crossed the Capitol to join with his House colleagues.
In May, the House of Representatives passed a bill introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, a Baltimore County Democrat who represents parts of Baltimore, to encourage doctors who prescribe opioids to patients to also provide a second script for naloxone.
Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes, of Maryland, is the sponsor of small-donor matching legislation in the House. Sarbanes predicted that even though public financing isn’t part of the Senate Democrats’ plan now, it will likely be a part of an eventual bicameral reform package that is more comprehensive.
“Whether it gets in on the front end of the process or comes in later—as long as ultimately it is there when we are articulating it to voters, and when we’re in position to move—then I think it will be a strong package,” Sarbanes told theProspect in an interview last week.
To offset the influence of big money in politics and return power to everyday people, Rep. John Sarbanes authored and introduced the Government By the People Act in 2014. The bill would provide citizens — and the candidates they support — with the tools they need to run competitive campaigns without money from wealthy donors or special interests.