MD Legislative Report – March
6, 2021
The 2021
Session of the Maryland General Assembly is now more than halfway through its three-month
session. Most of the bills have had committee hearings
and are now being reviewed by the various House and Senate Committees. Almost all the bills must pass by ‘crossover’
day. This means it must pass one house
or the other to be heard in a timely fashion by the other house and then sent
to the Governor. Crossover date this
year is March 22. Here are some of the bills
that have passed one house or the other.
I am recording the latest developments in the front of the newsletter. Later
in the report I have listed below some of the bills I am following and the status
of those bills If there is another bill you are interested in knowing about,
please let me know.
New Developments
Bills that Passed both the Senate and the House of Delegates
Expanding Earned Income Tax Credit
to Non-Citizens – SB 218 – This bill was neither vetoed by the Governor nor
signed by him and is now the law. This bill extends the earned income tax credit, and the state COVID
relief payments, to individuals filing taxes with an Individual Tax
Identification Number (ITIN). Many taxpayers filing with an ITIN are immigrants
who have been excluded from other federal and state relief payments and have
been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and subsequent recession.
Bills that Passed the Senate
Criminal Justice
Package
·
SB71, which
would mandate that all law enforcement agencies use body-worn cameras.
·
SB74, which
would require all law enforcement agencies across the state to provide employee
mental health assistance program for all their officers.
·
SB419, which
would limit the use of no-knock warrants.
·
SB599, which
would restrict law enforcement agencies’ ability to procure weaponized military
equipment.
·
SB600, which
would establish that police incidents resulting in civilian fatalities undergo
independent investigations.
·
SB786, which would re-establish local control of
the Baltimore Police Department.
·
SB627 – Repeal of the Law Enforcement Officer
Bill of Rights – This bill passed the
Senate but was amended and there will be an attempt to eliminate some of the
amendments in the House of Delegates. The amendments to do the following:
- Allow officers to exercise
the same right to engage in political activity as other state employees
while off-duty.
- Permit officers to seek
secondary employment.
- Restrict income or property disclosures.
- Prevent officers from being
fired, disciplined, demoted or denied a promotion or transfer for
exercising their constitutional rights or the rights provided for them
under the bill.
- Prohibit agencies from
denying officers their right to file a lawsuit for incidents that arise
while on duty.
- Enable officers to request
that formal complaints be expunged from their record if they are
exonerated, the allegations were not sustained or they were acquitted by
a hearing board and three years have passed since the department’s
decision; and
- Keep formal complaints from
being admissible in court if they were not sustained or the officer was
exonerated or acquitted by a hearing board.
o Special
Election to Fill a Vacancy in Office of the General Assembly – HB
265 / SB 6 Right now when there is a vacancy the Democratic Committee
appoints the person to fill the term.
This bill a person would be appointed only until the next Federal or
State election
o
Utility Regulation - Consideration
of Climate and Labor – HB 298/SB 83 – Public
Service Commission must consider climate and labor in the regulating of
utilities. Passed Senate
o
Black Liquor –SB
65 This bill removes
“black liquor” ― the gooey, pulpy byproduct of paper production ― from the
roster of fuels that qualify for tax breaks under the state’s Renewable Fuels
Standard.
o Public Information Act - Personnel
Records - Investigations of Law Enforcement Officers (Anton's Law) SB
178 When you file a
complaint of police misconduct, you cannot find out how the department
investigates your complaint. All you can find out is the outcome and any
discipline; you cannot find out whether the department conducted a thorough or
lackluster investigation of your complaint. This is because the complaint file
is considered a “personnel record” under Maryland’s Public Information Act, and
personnel records may never be disclosed. THE SOLUTION. Remove the complaint
file from the personnel record category, thereby allowing the police department
to disclose the inappropriate situations.
Bills That Passed the House of Delegates
· HB 77: The Safer Sealant Act of 2021 prohibits certain coal tar
pavements with high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which have
contributed damaging runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.
· HB 81: Prohibits leaving dogs outside in extreme weather.
· HB 130: Establishes a commission on LGBTQ affairs in the
Governor’s Office.
· HB 146: Extends the state fund to help spay and neuter pets by providing
grants to lower-income pet owners.
· HB 208: Closes a loophole to prevent non-farmers from using
dangerous neonicotinoid pesticides.
· HB 247: Ensures election judges are thoroughly trained in how to
provide accommodations to voters who may need assistance and requires certain
voters (e.g., people with mobility-related disabilities) to be given voting
order priority.
