The Prince George’s County Council wrapped up the 2024 legislative year by passing a long list of bills, including one that would raise the county’s minimum wage over time.
It was the council’s final session of the year and the last day that bills could pass this year without having to start the process over in January.
After the seven-hour session, the council ultimately agreed to begin indexing its minimum wage to inflation starting in 2026, while also approving a number of bills that focus on quality-of-life issues, electric vehicles and stop sign cameras.
A bill requiring retailers operating in the county to ensure that shopping carts stay on their properties passed, despite complaints from the local business community. Residents made clear they were unhappy with the number of carts left behind at apartment complexes in particular.
“It’s becoming an eyesore,” said one resident. “Shopping carts … in some of the communities, it becomes an eyesore.”
Another argued, “We deserve for all of our communities to look beautiful, and from my understanding, we call this ‘gorgeous Prince George’s.’ So can we at least really stand on that and really mean it?”
The bill will require stores to take steps, such as using disabling devices on shopping carts or requiring the use of coin deposits on carts, the way some grocery stores already do. The Maryland Retailers Alliance warned this would not satisfy people’s complaints, warning it would put a greater burden on stores who don’t approve of those carts leaving their properties to begin with.
“Shopping cart theft is a misdemeanor, yet this issue is never enforced,” said Sarah Price, with the Maryland Retailers Alliance. “This is, unfortunately, another example of businesses being held responsible for crimes that are committed against their property.”
She further argued several other bills, including one that will require businesses operating between midnight and 4 a.m. to obtain a late-night safety plan from the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Price added, “What seems like a trend during this legislative year … of holding businesses responsible for bad actors within their industry or for individuals who are committing crimes on or against the businesses property, without also addressing the crimes themselves.”
She was the only one who spoke for or against the bill, which aims to address not just crimes against store employees but also activity that might occur outside a business.
Vaping, vehicles, and much more
The proliferation of tobacco shops around the county also led the council to approve a bill restricting new convenience stores where one already exists within three miles of the location, though there are some exceptions for transit-oriented districts.
Electric vehicles and efforts to boost the number of charging stations in the county also took a step forward. The council passed a pair of bills that set new minimum standards for the number of electric vehicle parking spaces at newly constructed multifamily housing, offices and mixed-use developments.
“This will designate us as a leader in the region when it comes to electric vehicles,” Council member Wala Blegay said.
While electric vehicles tend to be very quiet, louder vehicles also got the attention of the council, which passed a bill authorizing the county to enforce laws prohibiting vehicles from being modified to be even noisier than originally designed. The bill would also come up with a program to use noise abatement systems — cameras that can track how loud a vehicle is as it drives by,
Additionally, the Council passed a bill that would allow for the use of stop sign cameras in school zones to issue citations to drivers who don’t come to complete stops.
The council’s decision to index its minimum wage was successful, despite a lengthy debate over the impact it could have on the county’s disabled community. Ultimately, the council passed the bill, while promising to address concerns raised by groups — such as The Arc Prince George’s County, which offers support for those with developmental disabilities — when the council returns to session in January.
Not everything that came up for discussion passed, though. Legislation put forth by the county executive’s office to streamline the approval process for data centers was put on hold by the council after numerous county residents spoke out against the bill.
The discussion on that bill alone took almost an entire hour.
“Some of the assumptions that have been made, or even in the testimony, some of that is simply not true,” Council Vice Chair Sidney Harrison said. “We have to figure out how we’re going to raise revenue.”
Council Chair Jolene Ivey and Councilwoman Blegay were among those willing to wait, even as they expressed support for data centers to come to the county.
“It’s OK to take careful steps,” Blegay said. “We can get the revenue but this is not going to be the rainfall of money.”
Other bills dealing with special elections also failed to pass on an emergency basis. However, because the county’s current election time frames are not in line with state law — which requires 100 days between a vacancy and a special election — it’s now one of several issues the Council will have to deal with next year.
The county is currently dealing with a vacant Council seat and a soon-to-be-vacant county executive’s office.
Because the bills were introduced on an emergency basis, the council needed eight votes for them to pass and take effect immediately, before the next batch of special elections. But two members of the council, Chair Ivey and member Calvin Hawkins, recused themselves from voting since they’re running for county executive.
District 1’s Tom Dernoga refused to support the measure, arguing that would do away with the special primary elections and just create one, single, special general election in an effort to save money.
The council will return to work Dec. 3, with a goal of selecting a new chair. But with 10 members, that could prove difficult.
Right now, the council is more or less divided evenly into two factions — one that’s far more progressive and activist, and another that’s more business-oriented. Finding anyone who could get six votes could prove difficult.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
