Montgomery County Council Committee Meetings on April 10, 2026
MARYLAND, September 4 - For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 9, 2026
Committees will review the Fiscal Year 2027 Operating Budget and Fiscal Year 2027-2032 Capital Improvements Program, ICE Out Act, and an appropriation for the Community Connect Portal
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet on Friday, April 10 at 9:30 a.m. to review the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Operating Budget and FY27-32 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for the Ethics Commission, Merit System Protection Board, Charter Review Commission Non-Departmental Account (NDA), Board of Elections, Public Elections Fund NDA, and Public Information Office.
The members of the GO Committee include Chair Kate Stewart and Councilmembers Shebra Evans and Sidney Katz.
The Economic Development (ECON) Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. to review Expedited Bill 13-26, Building Permits - Immigration Detention Facility, also known as the ICE Out Act. In addition, the committee will review the FY27 Operating Budget and FY27-32 CIP for Alcohol and Beverages Services, the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation NDA, the WorkSource Montgomery NDA, the Conference and Visitor's Bureau NDA, and the Conference Center NDA.
The members of the ECON Committee include Chair and Council President Natali Fani-González, Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe and Councilmembers Evan Glass and Laurie-Anne Sayles.
The joint GO and Health and Human Services (HHS) and GO Committee will meet at 1 p.m. to review a supplemental appropriation to provide a total of $3 million in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solution (TEBS) for the continuing development of the Community Connect Portal.
The members of the HHS Committee include Chair Sayles and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Dawn Luedtke.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Review: The GO Committee will review the $312,274 FY27 Operating Budget for the Ethics Commission, which represents an 85.36 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase is due to a planned upgrade to the commission’s three separate electronic filing systems. The Ethics Commission promotes public trust in County government through its independent administration and enforcement of laws focused on ensuring the impartiality of County employees including elected officials.
Review: The GO Committee will review the $18,622 FY27 Operating Budget for the Merit System Protection Board, which represents a 4.99 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase is comprised of compensation adjustments and other cost increases that reflect a continuation of current staffing and service levels. The Merit System Protection Board oversees the merit system and protects employee and job applicant rights guaranteed under the merit system law.
Review: The GO Committee will review the $150 FY27 Operating Budget for the Charter Review Commission Non-Departmental Account (NDA), which represents an 87 percent decrease from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. This decrease occurs in each odd-numbered year following the Charter Review Commission’s publication of their biennial report. The County Charter requires that a Charter Review Commission be appointed by the County Council every four years, within six months of the Council assuming office, for the purpose of reviewing the Charter for potential amendments. Commission reports are submitted no later than May 1 of every even-numbered year.
Review: The GO Committee will review the $809,341 FY27 Operating Budget for the Board of Elections, which represents a more than 5.6 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase is comprised of compensation adjustments and other cost increases that reflect a continuation of current staffing and service levels. The Board of Elections is responsible for registering voters, conducting elections, assisting people seeking elective office with candidate filings and campaign fund reports, assisting citizens seeking to place questions on the ballot and preserving election data.
Review: The GO Committee will review the $443,812 FY27 Operating Budget for the Public Elections Fund NDA, which represents a 33 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase is due to an allocation needed to meet billing from the State Board of Elections and to support the state-employed liaison throughout the remainder of the election cycle. The Public Election Fund NDA provides public campaign financing for qualified candidates for County Executive or County Council.
Review: The GO Committee will review the more than $2.9 million FY27 Operating Budget for the Public Information Office, which represents a less than one percent decrease from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The recommendation includes a $128,724 increase for compensation adjustments and other cost increases that reflect a continuation of current staffing and service levels. The overall decrease is due to a retirement adjustment, annualization of FY26 personnel costs and a lapse adjustment. The Public Information Office provides communication to the public in partnership with County Government and County departments.
Expedited Bill 13-26, Building Permits - Immigration Detention Facility (ICE Out Act)
Review: The ECON Committee will review Expedited Bill 13-26, Building Permits - Immigration Detention Facility, also known as the ICE Out Act. Expedited Bill 13-26 would prohibit the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) from issuing a building permit or a use-and-occupancy permit for a privately-owned immigration detention facility.
The intent of this bill is to prevent the use of both new buildings and existing buildings as privately-owned immigration detention facilities. The legislation defines an immigration detention facility as any building, facility, or structure used, in whole or in part, to house or detain individuals for civil immigration violations, a definition modeled after the definition in state law.
The lead sponsors of Bill 13-26 are Councilmember Glass, Council President Fani-González, Councilmembers Stewart, Friedson, Katz, Evans, Will Jawando, Kristin Mink, Sayles and Vice President Balcombe.
Alcohol and Beverages Services
Review: The ECON Committee will review the more than $81 million FY27 Operating Budget for Alcohol and Beverages Services (ABS), which represents a more than five percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. ABS expenditures are fully supported by revenue collections, estimated at more than $97 million for FY26. ABS provides licensing, wholesale and retail sales of beverage alcohol products, enforcement and education and training programs.
Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation NDA
Review: The ECON Committee will review the more than $5.7 million FY27 Operating Budget for the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) NDA, which represents an eight percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase in the Executive’s recommendation includes $338,924 in programmatic and staffing enhancements. MCEDC is the County’s lead economic development organization and implements the County’s economic development strategic plan.
Review: The ECON Committee will review the nearly $3.7 million FY27 Operating Budget for the WorkSource Montgomery, Inc. NDA, which represents a 6.8 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The increase in the Executive’s recommendation includes $170,000 in programmatic and staffing enhancements. This NDA provides funds for the County’s designated workforce development corporation. WorkSource Montgomery (WSM) is the County’s fiscal agent responsible for local administration of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and coordination of the public workforce development system in the County.
Conference and Visitor's Bureau NDA
Review: The ECON Committee will review the more than $2.3 million FY27 Operating Budget for the Conference and Visitor’s Bureau NDA, which represents a 2.4 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. The recommended increase reflects the inflationary adjustment for all non-profit service providers. The Conference and Visitors Bureau, also known as Visit Montgomery, is the County’s Destination Marketing Organization, which promotes the County as a destination for meetings, conferences, student group travel, group tours, leisure travel, and amateur sports events.
Review: The ECON Committee will review the more than $590,325 FY27 Operating Budget for the Conference Center NDA, which represents a 1.8 percent increase from the approved FY26 Operating Budget. Montgomery County is the owner of the Montgomery County Conference Center in North Bethesda and has a management agreement with Marriott for operating the conference center. The NDA provides funds for one full-time manager position, non-routine repairs and improvements, and a designated reserve of $400,000 required by the management agreement.
Review: The joint GO and HHS Committee will review a $3 million supplemental appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions (TEBS) for the continued development of the Community Connect Portal. The portal allows residents to electronically apply for DHHS programs and receive automatic eligibility notifications, track their application status, and communicate with staff and providers. Additionally, the portal decreases application times by reducing paper applications and manual data entry.
The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website.
Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.
Release ID: 26-137
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