· HB 293: Prohibits organized animal killing contests that
have monetary prizes.
· HB 322:
Allows homeowners to have low-impact landscaping, such as a rain garden,
and bars a homeowner’s association from prohibiting such landscaping.
· HB 391: This bill seeks to protect the environment from balloons that
are released and later return to the ground as litter.
· HB 400: Ensures education continuity for juveniles in detention
facilities awaiting court proceedings. This bill requires public schools to
keep these students enrolled in their original school and provide them with
educational materials while awaiting disposition of the student’s case.
·
HB
398 would require employers to provide employees
with two hours of paid time off to vote on Election Day or during early voting
if they are scheduled to work the entire time that the polls are open that day.
·
HB
156: Student and Military Voter Empowerment Act,
which make it easier for college students and members of the military to vote.
·
HB 205:
Requires public schools to provide free menstrual hygiene products in
bathrooms.
·
HB
207: Requires nursing homes to provide immediate
notifications of changes in a resident’s condition to the resident and, as
applicable, their family.
·
HB
429: Requires pharmacists to notify consumers if
lower-cost alternatives are available to fill their prescriptions.
·
HB
460: The Transfer with Success Act will make it
easier for college students to transfer credits between institutions of higher
education.
·
HB
318, the Local Tax Relief for Working Families
Act of 2021, gives county governments more flexibility in setting their local
income taxes. Instead of the flat tax
required under current state law, this bill would allow counties to create
multiple income tax brackets. This would
provide counties with the opportunity to provide tax relief to low- and
middle-income taxpayers.
·
HB
641 protects consumers from losing their
homeowners insurance because of weather-related claims. Under current state law, insurance companies
can cancel a person’s homeowners insurance policy if they make three
weather-related claims in a three years span.
This bill would prohibit insurance carriers from counting a
weather-related claim that does not result in a payout to the homeowner towards
the three-strike rule.
·
{Thanks again to Delegate Julie
Palakovich-Carr for putting this summary in her newsletter}
·
HB 3 Removing the Governor from Parole Decisions – There is already a Parole Review Board that makes
recommendations on who should be paroled.
In the last 20 years the number of people being let out on parole has
gone down as Governors have brought politics in that decision. Governors interested in running for higher
office have been overly cautious on paroling some criminals.
·
HB 492 Two Man Crew: This
bill would prohibit the movement of freight in the same rail corridor as a high-speed
commuter or passenger train unless the freight train has at least two workers.
Status of Other Important Bills that I am Following
Confronting the COVID CRISIS
o COVID-19
Eviction and Housing Relief Act of 2020
* Prohibits rent increases and late fees during the pandemic and
allocates funds to landlords to allow for rent forgiveness; ensures landlords
demonstrate just cause in order to stop the renewal of a lease.
HB 1312 Hearing Held
o MD
Essential Workers Protection Act
* During state of emergency essential employees 1) Receive $3/hr.
hazard pay; 2) 14 day paid sick leave; 3) Right to refuse dangerous work; 4)
Free COVID testing; 5) PPE at no cost to employees.
HB 581 / SB 486 – House Hearing Held
o Foreclosure Protection Bill
* The bill: 1) extends foreclosure moratorium through state of
emergency; 2) requires services to grant forbearance; 3) sets default (opt-out)
repayment option as deferring missed mortgage payments to the end of the loan;
4) requires prompt notice of all these rights; and 5) creates private right of
action to sue if any rights are violated. HB 1009/SB 724 Hearing Held
o Unemployment
Insurance Reforms:
* Unemployment insurance is crucial, both as a safety net and as a
countercyclical stimulus to prevent a deeper recession. This year far too many
people struggled with accessing their unemployment benefits. These bills make several
fixes to the system including requiring increased staffing so people who need
assistance can speak to a human being, timelines for completion of claims and resolution
of appeals, improved language access, and greater transparency. This bill also
develops a seamless connection from the unemployment insurance process to allow
applicants to connect to health benefits, in a process the bill changes the
benefit calculation so that people who work multiple jobs and lose one, don’t
lose out on unemployment income their family needs. Small businesses would also
be protected by freezing the rates they paid from before COVID, so they do not
pay higher rates for having to lay off workers due to the emergency. Finally, these
bills require the state to study several other structural issues and to
recommend changes for future legislative sessions. HB 907, 908 – Hearings Held
Criminal Justice Reform
o Repeal
of the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights
- It would put police
officers under the same rules that cover other government employees who come
under investigation;(e.g., Police officers have 5 days before they are allowed
to be investigated in a disciplinary matter) – Passed
the Senate
o
Public
Information Act - Personnel Records - Investigations of Law Enforcement
Officers (Anton's Law) When
you file a complaint of police misconduct, you cannot find out how the
department investigates your complaint. All you can find out is the outcome and
any discipline; you cannot find out whether the department conducted a thorough
or lackluster investigation of your complaint. This is because the complaint
file is considered a “personnel record” under Maryland’s Public Information
Act, and personnel records may never be disclosed. THE SOLUTION. Remove the
complaint file from the personnel record category, thereby allowing the police
department to disclose the inappropriate situations. HB 120/ SB 178 – Passed the
Senate
o Removing
the Governor from Parole Decisions HB 3 – – There is already a Parole Review Board that
makes recommendations on who should be paroled.
