Montgomery Community Media

In July, Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando introduced a bill to extend limits on rent increases after the COVID-19 State of Emergency ends. Gov. Larry Hogan’s State of Emergency expired in August and the county’s current rent stabilization will end in November, unless Jawando’s bill is passed and extends it to August of next year. […]

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich proposed a bill that could make the county the first in the nation to set a Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) policy that enforces a minimum energy use threshold for existing buildings. Bill 16-21 aims to expand the number of buildings covered by the county’s benchmarking law, according to a […]

Montgomery County’s minimum wage has finally reached $15 an hour for large employers with at least 51 employees. July 1 marked another annual incremental increase in minimum wage, which began after the council’s minimum wage bill was passed in 2017. County Executive Marc Elrich was lead sponsor of a bill, as a councilmember. Now, large […]

Montgomery County councilmembers updated wording on a bill designed to rid the county of indoor mercury service regulators, which were ruled the cause of a deadly fire at the Flower Branch Apartments in Silver Spring in April 2016. Monday morning, members of the Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee changed the bill’s wording to include […]

About eight months after a two-year-old boy fell from an apartment window and died in Takoma Park, a bill mandating stronger window guard requirements has been signed into law. Ezechiel Nguemezi died in October 2020 after falling from a third-floor apartment building window. Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker spearheaded Bill 51-20, which requires landlords […]

In November 2019, the Montgomery County Council passed a racial equity and social justice bill in hopes of helping combat institutional inequity.  The bill established the 15-member Racial Equity and Social Justice Advisory Committee. The committee was established to advise County Executive Marc Elrich, the council and county agencies about equity issues and make recommendations […]

On Thursday the House of Representatives will vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a bill that aims to reform policing and hold officers accountable.  If passed, the bill will ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit military equipment use, make lynching a federal crime and create a national misconduct database. The […]

Montgomery County Council Vice President Tom Hucker introduced a bill today that would ban the release of helium-filled latex and mylar balloons. These balloons can travel hundreds of miles before deflating. Once they’ve fallen to earth the balloons can become life threatening to sea turtles, birds and land animals that may mistake them for prey […]

Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando and Council President Nancy Navarro introduced legislation to prohibit discrimination against certain types of natural hairstyles, including braids, locks, afros, curls and twists. This comes after some African American residents and residents with African ancestry expressed that they are more likely to be affected by workplace discrimination and other forms […]

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has signed emergency legislation creating a compact between Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. to create a new safety oversight commission for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The governor was joined by Senate President Mike Miller, House Speaker Mike Busch, and several Montgomery County legislators including, Senator Brian Feldman, Senator […]