State legislators from Prince George’s County are looking for widespread help from Maryland this year.

They’re seeking relief for a county that has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic — both in terms of health care and a faltering economy that has hurt residents’ ability to make rent or mortgage payments. Beyond that, police violence toward residents and discrimination within the department and have also become a focal point for the county following racial justice protests over the summer.

The coronavirus alone has been difficult for Prince George’s County to handle. The county has had more than 61,000 confirmed cases and 1,100 deaths, and has maintained a positive case rate above 5% since the end of October, according to county health data.

Democratic Delegate Wanika Fisher, the House’s assistant majority leader, told WAMU/DCist that she feels this year’s legislative session carries more weight than past sessions.

“We’re an African-American county and so whether it’s police reform or the pandemic, it’s Black people that are at the heart of who need protection and help,” Fisher says. “And I think as a Black representative like that feels weighty.”

WAMU/DCist recently spoke with Fisher and other delegates about their county-specific bills that cover a wide array of issues that were magnified during the pandemic.

Mounting evictions

One of the bills lawmakers are pushing would provide a state-funded attorney to tenants and homeowners in eviction proceedings who make less than 50% of the state’s median income. (That amounts to $42,000 a year.) Under current law, tenants and homeowners have to seek their own lawyer while fighting an eviction in court.

In October and November, more than 1,100 evictions were carried out despite Gov. Larry Hogan’s emergency moratorium on evictions. As of September, the state has had roughly 274,000 households unable to pay rent and facing possible eviction, according to the Public Justice Center.

The problems with evictions don’t end there. Some homeowners in the county are still digging out of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 and 2009. There are demands from the NAACP’s Strategic Housing Solutions to require that mortgage lenders prove they have the right to foreclose.

Combating food deserts

Another county-specific bill Fisher is sponsoring would seek to attract more grocery stores to food deserts, or areas where access to healthy foods is scarce. It would do so by allowing them to also sell beer and wine.

At least 105 areas in the county have an alcohol density above the national average of 3.34 liquor stores per 10,000 adult residents, according to a report from the county’s workgroup on alcohol density zones.

Fisher is working with Delegate Jazz Lewis (D) to find a way to get grocery stories into areas like Landover, Capitol Heights and Upper Marlboro.

“Since last year, with the onset of the pandemic and all of the inequities that we’ve seen, it just makes sense,” Lewis said. “I think that the quality of your life, whether it’s education, whether it’s access to health care or even just access to a grocery store, it should be the same throughout Prince George’s County, regardless of your zip code.”

One of the solutions Lewis is considering would provide a tax credit to liquor stores that move from an area filled with outlets for alcohol to one where they are scarce.

Social justice reform

Bills on police reform and social justice that are at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement have been discussed in the legislature for years. But, Fisher says, they’ve “never had the political traction” — until now.

Early last year, District resident William Green was shot and killed by a Prince George’s County police officer while handcuffed in the back of the officer’s vehicle. Michael Owen, the officer in the case, was charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, first-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. The family settled out of court with the county for $20 million.

After Green’s death, the department began outfitting all of its officers with body-worn cameras. In December, the county’s police reform workgroup released its final recommendations to the county executive and the county council on how to reimagine policing.

Some of the recommendations can be addressed at the county level, while others will be included in statewide legislation. That includes an attempt to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers Bills of Rights, which governs internal police investigations and discipline in Maryland. Critics say it gives too much protection to police who violate rules or even the law.

House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) has said she would repeal the officers’ Bill of Rights. But Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) has been more reserved, saying only that some things in it “need to change.”

Fisher is also proposing statewide legislation that would allow attorneys general to prosecute police officers for serious bodily injury or death caused to an individual.

Representation, funding in schools

Education and schools have also been top of mind for lawmakers as students have been doing distance learning in the county since March.

One education bill would overturn Hogan’s veto of a $4 billion, 10-year education reform package and new school funding formula.

“The governor made a mistake,” Delegate Alonzo Washington (D) told DCist/WAMU. “We didn’t foresee a pandemic happening, but it has exacerbated the inequalities that exist in our school system… our students and teachers deserve way better than what they’re getting right now.”

Another bill is also being drafted to include things like remote learning, broadband access, and making sure all K-12 students have access to tutoring. The initial reform bill only covered grades K-3. This is an effort to narrow the ever-growing achievement gap. The bill will also come with a cost which remains unclear because it has yet to be calculated.

A third countywide bill would also give residents more representation on their school board. Del. Julian Ivey is sponsoring a bill that would allow county residents to vote for their board of education members. Each county district would select their representation to the school board.

“The community has been very vocal and very clear that they want their district representation,” Ivey said.

Currently, board of education members are appointed to their jobs by the county executive.