News
MD Works Announcements & Industry News March 26 , 2025
Governor Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, and Maryland General Assembly Budget Leadership Announce Agreement on Final Budget Framework
Published: 3/20/2025
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, and the Maryland General Assembly’s budget leadership today announced an agreement on the framework for the final FY 2026 budget. The framework eliminates the $3.3 billion structural deficit and creates a positive cash balance—marking an important first step forward in securing Maryland’s long-term fiscal health.
“As dysfunction and chaos unfold in Washington, here in Maryland, we’ve been moving in partnership. Together, we have arrived at a common-sense agreement that meets each of the three goals I established at the start of session—reform the tax code and not on the backs of working families, grow and diversify the economy, and invest in our people,” said Gov. Moore. “I want to thank our legislative leaders for their collaboration throughout these negotiations. Together, we will continue to protect Marylanders, as we confront crisis with courage.”
The governor was joined by Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Vanessa Atterbeary, House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes, and Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone for the announcement.
“Today, we announced a State Budget framework that strikes what I believe is the right balance of fiscal responsibility and protects our core social safety net here in the State of Maryland,” said Senate President Bill Ferguson. “We must acknowledge the tough choices that come with responsible budgeting, and under this proposal, we are cutting at least $2.3 billion to navigate economic uncertainties. While these cuts are difficult, they are necessary to maintain fiscal stability for Maryland.”
BIG BUDGET NEWS! The House Appropriations Committee released decisions for FY26 that restore significant amounts of the DDA budget! This would not have been possible without the thousands of you who spoke up! As we move through these final weeks of session, please note this is not over. The Senate decisions come next and then the full budget must be reconciled and then voted on by the General Assembly. You can see more information on the updates to the DDA budget at https://conta.cc/4iLL9VP
Please consider taking a moment to email a big thank you to committee leadership for their dedication to restoring this funding:
APP Chair Ben Barnes: ben.barnes@house.state.md.us
Health And Social Services Subcommittee Chair Emily Shetty: emily.shetty@house.state.md.us
Open Captioning Movie Bill
We are excited to inform you that House Bill 1363, sponsored by Delegate Harry Bhandari, has passed and transitioned to the Senate. We expect to work hard in the upcoming weeks on advancing this legislation. You can read more about the bill here: House Bill 1363.
To help us further this important legislation, we ask that you share the following Google Form with your network of friends, family, and colleagues within the State of Maryland. The form allows individuals to submit a letter of support, which we will then upload to the MGA website on their behalf.
Please share this link with your community: Google Form – MD Open Captions Letter.
We would also love to receive a letter of support from your organization, office, or commission.
The Senate will hold a hearing before the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 and we kindly request that any letters of support be submitted by Thursday, March 27, 2025 to us. We will upload your letter for you, or if you prefer, you may upload it directly to the MGA website by Friday, March 28, 2025.
Should you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at mdopencaptioning@gmail.com.
Thank you again for your continued support!
The Open Captioning Movies Bill Committee
NEXTGEN SYNERGY is a best practice consortium model supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health conditions.
MEMBER BENEFITS
Expert Training and CEUs: Build skills and earn CEU credits through targeted training for DSPs and clinicians.
Strengthen Your Workforce: Empower DSPs and clinical teams with ongoing professional development. Collaborative Solutions: Solve complex challenges through expert-led case discussions.
Enhance and Grow: Expand service delivery models and explore new revenue streams to strengthen long-term sustainability.
Learn More (website)
Employ Prince George's Request for Quotes
Make an Impact: Equip Young Minds for Meaningful Careers! Submit a quote today: tinyurl.com/RFQ417.
Employ Prince George’s (EPG) is seeking qualified vendors to design and deliver Career Camps for students in Prince George’s County through our Youth Career Connections (YCC) program!
YCC helps bridge the gap between school and work by providing exposure, exploration, and hands-on experiences in high-demand industries, including:
• Healthcare & Social Assistance
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Construction & Real Estate
• Information Technology
• Business Services
• …and more!
We invite nonprofits, community-based organizations, colleges, universities, labor training entities, and more to submit proposals to create innovative and impactful programming that prepares students for meaningful careers.
