October 9, 2025
Ready Report: Government Shutdown Reaction, Historic Vehicle Tags Change & More…
Good afternoon –
I hope you and your family are enjoying these early weeks of fall. We are less than a week out from my 2026 Campaign Kickoff – our Annual Fall Family fundraiser at Island Green in Westminster. If you haven’t already please click here to get your tickets or even sponsor the event. Whether you can make it or just want to make contribution below, this is a key fundraiser to allow our campaign to be able to run a strong race and also support conservative reform efforts throughout our state.
But also – while this is a fundraiser – I really would love for anyone who supports our combined efforts to turn Maryland around to be able to come so please reply to this email if you want to come but ticket price is an issue. Hope to see you on October 15th!
Reaction to Government Shutdown & What Maryland Needs Economically
Governor Moore predictably is trying to blame Donald Trump, Republicans, or some combination of the two. However, Maryland’s two U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks could have voted to keep the government open, the federal government which our state is so dependent on. They chose to vote with their party over the needs of the people in our state. Call Senator Alsobrooks ( 202-224-4524 ) and Senator Van Hollen ( 202-224-4654 ) ask them firmly but politely to change their minds and support a clean CR.
There are no “poison pills” or “gotcha” provisions in the CR – it simply continues funding the federal government at last fiscal year’s levels (the last Biden budget(!) until 11/21 to give the two parties more time to work out final appropriations bills for the new fiscal year and negotiate other big issues. To watch a short facebook video with some more of my thoughts, click here.
Also – I was interviewed by Spotlight on Maryland for the Baltimore Sun and Fox 45 about how dependent Maryland is on the federal government for our overall economy and ideas on what we needed to do to change that. The interview mostly focuses on my criticisms but I and our Senate Republican Caucus have some very specific (and realistic!) proposals for fixing it that I will be laying out more in depth soon in an editorial. You can read the Spotlight on Maryland piece and watch news story by clicking here.
Changes to State Historic Vehicle Tags are Problematic
During the end of the 2025 legislative session, a change passed, which took effect July 1, requiring vehicles to be model year 1999 or older to qualify for the $55.50 historic tag. Previously, cars 20 years or older were eligible for discounted registration. I have several objections to this change including lack of public input, and loss of revenue to neighboring states. Moving forward, I am working on legislative proposal to remove the 1999 cutoff and make it more flexible, reducing the financial impact for Marylanders.
To read more about this story, including some quotes from me, click here.
It is an honor to represent you in the Maryland Senate. As always, feel free to reach out to my office anytime with questions or concerns. Please be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X for the most up-to-date information.
Sincerely,
Sen. Justin Ready
www.JustinReady.com