Legislative Update –
March 20, 2020
Our world has all changed in the
last two weeks and it has changed in Annapolis.
For the first time since the
Civil War, the Legislature adjourned early.
The General Assembly is expected
to come back in the last week of May to possibly override vetoes by Governor
Hogan and pass some extra legislation.
Over the last few days over 650
bills were passed by the General Assembly.
Here is a
list of the bills I am following and are now waiting for the Governor’s
signature.
If
you want to know any more about any of the bills go to the Maryland
Bills Passed by the General Assembly
Budget
Giving the Legislature the Power to
Add to the Budget – Voters will vote on a constitutional
amendment this November. Right now only
the Governor can add to the proposed budget. The measure,
which has been introduced for more than
25 years, would allow the General Assembly to increase or decrease line items
in the state’s budget, but not exceed the overall spending level set by
Maryland’s governor. It would also diminish the power the governor has over the
budget process, the strongest gubernatorial budget control in the nation.
Coronavirus
·
Emergency Funds for Coronavirus – SB 1079: Allows the Governor to transfer by budget amendment up
to $50 million from the Revenue Stabilization Account to fund costs associated
with COVID-19. Passed House of Delegates
·
Emergency Bill –
This bill gives the governor authority to declare a ‘catastrophic health
emergency’. It would also extended
unemployment benefits
Consumer Rights
·
Debt Collection – HB 365
- This bill increases the amount of money a person can
keep in his/her pay check protected from a judgment. Too many people can’t
buy food and clothes for their family because of the money that is taken out of
their check because of debt obligations.
·
Motor
Vehicle and Homeowner's Insurance - Use of Claim History in Rating Policies –SB
470 Prohibits an insurer, with respect to private
passenger motor vehicle insurance, from increasing the premium for an insured
based on a homeowner's insurance claim; and prohibiting an insurer, with
respect to homeowner's insurance, from increasing the premium for an insured
based on a private passenger motor vehicle insurance claim
·
Repeals the authority of the MVA to suspend a driver’s license for
nonpayment of a traffic ticket.
HB 280
Criminal Justice
·
Requires the creation of a pre-release facility for female inmates. Requires the creation of a pre-release facility for
female inmates. Maryland does not have any such facilities for women. SB 604.
·
Jailhouse informants
– The bill passed tougher restrictions on prosecutors’ use of jailhouse
informants after false testimony from such witnesses led to convictions of four
men who have since been cleared.
Education
·
Aid to Historically Black Colleges and Universities HB 1260: Requires the Governor in each fiscal year 2022-2031 to
include in the annual state budget $57.7 million to be allocated
to historically black colleges and universities in Maryland.
·
Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (Kirwan
Commission Recommendations) HB 1300/SB 1000
o
The
bill will
·
Expand
pre-kindergarten programs;
·
Increase
funding to schools with a high percentage of poor, special education or
limited-English students;
·
Add
more programs to ensure that students are prepared for college and careers.
·
Raise
teacher pay;
·
Hire
thousands more educators to increase individual attention for students
·
Expand
teacher planning and individualized instruction time;
·
Expand
career technical education and community schools
·
Providing
more support and staffing for special education and mental health services
·
Create
an independent, seven-member “Accountability and Implementation Board” to
oversee the overhaul.
·
The bill was amended to provide relief from some of the
financial obligations facing local governments. The amendment will result in
the state absorbing a greater proportion of the increased education funding in
17 jurisdictions including Prince George’s County. Prince George’s will have to
pay $183 million more by 2030, down from $386 million. Prince George’s schools
will receive the most new state funding: $724 million more annually by 2030.
o Build to
Learn Act of 2020 HB 1 This bill provides more money to repair and
build schools to ease crowding and replace aging buildings The legislation
authorizes the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue up to $2.2 billion in school
construction bonds, beginning in fiscal 2022, giving priority to districts with
the oldest buildings, the highest number of classroom trailers and the most
students from poor families. The bonds would be paid off using casino revenues
- Advertising
of Free Digital Materials for College Students HB 318: Requires each public college in Maryland to
disclose to students which courses use free digital materials and
may provide access to certain low-cost print materials. Passed House of
Delegates
·
Prohibits a public library from
charging minors a fine for overdue library materials. HB 1000:
Environmental
·
Prohibition
on Use of Chlorpyrifos – The
pesticide Chlorpyrifos has been proven to cause brain damage in children, harm
our environment, and kill wildlife. HB 229/SB 300 Prohibiting the use of Chlorpyrifos in the
State -
Ethics
o
Stopping the Revolving Door – HB 350/SB 202 A former secretary of a
principal department of the Executive Branch cannot lobby 1 calendar year from
the date the secretary leaves State office.
