SENATORS UNITE ON FBI HQ: A month after the Trump administration abruptly canceled a proposed new headquarters for the FBI, federal officials told a Senate panel Wednesday that they remain committed to the project and could restart the development process by the end of the year, John Fritze of the Sun reports. In a rare display of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works expressed frustration at officials from the General Services Administration at having learned that the $1.6 billion project had been canceled from news reports, and they lamented that millions of dollars had been wasted on the abandoned effort.

OPIOID FRAUD & ABUSE PROSECUTOR: The AP is reporting that 12 cities ravaged by addiction, including Baltimore, will receive a federal prosecutor who will focus exclusively on investigating health care fraud and opioid scams that are fueling the nation’s drug abuse epidemic, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday.

ROUGHLY SPEAKING: JIM SHEA: Jim Shea, former chairman of the largest law firm in Maryland, says Gov. Larry Hogan is a “clever politician” who has talked a good game about helping Baltimore while delivering little help for the city. Shea, a Democratic candidate for governor in the 2018 primary, joins the Sun’s Dan Rodricks in the first in a series of interviews with candidates for governor.

CD-6 LINEUP: David Trone, the multimillionaire businessman who blasted airwaves with political advertising in his campaign for Congress last year, announced Wednesday he will seek the Democratic nomination for the House seat to be left open by Rep. John Delaney, John Fritze writes for the Sun.

READ MORE HERE: http://marylandreporter.com/2017/08/03/state-roundup-aug-3-2017/