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25 key pieces of legislation Maryland lawmakers passed this week 03/20/2020 08:20am • This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today. State legislators churned through hundreds of bills in the last several days of their abbreviated session, passing an astonishing 660 piec Maryland General Assembly: Frenzied lawmaking and tender moments in tense session's final hours 03/19/2020 06:09am • This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today. Maryland House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, D-Baltimore County, presides over the last day of the 2020 General Assembly session. (Courtesy Ma Va. budget includes teacher raises, college costs, transportation changes 03/10/2020 08:00am • Raises for teachers, a mix of pay increases for other Virginia government workers and some significant transportation studies in Northern Virginia are among many pieces of a $135 billion state budget deal revealed Monday afternoon. These are amendments to Gov. Ralph Northam’s introduced budget, $2.9B sales tax expansion killed as Md. House revenue package moves forward 03/05/2020 05:52am • This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today. A bill that would have dramatically expanded Maryland’s sales tax to raise more than $2.9 billion for education reform efforts has been vo 2 more teen suspects arrested in Charles County student's shooting death 02/21/2020 03:50pm • Authorities in Charles County, Maryland, have arrested two more teens who are suspected in the fatal shooting of a high school student earlier this week during what investigators said was a drug robbery. Mikayle Qawwee, 19, and Keshawn Belasco, 16, both of Waldorf, were charged Friday in the shoo Md. comptroller wants ID scanners where vaping products are sold 02/19/2020 11:05pm • Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said his office will take "swift action" to implement the recommendations that were included in a state task force report on vaping. Speaking at the Board of Public Works meeting in Annapolis on Wednesday, Franchot said that while legislators consider bills tha Maryland task force outlines a plan to curb vaping 02/17/2020 06:39pm • A week after Maryland’s comptroller announced expanding a ban on flavored electronic cigarettes to include many flavors of disposable devices, a state task force has more recommendations to keep vaping devices away from younger people. After evaluating the e-cigarette industry and regulations i Maryland bill would ban sale of flavored vaping products 02/12/2020 05:59pm • A Maryland bill under consideration in Annapolis would ban the sale of electronic smoking devices that contain flavors other than tobacco. Senate Bill 410 will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee. Maryland state Sens. Benjamin Kramer, James Rosapepe and Christopher West sponsored the bill Big changes advance in Virginia ahead of crossover deadline 02/12/2020 05:00am • Major pent-up Democratic priorities that could mean significant changes across Virginia are moving forward after Tuesday night’s crossover deadline that marks the procedural midpoint of the annual General Assembly session. Minimum wage hikes, a limited “assault weapons” ban, allowing locali Maryland bans many flavored disposable e-cigarettes 02/10/2020 06:49pm • Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot said he understands the products are used by some people to kick the habit of smoking, so that is why this ban will not target tobacco- or menthol-flavored disposable e-cigarettes. (WTOP/Mike Murillo) Maryland has announced its plan to take a national ban on t How Montgomery County Public Schools is tackling student vaping, hate on campus 02/06/2020 05:15pm • Montgomery County Public School's superintendent discussed a number of issues the school system currently faces, such as student vaping, hate incidents and pedestrian safety. Dr. Jack Smith said the school system has developed a series of steps to deal with incidents of hate, and called vaping a 6 cited for selling vaping products to underage customers in Loudoun County sting 02/04/2020 12:05am • Deputies in Loudoun County, Virginia, issued citations to several store clerks for selling vaping products to underage customers. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office conducted a vaping operation on Friday, issuing tickets to six people who sold Juul pods to customers under the age of 21, a news r Virginia lawmakers vote to roll back 2012 abortion restrictions 01/28/2020 06:26pm • Virginia is set to roll back abortion restrictions — such as a 24-hour waiting period and a required transabdominal ultrasound — that GOP lawmakers implemented nearly a decade ago. The newly Democratic-led House of Delegates voted 52-45 Tuesday to repeal the 2012 mandatory waiting period; ult Criminal justice reforms, looser marijuana laws proposed in Va. 01/05/2020 12:49pm • Editor's note: As Virginia's new General Assembly prepares to convene in the new year, WTOP News is spotlighting some of the issues legislators will consider. This installment covers potential criminal justice reforms. Significant criminal justice reforms are possible as Democrats take control of 'They're so addicted': DC Council hears concerns on youth vaping 01/02/2020 12:02pm • The risks of teens vaping and using electronic cigarettes is the focus of a public hearing before the D.C. Council. (File, AP Photo/Steven Senne) As the D.C. Council considers three bills targeting electronic cigarettes and nicotine addiction, advocates and citizens have voiced concern that toba