In the last 20 years the number of people being let out on parole has
gone down as Governors have brought politics in that decision. Governors interested in running for higher
office have been overly cautious on paroling some criminals.
Passed the House of Delegates
Consumer Rights
o Increasing
the amount of money low-wage workers can protect from Garnishment: Currently it is $11,000 a year.
The bill would increase it to $26,000. HB 660 – Hearing Held
o Medical
Debtors Protection Act – Expand consumer protections for individuals sued for medical
debt and to create an income-based repayment plan before a lawsuit can be
filed; prohibit lawsuits for all medical debts below $1000.
HB 565/SB 514 Hearings Held
o Drivers
Bill of Rights – Limit the use of zip
code in auto insurance rates and requires insurance companies to provide
rebates to drivers through the state of emergency. Hearing Held
o
Prohibiting Use of Credit History
in Auto Insurance Rating Policies – HB 221 – Hearings Held
Democracy and Voting Rights
·
Voting Rights for Imprisoned
Felons – HB 53 Hearing Held
·
Special Election to Fill a Vacancy
in Office of the General Assembly – HB 265 / SB 6 Right now when there is a vacancy the
Democratic Committee appoints the person to fill the term. This bill a person would be appointed only
until the next Federal or State election.
Passed the Senate
·
Public Financing for Candidates
Running for General Assembly – HB 536 – Hearing Held
Education
o Funding
for Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) This bill would provide an additional $577
million to Maryland’s historically Black colleges and universities over 10
years to end the state’s lengthy lawsuit over inequitable funding of the
schools. – HB 1 / SB 1 – Passed the Senate and House
· : Prohibiting fees for summer school
courses in public schools HB 394: Passed the House of Delegates
· The School Pedestrian Safety Act increases road safety near public schools. This bill requires
school boards to create pedestrian safety plans when building new schools or
renovating existing ones. HB
487: Passed the House of Delegates
Environmental/Climate Initiatives
* Climate
Solutions Now Act, this is a
comprehensive bill, which will increase the statewide greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions reduction requirement from 40% by 2030 to 60% and requires the State
to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. It also sets targets for electrifying
state vehicle fleets, supporting solar on buildings and planting trees. Finally,
it has justice/equity provisions which will support already burdened
communities. HB 583/ SB 414 Hearings Held
* Community
Choice Energy, which will be enabling
legislation for each county that will allow them to aggregate their rate payers
to negotiate for better rates and for the kind of energy (solar, wind, fossil
fuel) that their residents want to use.
* Climate
Crisis Act, (a tax on carbon)
Charges a fee for fossil fuel use in the state. The fee is used to fund: 1)
Kirwan, 2) a benefit fund to offset any costs to low-income Marylanders, and 3)
clean energy and resilience infrastructure improvements
– HB 33 – Hearing Held
* Constitutional
Amendment for Environmental Rights, which will give everyone in Maryland the right to clean air,
water and a pollution free environment. HB 82/SB 151 – Hearings Held
* Right
to Repair - Our electronics are
manufactured with a large environmental footprint which is intentionally
amplified when manufacturers produce products that either cannot be repaired,
or for which repair information is not disclosed. This bill will require
manufacturers to publicly disclose repair information, decreasing waste and
aiding small businesses. HB 84/SB 412 – Unfavorable Report in House Committee (Bill is
dead)
*
Utility
Regulation - Consideration of Climate and Labor – HB 293/SB 83 – House Hearing
Held
* Climate Crisis and Education Act
– Tax on carbon products – HB 33/SB 76 – Hearing Held
*Plastic Bag Reduction Act State-wide
ban on plastic bags - HB 314/SB 223- Hearings Held
o
Black Liquor – This
bill removes “black liquor” ― the gooey, pulpy byproduct of paper production ―
from the roster of fuels that qualify for tax breaks under the state’s
Renewable Fuels Standard. SB 65 – Passed the Senate
Ethics
Limits on Lobbyist Spending – Limits
the amount a lobbyist can spent on taking legislators out to dinner to $50 per
person! HB 292 – Hearing Held
Health Care
o Study
on Universal Health Care –Establishes a Commission on
Universal Health Care to develop a plan for the State to establish, a universal
health care program to provide health benefits to all residents of the State
through a single-payer system. HB
470/SB 522 – House Hearing 3/11 – Senate Hearing Held
o Healthy
Maryland Act – Establishes a comprehensive, universal single payer health care
program to provide health coverage for every Maryland resident.
