AG Frosh: Sackler Family to Owe Maryland At Least $39.6 Million
Attorney General Brian E. Frosh
County Budgets / County News / Government Liability and Courts / Health and Human Services / Pensions & Public Funds / Public Safety and Corrections / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
AG Frosh: Sackler Family to Owe Maryland At Least $39.6 Million

According to Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh, the Sackler family will pay Maryland at least $39.6 million as a part of a $6 billion multi-state settlement agreement for its role in the opioid epidemic. The Sackler family is most known for its ownership of Purdue Pharma, which manufactured the once-popular drug OxyContin. Contingent upon court approval, the newly announced settlement represents a substantial increase of between $1.175 to $1.675 billion from last August's initial agreement…

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March 3, 2022
Baltimore County Approves Largest Retiree COLA in a Decade
County Budgets / County News / News You Can Use / Pensions & Public Funds
Baltimore County Approves Largest Retiree COLA in a Decade

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski today announced that the Employees’ Retirement Board voted to approve a three percent cost of living adjustment for eligible retirees, effective July 1, 2022. “Our retirees have dedicated their lives to serving the residents of Baltimore County, and they deserve to be recognized for their contributions to our communities,” Olszewski said. “This increase in compensation is well deserved and long overdue.” Baltimore County government retirees receive the cost of living…

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February 16, 2022
Comptroller Franchot Becomes Chair of State Pension Board of Trustees
County News / Employee Benefits and Relations / Pensions & Public Funds
Comptroller Franchot Becomes Chair of State Pension Board of Trustees

Comptroller Peter Franchot recently assumed the chairmanship of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System Board of Trustees, which establishes rules and regulations to administer several pension systems and manage pension funds for about 412,000 members. These include active and retired state employees, teachers, state police, judges, and other law enforcement personnel. The 15-member Board of Trustees also directs the management of a $70 billion investment portfolio and adopts the actuarial assumptions necessary to fund…

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January 4, 2022
B’More Mayor Signs Legislation Divesting Fossil Fuels from City Pension Funds
Environment / Pensions & Public Funds
B’More Mayor Signs Legislation Divesting Fossil Fuels from City Pension Funds

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott recently signed a bill requiring city pension funds to divest from fossil fuels within five years.  In a move to help fight climate change, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott recently signed legislation mandating that city pension funds divest from fossil fuel companies within the next five years. According to Maryland Matters: With the pension bill now signed into law, Baltimore’s three employee retirement systems have five years to divest from…

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October 5, 2021
Supply Chain Issues & Rising Costs Impact Public Works 
Pensions & Public Funds / Planning and Zoning / Public Works / Transportation and Public Works
Supply Chain Issues & Rising Costs Impact Public Works 

Nationally, supply chain squeezes and rising inflation create delays and higher expenses on public works projects.   Across the country, public works departments are experiencing supply chain delays and significant rising costs. Basic infrastructure items, like the hooks to hang traffic lights, have in some cases more than tripled in cost, while the cost of oil in asphalt mix has risen by 42 percent.   This jump in prices has caused concerns over the $1 trillion…

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September 20, 2021
Employee Benefits and Relations / Finance and Procurement / Pensions & Public Funds
MACo OPEB Trust Offers Plug-and-Play Solution for Healthcare Liabilities

The MACo OPEB Investment Trust - designed to help counties put current assets to work toward long-term health care liabilities - is performing well, delivering healthy returns, and serving member needs. Trustees convened this week for a quarterly remote meeting to review its performance and management. The Board of Trustees of the MACo OPEB Investment Trust convened a quarterly meeting via WebEx on September 10. In addition to reviewing investment strategy and performance, and discussing…

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September 10, 2021
State Pension System Reports Record-Setting Earnings
County News / Employee Benefits and Relations / Pensions & Public Funds
State Pension System Reports Record-Setting Earnings

Fund grows more than $13 billion to nearly $68 billion. The Board of Trustees of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS) announced that its portfolio returned a record-setting 26.7%, net of fees, on investments for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021. The fiscal year earnings far exceeded the System’s 7.40% assumed actuarial return rate and surpassed its policy benchmark of 24.41 by 230 basis points. In addition, the fund’s performance raised…

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August 12, 2021
MD General Assembly Posts Pre-Filed Bill List
Bill Hearing / Board of Public Works / Business Affairs / County Budgets / County News / Economic Development / Education / Elections / Emergency Management / Employee Benefits and Relations / Energy / Environment / Finance and Procurement / General Assembly News / Government Liability and Courts / Health and Human Services / Housing and Community Development / Human Resources / Information Technology / Intergovernmental Relations / News You Can Use / Now Hear This / Parks and Recreation / Pensions & Public Funds / Planning and Zoning / Public Information and Ethics / Public Safety and Corrections / Public Works / School Construction and Capital Budgets / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues / Transportation and Public Works
MD General Assembly Posts Pre-Filed Bill List

The Maryland General Assembly Senate and House pre-filed bill lists are now available on the General Assembly website. Although the list of pre-file bills are available, there is no bill text at this time. Currently, readers are able to view the bill title, sponsor, and committee assignment. As of today, there are 780 total House and Senate pre-filed bills and resolutions listed on the website. This will be updated to reflect updates on the General…

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December 21, 2020
Preview the 2021 Session “Big Picture”
Business Affairs / Coronavirus / County Budgets / County Government and Structure / County News / Economic Development / Education / Elections / Emergency Management / Employee Benefits and Relations / Energy / Environment / Feature / Finance and Procurement / General Assembly News / Government Liability and Courts / Human Resources / Information Technology / NACo and Federal Issues / News You Can Use / Parks and Recreation / Pensions & Public Funds / Planning and Zoning / Public Information and Ethics / Public Safety and Corrections / Public Works / School Construction and Capital Budgets / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues / Transportation and Public Works
Preview the 2021 Session “Big Picture”

A compilation of Issue Papers previews major fiscal and policy issues facing the General Assembly in the year ahead. This year’s report also includes a special section devoted to issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This resource is a handy guide to the top issues that your legislators will be tackling in 2021 – a great preparation document for county officials in advance of meetings with their local Delegations. Developed by the Department of Legislative…

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December 1, 2020
Maryland’s Pension System Earns 3.6%, Falls Short of Annual Goal
Source: Maryland State Retirement and Pension System
County News / Employee Benefits and Relations / Pensions & Public Funds
Maryland’s Pension System Earns 3.6%, Falls Short of Annual Goal

Fund grows $563 million to nearly $55 billion, falls short of assumed actuarial rate. The Board of Trustees of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS) last week announced that its portfolio returned 3.57%, net of fees, on investments for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020. The fiscal year returns reflect the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global markets. Although the fiscal year earnings fell short of the System’s 7.40%…

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August 19, 2020
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