The Senate of Maryland convened a pro forma session with three members present, and Madam Clerk read Senate Bill 319, the fiscal year 2026 budget bill, and a slate of bond initiatives, the clerk recorded.

The nut graf: Introducing the budget bill and placing bond requests on the calendar are preliminary steps in the chamber's review of next year’s spending and capital projects; the items the clerk read will be considered by standing committees before receiving further floor action.

Madam Clerk read the calendar items that included Senate Bill 319, identified in the record as the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget bill, and a set of bond initiatives. The clerk named a first bond initiative as “Arbutus Marketplace,” introduced by Senator Sidnor. The presiding officer then said the bond initiatives would be referred to the Capital Budget Committee for consideration.

The session record also shows the bond item line as linked to Budget and Taxation in one reading and to the Capital Budget Committee in another. That discrepancy appears in the transcript and is noted here; committee referral language in the record stated the items would go to the Capital Budget Committee.

The majority leader (unnamed on the record) said committees would begin meeting early and moved that the Senate stand adjourned until Thursday, Jan. 16, at 10 a.m. The motion carried by unanimous consent, with the presiding officer saying, “Without objection, so ordered.”

The brief appearance was framed as a pro forma session to enable committees to meet and proceed with work on the calendar. The transcript records three members present for this pro forma meeting and no recorded roll-call votes on the budget or bond items during this session.

Looking ahead, the record shows the chamber scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. on Jan. 16; the budget bill and referred bond initiatives will proceed through the committees named on the calendar or referral announcements before any further floor action.