April 2026
Dear Neighbors:
Thank you for continuing to trust my experience and proven effectiveness in public service. It is my honor to continue to put our shared values into action in Annapolis -- something I have proudly done since 2003, after I was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.
I was absolutely thrilled earlier this year when the newly elected House Speaker selected me to serve as Vice-Chair of the Appropriations Committee, a highly influential leadership position where I collaborate with colleagues all over the state to shape Maryland’s $70.8 billion budget.
From this position, I helped allocate state funds for projects and priorities right here in our district. These local initiatives (see attached list) are investments in our community and create jobs in construction and other trades. These investments are the result of a coordinated effort alongside your District 14 team: Senator Craig Zucker, Delegate Pam Queen, and Delegate Bernice Mireku-North.
Together we also worked to support the shared values of our District 14 communities in Silver Spring; Calverton; Colesville; Cloverly; Fairland; Burtonsville; Spencerville; Olney; Brookeville; Ashton; Sandy Spring; Brinklow; Laytonsville; Sunshine; Goshen; Clarksburg; and Damascus.
Our team hopes you join us in congratulating Delegate Pam Queen who will retire after her term is over at the beginning of 2027. She served our district, county, and state with distinction.
Reflecting on my service, I know my dad would be so proud of me serving as the Appropriations Committee Vice Chair. As I like to say: Maryland’s budget is a real-world, on-paper demonstration of our collective values, and how we fund them.
But -- with rising costs, persistent inflation, eye-popping energy bills, and so much instability at the federal level -- and given that the state must live within its means, it is more important than ever that we are vigilant watchdogs of taxpayer money to ensure it is used efficiently and appropriately.
My goal remains the same each legislative session: introduce and pass common sense bills that will improve government operations and increase the overall quality of life for Marylanders.
To that end, this was one of the most successful sessions I had in years: I passed all eight bills I introduced, tackling issues related to technology, telehealth, prescription drugs, and foster youth. Beyond my own legislative agenda, I partnered with colleagues to strengthen and pass critical measures that reflect our Speaker’s priorities of affordability, accountability, and opportunity.
While we can all agree that arresting and deporting known, dangerous, and violent criminals is justified and even righteous, it is morally reprehensible and flat-out unconstitutional when poorly trained, masked, law enforcement wannabe officers willy-nilly (and sometimes violently) round up law-abiding, hard-working immigrants for unjustified deportation.
We have all seen the images: An elderly man pulled from his living room in winter conditions, wearing only underwear and Crocs, allowed no time to grab more than a blanket for warmth. A young child with a Spider-Man backpack and a blue bunny hat, visibly terrified, is whisked off to Texas for deportation. And the senseless, tragic, and un-American killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
We passed a robust package of legislation designed to push back against the Trump-Vance administration’s reckless immigration enforcement agenda. The cornerstone of these efforts was the Community Trust Act, which prohibits local jails from honoring ICE detainers without a judicial warrant and restricts police from inquiring about immigration status during routine stops. We also passed emergency measures to terminate all 287(g) agreements, ending formal partnerships where local officers acted as federal agents. Complementing these was a Law Enforcement Masking Ban, which imposes fines on officers -- specifically targeting federal agents -- who wear tactical masks or gaiters during community operations to ensure they remain identifiable and accountable.
In the last two years, Maryland has prohibited investor-owned gas and electric companies from using ratepayer funds to overspend on such things as lobbying, flying on corporate jets, doling out excessive salaries, and giving out outrageous bonuses.
This year, we passed legislation to use every tool available to lower costs, increase supply, protect ratepayers, and invest in clean, renewable energy wherever possible. The Utility RELIEF Act is expected to reduce Marylanders’ energy bills by about $150 per year. Furthermore, by placing data centers under a specific large-load rate, this Act protects residential customers from subsidizing the massive energy demands of major corporations. We also budgeted over $100 million to help Marylanders with limited means to pay their utility bills.
ü Erasing the Waitlist for Child Care Scholarships: Invests $20 million to open the door for approximately 3,700 additional families to access affordable childcare, thereby supporting children’s development and enabling more parents to enter or remain in the workforce.
ü PreK-12 and Higher Education: Continues historic investment at $10.2 billion for PreK-12, including $229 million to ensure schools serving large numbers of low-income students can continue to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. Additionally, we added $54 million for construction projects for Montgomery County Public Schools and $2.5 billion for higher education institutions.
ü Public Safety: Ties $47 million in State Aid for Police Protection to new, strict accountability measures regarding sexual assault evidence. Under these new provisions, the state will withhold funding from any local police department that fails to comply with rape kit notification protocols. This shift moves Maryland toward a survivor-first model, where authorities will be mandated to notify survivors whenever their rape kit is tested and -- crucially -- if a criminal match is identified in the DNA database.
ü Transportation: Invests $463 million for pedestrian safety improvements, $500 million to improve bike and pedestrian connectivity to enhance transportation options, and $42 million to strengthen the Bay Bridge.
ü Housing: Invests $384 million in low-income rental assistance, while another $42 million specifically helps renters in rural communities. Additionally, $25 million was allocated to the Homeownership Program to provide down payment assistance to home buyers who finance mortgages through the Maryland Mortgage Program.
The reality is that audit findings can remain unresolved for many, many years. Truthfully, some state agencies that manage billions of dollars don’t always have the financial expertise needed to prevent certain financial problems.
I am thankful that we took action to enhance public trust and finally put real systems in place to follow through on audits, strengthen financial leadership, and bring more transparency to big-ticket decisions -- especially contracts and real estate deals that can cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Our taxpayers deserve nothing less, and that’s why we passed five bills to enhance auditing and accountability.
I passed a bill to address these workforce gaps. I passed a related measure to require the Department of Information Technology to better map out their plans for how to modernize, prepare for cyber threats, and evaluate the viability of large technology investments.
I was proud to introduce and pass a bill to establish a pilot program to allow medications collected during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day to be redirected to Maryland’s already established drug repository infrastructure, so that safe, usable prescriptions reach patients instead of being unnecessarily destroyed.
We work on thousands of bills each session so if an issue you care about is not addressed here, please feel free to contact me.
Consider inviting me to your community event or backyard BBQ or inviting the District 14 team to talk with your community association. I wish you a happy and healthy spring and summer!
If I can ever be of service to you, I would be delighted to hear from you. Please call me on my personal cell: 301-379-2663. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.
P.S.: Please consider friending me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/anne.
Your District 14 team (Senator Zucker, Delegates Mireku-North and Queen, and I) secured substantial funds to support local initiatives and investments in our community. See below.
