When Maryland state lawmakers return to Annapolis this week to begin the annual legislative session, raising the minimum wage, the state online health insurance exchange, and stormwater fees are expected to be leading items on the agenda.

The session comes this year in the midst of an election season where campaigning overlaps with lawmaking. The filing deadline is February and many sitting lawmakers are running for higher office. In an article in The Baltimore Sun, public policy professor and chair Donald Norris said legislative sessions during election years tend to be politics-heavy without significant legislative achievements.