Deadline: April 17, 2025, at 4:00 PM EST
Learn more & apply today: employpg.org/rfps/
Responses must be submitted via our online grant application portal, which can be accessed by visiting, tinyurl.com/RFQ417.
#RFQ #WeAreEPG #YouthCareerConnections #CareerCamps #WorkforceDevelopment #PrinceGeorgesCounty #FutureReady #Youth #YoungAdults
Apprenticeships: A Proven Solution to Build and Retain Your Talent Pipeline
Howard County Office of Workforce Development
A proud partner of the American Job Center Network
Why should you have a Registered Apprenticeship?
Registered Apprenticeships are an industry-driven model proven to attract, train, and retain a highly skilled workforce.
- Registered apprenticeships increase productivity for companies and reduce turnover costs.
- According to US Department of Labor statistics, 91% of apprentices remain on the job one year after employment and report high levels of loyalty and motivation.
- Build the right training model and create flexible options that ensure workers develop the right skills.
To view a brief presentation, click below:
Document
HOWARD COUNlY INCENTIVES
Supporting businesses in developing New Registered Apprenticeships or reactivating existing ones.
LEARN MORE!
The Kennedy Center is accepting referrals for Summer 2025 internships as part of the Experiential Educational Initiative (EEI) and the new Rosemary Kennedy Initiative (RKI).
Experiential Educational Initiative (EEI)
- Open to candidates ages 19-30 with a documented intellectual disability.
- Learn more about the program and the Summer 2025 offerings via our website.
- Use this form to make your EEI referrals by Friday, March 28.
Rosemary Kennedy Initiative (RKI)
- Open to candidates with a documented disability
- Interns will work 20 hours/wk as a Kennedy Center Usher June 2 through August 24.
- Ushers are responsible for the seating and the safety of patrons in all performance venues in The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ushers are expected to offer the highest level of customer service possible to patrons, donors, visiting artists, artist management, guests, and any other member of the public or administration they may encounter. Ushers are also expected to carry out any job function management deems as appropriate and within the scope of customer service, audience experience, pre-show prep, post-show breakdown, guest and staff safety/emergency response/security.
- Use this form to learn more about the program and make your RKI referrals by Friday, March 28.
The contents of these programs were developed under grant number H421F240164 from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. §§ 1221e-3 and 3474)
We will host an online information session later this month—more details forthcoming. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns please contact Wynsor Taylor using the information below.
Access/VSA Programmer
(she/her)
202-416-8026 (office)
As Congress continues to consider legislation that could make deep cuts to Medicaid, your federal legislators need to hear from you! The U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on a bill this week that directs a congressional committee to make cuts of at least $880 billion—such drastic cuts would almost inevitably lead to reductions in community-based services and longer waiting lists for I/DD services.
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Virtual NAMI Conference Proposals
Conference date: on June 6th and 7th, 2025
Submit innovative and exciting proposals to fill our workshop and plenary time slots.
Sample Topics Including:
Emerging and best practice treatment for specific disorders; benefits and how to access them; specific supportive services; trauma-informed, recovery-oriented, and/or peer services; early detection and intervention, criminal justice; servicing racial minorities and other underserved populations; substance use; physical health; developmental and behavioral disorders; handling specific situations like crises and disappearance; and advocacy and policy initiatives, specific policy topics, etc.
Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis until Friday, May 2nd, 2025.
Please use this form: https://forms.office.com/r/8v1dWnFgDC to submit your proposal.
In addition to the proposal, please submit a bio (up to 150 words) and resume for each presenter. You can also include headshots.
Nonprofits like yours tackle tough problems with limited resources…
SWAP is a technology, which paired with your trust, builds mission capacity through an innovative, simple-to-use, web-based tool. Using it means elevating your access to talent and resources while sharing yours with other partners old and new. Your mission awaits:
Does your nonprofit need help with:
- grant writing?
- a better website?
- improved financial analysis?
- securing event or meeting space?
- finding transportation?
- more staff and volunteers?
If you answered YES to any, consider joining a cohort of nonprofits who are using this amazing tool and have exchanged more than 60 resources to-date. Please contact Rita Hamlet, SWAP Project Coordinator with questions at rita@swapshare.org
