PG news
- Prince George’s County Board of Election page
- The Laurel Independent’s Election Guide
PG County Special Primary Election July 31 - Aug 6
Prince George’s County is holding a Special Primary Election from Wed, Jul 31 to Tue, Aug 6 to select candidates to replace a vacancy on the PG County Council — It’s important to know this is a Primary within the political parties (similar to the one that happened in May) and that the Councilmember will be elected as part of the General Election coming up Nov 5.
The Primary is being conduced mostly via mail-in ballot that every registered voter should have received at this point, and mailed-in responses must be postmarked no later than Aug 6 to count. There are also a list of drop-off box locations available as well as limited in-person voting options.
More information, including candidate statements, can be found at:
Prince George's County passes rent stabilization
On July 16, the Prince George County Council passed 10-0 a rent stabilization bill that had been in the works for around two years. This issue hit a peculiar peak around the economic disruptions of COVID, and various nuances were worked through to construct something PG Council members felt would work for our County (of which Laurel is fully within geographically).
The are a number of moving parts for how the legislation works, exceptions, etc., but here’s an excerpt of its key provision:
Sec. 13-144. Annual rent increase allowance.
(a) Annual rent increase allowance. The Director annually shall calculate a rent increase allowance for regulated rental units applicable to rental lease renewals equal to the lesser of:
(1) CPI-U plus 3 percent; or
(2) 6 percent.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections (1) and (2) of this Subsection, the rent increase allowance for a regulated unit in an age restricted senior housing facility with a twelve (12) or twenty-four (24) month lease may not exceed the lesser of the CPI-U or 4.5 percent.
(b) Duration. A rent increase allowance under Subsection (a) remains in effect for a 12-month period, beginning July 1st of each year and ending on June 30th of the following year.
(c) By May 1st of each year, DPIE shall provide notice to the public of the annual rent increase allowance under Subsection (a), above, that will become effective on July 1st of that year.
More information, including full text of the now-enacted bill, can be found on the bill’s page on the Prince Georges County legislative website and it becomes effective 45 days from its passage on July 16.
Update: In related news, Montgomery County Council passed a rent stabilization bill on July 23.