Housing – HB 534 – Hearing 3/11
o Legalization
and Regulation of Cannabis – HB 32 - Hearing House Judiciary
Comm - House Hearing Held
o Funding
for Behavioral Health Crisis Response Services which
would be channeled through the Department of Health This is a way to decrease
police interactions with mental health situations. SB 286 Hearing Held
Housing
o Social
Housing Legislation – This bill includes tenant protections, affordable housing and
zoning changes that allow for duplexes, triplexes and quarterplexes. HB 1090
– Hearing Held
o Right
to Counsel in case of eviction – HB 18/SB 154 – Hearings Held
o Tenant
Protection Act of 2021
* Make utility bill charges more
accessible and transparent for tenants whose landlords use a ratio utility
billing statement (RUBS)
* Require landlords to provide
documentation for materials and services used when using security deposit funds
to fix damages.
* Allow tenant associations to use
apartment/living complex meeting rooms for tenant organizing meetings.
* Allow a tenant to break their
lease if they are a victim of stalking.
* Allow a therapist or third-party
professional to certify that a tenant is a victim of stalking or abuse, instead
of just cops or a judge.
HB 50 – House Hearing Held
o
Mobile
Laundry for the Homeless Pilot program. – HB 189 Passed the House of Delegates
Immigration and Social Justice
o Trust Act - End
partnership between local and state enforcement and ICE. HB 304 / SB 88 – Hearing Senate Judicial
Proceedings Comm – Hearing Held
o Termination
of Private Immigration Detention Centers: This bill, often referred to as "Dignity
not Detention," will prevent the state's detention centers - or any
private facility - from initiating or renewing existing contracts with ICE
-Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (There are currently three such
circumstances in the state where immigrants are warehoused, in Howard,
Frederick, and Worcester Counties.) The bill will also prevent ICE from
coming into Maryland in the future to build its own detention centers. It would
go into effect on 1 July 2021.Required local entities that have existing
immigration detention agreements to terminate their contracts. HB 16 – Hearing House Judiciary Comm. – 3/13
1:30 PM
o Driver
Privacy Act – Protects the privacy of MD drivers by requiring ICE and other
Federal agencies to obtain a warrant in order to access personal information
that the MVA gathers about drivers. HB
23 / SB 234 – Hearing Held
o Action of
Change of Name – Waiver of Publication Requirement – HB 39– Passed the House
o Energy Supplier Low-Income Act – This bill
will prohibit deregulated, third party energy suppliers, who target
low-income zip codes, to charge OHEP customers higher rates than the
standard energy supplier rate. These suppliers have stepped up their
door-to-door selling game during COVID and their predatory practices have
reached an all-time high. SB 31/HB 397 – Passed the House of Delegates
- The Love Is No Defense to
Sexual Crimes Act. This bill prohibits the spousal
defense for sexual offenses, ensuring that individuals cannot use the
fact that they are married to their victim as a defense for sexual
crimes including rape. HB
147 – Passed the House of Delegates
o
Labor and Working Rights
·
Time
to Care Act establishes a family
and medical leave insurance program that employees may take up to 12 weeks of
paid leave in Maryland. The funding would come from both the employer and
employee. It’s estimated to cost the employee $3 to $6 a week which would come
as a payroll deduction. HB
375 / SB 211 – Hearing Held
·
Collective
Bargaining for Workers at Community Colleges – HB 894/SB 746 - House Hearing Held / Senate Hearing Finance
Committee March 4 1 PM
Prince George’s Local Bills (these
are bills that only pertain to Prince George’s County) and are voted on by the
Delegates and Senators from Prince George’s County
·
HB 624. Elected School Board - 9 members elected by district.
