Bruce Beriano and Steve Wise, two county representatives to the Maryland General Assembly, briefed the Caroline County Commissioners on May 6 about outcomes from the 2025 legislative session that will affect county planning and budgets.

They told the board that a change to the Program Open Space law — passed by the legislature and expected to be signed by the governor — lets counties use Program Open Space capital funds for operating expenses, upgrades and improvements rather than only for land acquisition. "That should set the county up well," Steve Wise said, adding the change came after ongoing discussions with the Department of Natural Resources.

The pair described the session's outcome on a high‑profile solar siting bill as a setback for local control. "Rural Maryland does not have the numbers when it comes to issues like that," Bruce Beriano said, characterizing the vote as rural legislators versus the rest of the legislature. He and Wise said the enacted bill limits counties' ability to block larger solar projects, though it includes a statewide cap and language that preserves local taxing authority.

Beriano and Wise described the cap and the protection of county taxing power as partial victories. "We lobbied hard for a cap," Wise said. "We did get that even though the number is way larger than we would have liked." Both men said they had worked with Mako (the Maryland Association of Counties) and local delegates to seek better limits for priority preservation areas and to safeguard local tax authority.

Both representatives also raised policy and safety concerns they said were unresolved in the solar legislation, including battery storage safety and possible future uses of eminent domain. "When we run out of those people who are going to willingly negotiate a deal and we haven't reached the goals, then what happens?" Beriano asked, saying that he worried about future pressure to take land for energy projects. He also said a county‑based solar company had been advised to "lay low for a little while" because relations between the industry and local governments remained strained.

Beriano and Wise reported several other legislative items of local consequence. They said the county secured approximately $500,000 in funding for regional detention center needs and that funding for a new county social services building is fully funded and scheduled for a Board of Public Works (BPW) approval hearing in July; construction is expected to begin after Labor Day if BPW signs off. "They're gonna start construction right after Labor Day," Beriano said of the Department of General Services schedule.

Other technical changes flagged by the representatives included a new earlier deadline for counties to set their local tax rate (moving the deadline from July 1 to June 20) and a pending State Department of Assessments and Taxation change that will increase fees for commercial users of certain records (counties and local governments are exempt from those fees, they said). They also warned of a recently passed provision that will require counties to cover 90% of a particular state agency's operating costs; Beriano called that change "conceptually outrageous," saying it was an unusual shift of state costs to counties.

Why it matters: the Program Open Space change could give Caroline County more flexibility to maintain and upgrade parks and facilities without buying land; the solar law moves more siting authority away from counties and may affect land use, agriculture, and county planning for years, according to the representatives.

Speakers quoted: Bruce Beriano, Representative in Annapolis; Steve Wise, Representative in Annapolis.

Ending: Beriano and Wise urged continued local engagement with the county's delegates, Mako and state agencies. Commissioners and the representatives discussed the possibility of additional legislative initiatives in the fall and the potential for a special session in September if state revenue projections or federal budget actions prompt further changes.