·
Repealing a
prohibition on a develop from making a contribution to the County Executive of Prince
George’s County or a slate that
includes the County Executive HB 282
Gambling
·
Horse
Racing: A $389 million plan to renovate the Laurel
Park and Pimlico Race Course tracks and keep the Preakness Stakes race in
Baltimore. Bonds will be issued for the projects. Those bonds would
be paid back over 30 years using $17 million per year from the Maryland
Lottery. SB 987
·
Sports Betting – Maryland voters will decide in
November whether to legalize sports betting.
After that, lawmakers will decide who many licenses would be issued and
who would get to bid on them.
Gun
Control
·
Rifles
and Shotguns: Secondary Transactions – HB 4 /SB 208
Maryland law requires the
regulation of the “sale, transfer, rental, and possession of regulated
firearms, which consist of handguns and assault weapons,” However, this
regulation does not currently apply to rifles and shotguns, Under the bill, a third-party licensed gun
dealer would be involved, and the transfer must be done under three conditions:
The sale must be from the owner; there must be a background and the transfer must comply with all federal
and state law that would apply to the transfer.
·
Hate Crimes Act HB 5- This bill prohibits a person from inscribing or placing an
item or a symbol, including nooses or swastikas, on any public or private
property without express permission of the owner with the intent to threaten or
intimidate
Housing
·
•Housing
Opportunities Made Equal Act – HB 231/SB 530 – Provides fair housing to all citizens
regardless of source of income; provides additional opportunities for tenants
utilizing public subsidies to live in certain neighborhoods and prohibits a
person from refusing to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of source
of income.
Health
·
Enshrines parts of the Affordable Care Act into state code HB 959 In
case it is repealed by Congress or ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
·
Hospitals - Financial Assistance
Policies and Bill Collections – HB 1420/ SB 875 Increasing
the family income threshold to between 200% and 500% of the federal poverty
level at which a hospital's financial assistance policy must provide free
medically necessary care to patients; requiring that a certain financial
assistance policy include a certain payment plan and a certain mechanism for a
patient to request a certain reconsideration.
·
Requires health care professionals to receive implicit bias training to reduce maternal
mortality and morbidity. HB 837
Revenue
·
Tobacco and
nicotine taxes – Per pack tax on cigarettes would increase by $1.75 while vaping products
would be taxed for the first time.
·
Digital Advertising
- Maryland will be the first step to
tax digital advertising.
·
21st–Century Economy Sales Tax Act – The sales tax would be extended to digital downloads of
products such as e-books, songs, movies and streaming TV services. HB 932
Social Justice
·
Repeal of Anti-Sodomy Laws:
HB 81
Repeals the crimes of sodomy and unnatural or perverted sexual practice;
·
Hairstyles – A ban on discrimination because of hair texture and hairstyles
in order to stop employers from discriminating against employees based on how
they wear their hair.
Voting Rights
·
Election Law - References to Absentee Voting
in Communications - Mail-In-Voting
- HB0037 - This bill requires
changing the reference to Absentee Ballots to 'Mail-In' Ballots.
·
Requires
authority line to be used in campaign robocalls (i.e. who is paying for
the robocall). HB 216
Workers’ Rights
·
Wage History Act - HB 123/SB 217 Requires an employer to
provide to an applicant for employment the wage range for the position for
which the applicant applied; prohibits an employer from taking negative actions
against an applicant for employment because the applicant did not provide wage
history or a wage range; prohibiting an employer from relying on wage history
and from seeking an applicant's wage history from former employers or their
agents.
·
Heat Stress Standards HB 722 / SB 434 Establishes a health
and safety standard for heat stress levels and requires employers to develop,
implement, and maintain a certain excessive heat-related illness prevention
plan for employees.
·
Prohibiting an
employer from taking adverse employment action against an employee for
inquiring about the employee's wages.