Right now, there is a hybrid school board. Some are appointed and some are
elected. The school superintendent will
be appointed by the board. The board selects the chair and vice chair. Hearing
Held
·
HB 622 - Prohibition on MAGLEV coming through Prince George’s County –
Hearing Held
·
HB 621 -
Prince
George’s County – Elementary School Students – Daily Physical Activity (Student
Health and Fitness Act) – Hearing Held
·
HB 617 - Prince George’s County –
Alcoholic Beverages – Licenses for Supermarkets – Hearing Held
Raising Revenue Through Fair Funding Initiatives
Little can be done without a
realistic plan to raise revenue. A group
of legislators are proposing a package of revenue proposals that would raise
close to $3 billion a year by taxing corporations and the super-wealthy in
Maryland and not working people. Some of
these proposals are:
o Combined
Reporting - Requires large, multistate corporations to pay their fair share
in corporate taxes for profits generated from subsidiaries in Maryland. HB
172 – Hearing Held
o Throwback
Rule -Require large, multistate corporations to pay their fair share
in corporate taxes for profits generated related to sales in Maryland. – HB
229 – Hearing Held
o Close
the pass-through/LLC loophole- Apply a 4% entity-level tax on
profits over $1 million for LLCs. LLCs
are limited partnerships which do not pay a corporate business tax. – HB 357
Hearing Date 1/21 – Ways and Means Comm
o Restructure personal income tax
brackets and rates - Lowers income tax rates on income earners below median,
raise rates on income earners above, restore millionaire tax at 7%. HB 357 Hearing Held
o Capital
gains surtax- Apply a 1% surtax on capital gains income to partially offset
special treatment in federal tax code. HB 201 – Hearing Held
o Carried
Interest - Apply a 19% state income surtax on the distributive or pro-rata
share of a pass-through entity’s taxable income that is attributable to
investment management services provided in the State. HB 215/SB 288 – House
Hearing Held – Senate Budget and Taxation 1/28
o Estate
Tax Giveaway Reversal - Reverses handout to wealthy
given in 2014 by resetting the estate tax exemption limit at $1 million instead
of $5 million. HB 165 – Hearing Held
o Effective
Corporate Tax Rate Transparency Act of 2020 -Requiring a
publicly traded corporation that is required to file a Maryland income tax
return to attach a statement identifying the corporation's effective tax rate
and an explanation of the calculation of the effective tax rate; requiring that
the statement be made under oath, signed in a certain manner, subject to audit
by the Comptroller, and treated as confidential taxpayer information; requiring
the Comptroller to submit a certain report to the Governor and the General
Assembly by March 1 each year; etc.- HB 330 – House Ways and Means Comm –
Hearing Held
o Country
Club Bill Would provide $100
million in additional revenue over the next 10 years by taxing country clubs
statewide at the same property tax rates that other property owners pay, $10
million in one year. HB 1120 – Hearing Held
o Decouple
from federal CARES Act tax breaks:
The Federal CARES Act contains several major changes to tax
policy. These changes will reduce Maryland’s revenues by $110 million in
fiscal years 2020 and 2021. This legislation would decouple from these
costly federal provisions that disproportionately benefit wealthy taxpayers. HB
495 – Hearing Held
*Make MD Tax Structure More
Progressive – Changes the tax brackets to raise more revenue from wealthier
individuals and less from people with less income. HB 275 – Hearing Held
*Allowing Counties to Have Different
Income Tax Rates Based on Income:
SB 133/HB 319 -Passed House of Delegates
Transportation
Purple Line Tree Replacement: Construction
of the Purple Line required the removal of large mature trees. While the
overall plan required replacement of these trees, they were replaced in areas
far from the communities that lost them. Many of the areas that lost trees are
already suffering from heat island effects and poor air quality. Walking and
biking along these corridors for transit-dependent individuals is even hotter
and more unpleasant without these trees. While these trees cannot be replaced
in the exact locations they were removed, they can be replanted in the same
neighborhoods on a combination of state, county, and private land. This
legislation requires the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland
Department of the Environment to coordinate this effort to replant trees in
these communities, prioritizing communities suffering multiple environmental
health harms. Lorig Charkoudian is introducing this bill. HB 80 /SB 286 –
Hearings Held
Two
Man Crew: This
bill would prohibit the movement of freight in the same rail corridor as a high-speed
commuter or passenger train unless the freight train has at least two workers.
