MoCo

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, Councilmember Kristin Mink, with the support of County Executive Marc Elrich, introduced the Housing Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act during the Council session on Tuesday, March 7. Community organizations, landlords and renters joined the Councilmembers and County Executive for a press conference introducing the HOME Act. They highlighted the costly impacts of renting in the County and how the bill would help relieve hundreds of thousands of renters.

“Housing is a human right. Affordable housing is not a nice to have but a necessity for renters to be able to live and contribute to our communities,” said Councilmember Jawando. “One-third of our County residents are renters, and most are Black. 58 percent of Black households rent, double the percentage of White or Asian households. With inflationary concerns, we must provide stable housing for residents.”

Per Montgomery County: On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly to allocate $175 million in the FY24 budget. The funding would help an estimated 17,000 Maryland families avoid eviction and remain in their homes.

Governor Moore announced a $5 billion state surplus in this year’s budget. Montgomery County residents, along with all Marylanders, are facing an end to local rental assistance, in addition to reductions in SNAP benefits, imposing hardship on many families.

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County At-Large Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles is hosting an inaugural Women’s History Month event on Saturday, March 11 from 3-5 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in downtown Silver Spring to honor this year’s national theme for Women’s History Month, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” She will be joined by prominent women in the media: Ovetta Wiggins, Politics Reporter with the Washington Post; Andrea Sarralde, Emmy Award Winning Journalist with Montgomery Community Media; and Jenn White, host of NPR’s 1A Podcast.

“Women’s History Month is an important time to celebrate the achievements of trailblazing women striving for equal rights,” said Councilmember Sayles. “By bringing women together in Montgomery County for this special occasion, we learn about the sacrifices women have made to successfully lead in their careers. Our stories are nuanced and significant, and we must continue to take up space to ensure dignity, respect, and equal access to opportunity.

Per Montgomery County: The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich, led by Councilmember Kate Stewart, sent a letter to the chair and members of the Maryland House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee today in support of the Melanie Diaz Sprinklers Save Lives Act (House Bill 1292), sponsored by Maryland State Delegates Lorig Charkoudian, Marvin Holmes, David Moon, Emily Shetty and Jared Solomon and Jheanelle Wilkins.

Stronger fire safety protections like these could have helped slow the devastating fire last month at a Silver Spring high-rise apartment complex that displaced over 400 residents, led to the hospitalization of 20 people, including firefighters responding to the incident, and caused the tragic death of 25-year-old Melanie Diaz and her two dogs. In 2019, the Maryland State Fire Marshal highlighted the dangers of living in high-rise buildings without sprinkler systems, which have been shown to reduce civilian fire deaths by up to 87% – but older buildings, a majority of which are in Montgomery County, are not required to have these sprinkler systems in place. 

Per Montgomery County: The Public Safety (PS) Committee will meet on Monday, March 6 at 9:30 a.m. to receive a briefing on police use of force and discuss the FY23 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) amendments for the Outdoor Firearms Training Center and the Public Safety Training Academy (PSTA) academic building complex. The members of the PS Committee include Chair Sidney Katz and Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Kristin Mink.

The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee will also meet at 9:30 a.m. to discuss category change requests to the Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan, Bill 3-23, Environmental Sustainability – Montgomery County Green Bank and the FY22 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Permit (NPDES-MS4) Financial Assurance Plan. The members of the TE Committee include Chair Evan Glass and Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe and Kate Stewart.

Per Montgomery County: Councilmembers Natali Fani-González, Andrew Friedson, Gabe Albornoz, Marilyn Balcombe, Sidney Katz, and Dawn Luedtke today announced a bold new proposal to alleviate pressures on the County’s most vulnerable renters. Like most similar jurisdictions throughout the country, Montgomery County faces a housing affordability crisis. The County has a tremendous housing challenge, with 41,000 housing units needed by 2030 to accommodate population growth and alleviate pressure on county renter households that are cost burdened. Based on a County-specific study, extensive research including from the NYU Furman Center, and the real-world experiences of other jurisdictions across the country, particularly Oregon, Minnesota, and California, the Tenant Assistance and Protection Package will provide direct assistance to the most vulnerable residents, protect against rent gouging, provide access to homeownership to build generational wealth, and increase supply of income-restricted affordable housing.

The sponsors of the Tenant Assistance and Protection Package are calling on County Executive Marc Elrich to include these funds in his recommended budget, due for submission to the Council on March 15.

Per Montgomery County: On Tuesday, March 7, Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, Councilmember Kristin Mink, County Executive Marc Elrich, and community organizations will hold a press conference discussing the introduction of the Housing Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act.

The HOME Act helps keep renters in their homes by preventing rent gouging, reducing displacement, and creating cost predictability for renters and landlords. The Act sets a limit on the allowable annual rent increase for units to follow the Voluntary Rent Guidelines (VRG) or 3 percent, whichever is lower. The Act would exempt certain buildings from rent increase requirements, including newly constructed units for ten years and units connected to government programs, healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and owner-occupied units. The HOME Act also permits landlords to request a fair return increase, establishes an excise tax on rental units that remain vacant for more than a year, and funds affordable housing acquisitions.