The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GOFP) Committee of the Prince George's County Council met on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 1:55 PM in Committee Room 2027. Chair Edward Burroughs presided with five members present (Burroughs, Blegay, Ivey, Oriadha, Adams). The committee considered 20 pieces of legislation, including amendments to the Cannabis Reinvestment and Restoration Board, a package of property tax relief bills for elderly and disabled residents, resolutions on council transparency and public participation, contract approvals, and a proposal to establish an independent Office of the Inspector General.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the September 24th, 2026 GFP meeting. We have a very full agenda today with 20 pieces of legislation. The agenda is uh we will um yep. Please call the roll. Mr. Burroughs, present council member Oriata, Councilmember Dernoga. Oh, Councilmember Gay. My apologies. Present Councilmember Ivy. Here and Councilmember Adams is on the zoom. Uh council member Adams. Present. Five present. Thank you. We'll start with CB 112 and that concerning fair election fund, post-election retention, and distributions, uncontested elections. We'll have an overview from A Tut. Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 95 of your virtual binders. CB 112026 is in that concerning the fair election fair election fund post-election fund retention and distributions in uncontested elections. This uh legislation is for permit will permit a candidate to retain a limited amount of unspent funds after a general election to pay for post-election expenses. Uh this also will require the return of retained funds if the candidate does not continue in the public campaign financing system for the next election cycle. And would authorize a partial distribution of public contributions to a certified candidate who is unopposed in a primary election. Thank you, Mr. Benegis. Thank you, Mr. Tudd, and good afternoon, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the committee. Uh CB 112026 aims to fill the gaps and conditions of the fair election fund that were previously enacted by CB 99 2018 and amended through CB 76 2023. The proposed bill clarifies the disposition of unspent funds as it relates to participating candidates under the fair election fund in uncontested elections. The proposed bill would amend subtitle 10 finance and taxation division 26 fair election fund to add additional language to multiple subsections for bear better clarity and transparency. The enactment of CB 112026 may have a direct adverse fiscal impact on the county as it could increase uh expenditures from the fair election fund by authorizing partial distributions to otherwise unopposed primary candidates that would not have been permitted under the existing uh contested election rule. The bill could temper temporarily reduce the amount of cash available to the fund following a general election because uh because eligible candidates may retain up to five thousand dollars each amount sub sec subsequently returned would restore the fund balance. Thank you. Thank you very much. CB112. Uh, we'll turn to the office of law. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon, all committee members. Just want to point out on page two line four. There's a technical error there. There's a reference to subsection K, and this section does not have a subsection K. So that needs to be all met it or corrected. We'll take that as you know that's we'll take care of that. Uh County Exec. Thank you. Um, the county, the administration is not in opposition of the bill. Councilmember Denoga.