Mayor Brandon Scott, after first addressing Wednesday's deadly shooting of high schoolers in West Baltimore, announced his legislative priorities for the coming year and upcoming legislative session.
Many of his priorities have to do with improving public safety, over the long term.
This includes money for new police buildings in the Northwest and Northeast districts, restoring funding for the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) and reducing the time that someone being electronically monitored by DPSCS can go missing before an administrative judge is alerted.
Another of the Mayor's priorities is dealing with blighted and vacant properties.
"We'll be asking the state for $100 million to address vacancy and eliminate blight in our City," said Scott. "Simply put, unsafe and unstable vacant structures present a very real danger to our residents, first responders and agency personnel.. besides being a physical hazard, these properties are often used to aid criminal activity."
Scott also specified four bills he plans to support from members of the Baltimore City delegation to the Maryland General Assembly.
- Senator Cory McCray’s (D-45) proposed legislation to streamline the State’s property tax exemption application process, allowing exemptions to be applied to prior years under certain circumstances.
- Legislation from Senator Antonio Hayes (D-40) to bridge the appraisal gap for prospective homebuyers.
- Delegate Regina Boyce’s (D-43) bill to give the City the authority to set special property tax rates as a means to more equitably spread the load of property taxes, overcome barriers to homeownership, and entice new residents and businesses to come to Baltimore.
- And Delegate Robbyn Lewis’s (D-46) legislation to create a process for union recognition and collective bargaining for employees of the Walters Art Museum.
Scott also said he's looking forward to working with the incoming Governor's administration, saying "It's a different ballgame. It's like going from Kyle Boller to Lamar Jackson."
