House Passes Liquor License Residency Changes — A bill passed in the House of Delegates Saturday would allow residents of D.C. and Virginia to hold liquor licenses in Montgomery County. The law requires the main holder of a liquor license in Montgomery County to have lived in the county for two years, what some say is a barrier to restaurant owners from around the D.C. area to open up shop in Bethesda. The bill passed in the House originally exempt any restaurant owner in the county from any residency requirement. But Germantown Del. Charles Barkley said he felt that was too broad. Barkley said he still does not support the D.C. and Virginia residency requirement and would rather it be limited to just Maryland residents. Del. Tom Hucker, the main sponsor of the bill, said no other jurisdiction is in direct competition with D.C. and Northern Virginia. [The Gazette]
Andrews On Budget: Don’t Go Over MOE, Reduce Pay Raises — Councilmember Phil Andrews on Monday responded to County Executive Isiah Leggett’s proposed FY 2015 operating budget by saying the county should not go over the maintenance of effort minimum for school funding and should reduce pay raises for county employees. Andrews, who is running against Leggett for county executive in June’s primary, said that roughly $40 million saved should go toward reducing the county’s energy tax and property tax rate while increasing pothole and infrastructure maintenance and expanding library hours. [Montgomery County Council]
Starr On Budget — On the other side of the school funding debate is MCPS Superintendent Joshua Starr. Though Leggett proposed funding MCPS above the state-mandated minimum for the first time in six years, his recommendation is about $15 million short of Starr and the Board of Education’s requested budget. Starr said the $15 million gap will affect funding for English language learners, pre-kindergartern classes, community partnerships and hiring counselors and student support staff. [MyMCMedia]
Coaches Get Together For “Montgomery Lacrosse” — Lacrosse coaches from the 25 Montgomery County high schools got together to make a website dedicated to public school lacrosse. This week, they identified standout players from each school for the 2014 season. [Montgomery Lacrosse]
Flickr photo by ehpien
