County Officials Sign Onto Cease-Fire Calls
Over 20 Prince George’s County elected officials, both current and former, have signed onto a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Their intent is for the County Council to vote on the resolution, adding more pressure for President Joe Biden (D) and Congress to change their stance.
Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-District 39), who introduced the state resolution calling for a cease-fire, attended a March 28 press conference at Hemingway Memorial AME to announce the organizing effort.
“It is our moral obligation to take a stand against genocide,” said Raaheela Ahmed, former Prince George’s County Board of Education Member, and the primary author and organizer of the letter. “This cruelty must stop.”
The list of signatories includes County Council members Wala Blegay (D- District 6) and Krystal Oriadha (D- District 7), Sen. Joanne Benson (D- District 24), and Brentwood Mayor Rocio Treminio-Lopez, the state’s first Latina Mayor.
“Drawing from my personal experience of my family suffering from the Liberian Civil War in the 1990s, I am steadfast in my support for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza,” said Blegay. “I urge my esteemed colleagues in Prince George’s County to join me in delivering a resolute message to our federal delegation that a permanent cease-fire is not just a strategic imperative, but a humanitarian one, essential to end the death of innocent children and families, the restoration of peace, and the preservation of countless lives.”
Gov. Wes Moore (D) publicly called for a cease-fire during a segment on the Kojo Nnamdi Show in late March, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) has also spoken in support of a cease-fire on multiple occasions.
The Annapolis bill in support of a cease-fire is held up in the Rules Committee and is unlikely to receive a vote, with some Annapolis leadership stating that the issue doesn’t fall under their authority. Acevero has called that hypocritical, considering that the General Assembly passed resolutions to denounce Russia’s acts of aggression towards Ukraine.
Data Privacy Bill Worries Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Owners
The Online Data Privacy Act of 2025 (SB 0541), a proposed bill that would affect data collection and online privacy, has already passed the Senate and is being considered in the House of Delegates. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and several small businesses testified against this legislation with their concerns.
“We operate completely online. Digital ads are one of the primary ways we find new customers, grow our business, and compete with national brands, said T|W Tote owners Sherika Wynter and Shallon Thomas. “We believe in protecting people’s privacy, but worry the Maryland Online Privacy Act will over-regulate online data collection and use, making it more difficult and expensive for our business to advertise. We urge the Maryland legislature to reconsider this bill to minimize the impact on small businesses like ours.”
Some of the concerns noted by the chamber during the testimony include: aligning the definitions and requirements with neighboring states, ensuring that the Office of the Attorney General has sole enforcement responsibility, removing the requirement for permission to use personalized marketing techniques, and extending the date for compliance.
The bill’s fiscal note explains that this would have a meaningful impact on small businesses, particularly those based around data usage.
“The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and its members place a high priority on consumer privacy and believe that privacy laws should provide strong safeguards for consumers but also balance the need for industry to innovate,” the chamber declared in its testimony. “The Chamber recognizes the work and collaboration that have gone into writing SB 0541 compared to iterations of past years.”
County Council Resumes Old Zoning Practices
The Prince George’s County Council has extended the prior zoning rules, in part to help spur the local economy and grow the tax base. This will include a two-year look back to review applications made since the prior zoning changes were implemented.
“When I first came here in 2018, I felt overwhelmed to fix the decades-old zoning practice,” said Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D- District 5). “Then I heard from developers who received incompatible directives and property owners who’d be affected, and was reassured all along that we’d fix the ordinance as we went along.”
Council member Wala Blegay (D- District 6) implored her colleagues to vote against the revival of the old zoning ordinances and cited the input given by her constituents on the rewriting efforts.
Council member Tom Dernoga (D- District 1), who previously served as chair, and Council member Krystal Oriadha (D- District 7) both opposed the zoning change as well.
