Maryland's legislative session is underway with Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk leading the House of Delegates for the first time in her new role.
WATCH: Maryland speaker discusses immigration, utility costs in new role
I sat down with the speaker this morning to discuss her aspirations for this session. The lawmaker has promised to listen to her Republican colleagues more than her predecessors.
Peña-Melnyk has talked about the need to bring down utility prices, using her daughter's high BGE bill to show she understands the burden on families.
We also discussed immigration, a top issue for both the House and Senate this session. Peña-Melnyk was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the U.S. as a child.
"When we talk about protecting immigrants, we're talking about our rights, due process rights. No one is talking about supporting people that have committed a crime. None of us will support people that have committed a crime. However, the abuses they were seeing all over the nation and here in Maryland in some areas are just not right," Peña-Melnyk said.
The House voted to ban agreements that allow local jails to work with ICE to turn over undocumented immigrants twice before. The Senate was not on board last year but is now.
Republicans and sheriffs with those agreements in place are pushing back on the idea, saying communities will be less safe if those agreements go away.
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