HB 492 – Passed the House of Delegates
There is a good website that tracks bills. You might want to look at the Maryland
Legislative Coalition: http://mdlegislative.com
Please remember, the reason I inform people about these bills is
so you can contact your state legislators and let them know how you feel about
legislation they’re going to vote on.
General Information
If you want to know any more about any of the bills go to the
Maryland General Assembly website: www.mgaleg.maryland.gov and type in the bill number.
To view and listen to proceedings go to the General Assembly website: www.mgaleg.maryland.gov.
If you want to contact your representatives in District 47 about
any of the bills, you should email or call:
Senator Malcolm
Augustine
Malcolm.augustine@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3745
Delegate Diana Fennell (47A) Diana.fennell@house.state.md.us
301-858-3478
Delegate Julian Ivey (47A) Julian.ivey@house.state.md.us
410-841-3326
Delegate Wanika Fisher (47B)
Wanika.fisher@house.state.md.us 410-841-3340
If you do not know who your representatives are, you can go to www.mdelect.net
to find out who are your elected representatives There
is also a very good smart phone application MD GOV which lists all the
Delegates and Senators, their Committees and their contact numbers.
You can read all my past newsletters at my Peoples Lobbying Group website: www.plg.solutions .
Older Developments – Bills That Are Now Law
COVID Relief Bill
A $1.5 billion relief package to help struggling
Marylanders and businesses.
Stimulus
payments. Individuals who
qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2019 and/or 2020 will
receive one-time stimulus payments. Eligibility is dependent on your
income and number of children. For instance, a married couple with two
kids making up to $53,330 a year is eligible. A single person with no
kids can earn up to $15,820 a year and still qualify for the stimulus
payment. For people who qualified for the EITC in 2019, they will receive
$500 for families or $300 for individuals. People who qualify for the
EITC in 2020 will receive $250 for families or $150 for individuals.
Expansion
of the EITC. The legislation
also includes an ongoing expansion of the EITC program, which is a highly
targeted and effective way of helping low-income workers and raising people out
of poverty. Maryland will now have the most generous EITC credit in the
nation and low-income workers may receive hundreds of dollars more in tax
refunds. This change takes effect with tax year 2020 and will be
reflected on taxpayers' refunds.
If you think that you are eligible for the EITC
in 2020 and therefore also eligible for a stimulus payment, you should file
your 2020 taxes soon. People must file their tax returns in order to
receive this money. You can get free tax preparation help through the
County by calling (240) 777-1123.
Unemployment
benefits. Unemployment
benefits will be exempt from the State income tax, keeping over $225.0 million
in the pockets of unemployed Marylanders. People whose claim for
unemployment benefits is pending and who have been waiting in adjudication for
at least 30 days will each receive $1,000.
Aid for businesses.
Small businesses will be allowed to keep sales tax collections of up to
$9,000 over three months. Up to 100,000 small businesses and
nonprofits will be able to defer paying unemployment insurance taxes until
early 2022 to help with cash flow. Additionally, layoffs during FY 2020
and FY 2021 will not impact the employer's experience rating--saving businesses
money on their unemployment taxes. Loans of up to $50,000 provided
through the Minority and Small Business Loans program will be converted to
grants. State taxes on COVID-related loans and grants from the state will
be forgiven.
Other
aid. The RELIEF Act also
includes $300 million in additional relief. People receiving benefits
from the Temporary Disability Assistance Program will get an extra $100 a month
through June. Food banks will receive $10 million. $83 million is
directed to paying overdue utility bills for Marylanders. Over $100
million in grants will be distributed to hard-hit business sectors and
non-profits.
(Thanks to Delegate Julie
Palakovich-Carr for providing a good summary of the legislation)
Governor Vetoes that Were Over-riden by the General Assembly
* Kirwan
Commission Reforms: The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” required billions
in extra spending on public schools to carry out education reforms recommended
by the Kirwan Commission on education. The programs included expanded
prekindergarten, higher teacher pay, improved career- and college-prep and more
support for schools with concentrations of students from poor families. The
veto of this bill meant that another bill on school construction will not go
into effect. Hogan allowed the Built to Learn Act to become law, generating $2.2
billion in extra funding for school construction over the next five years
using bonds that would be paid back with casino revenues. But a provision in the bill tied the two
education measures together. Until the Kirwan bill becomes law, the school
construction bill does not go into effect.
* Digital
downloads: This bill extends the state’s 6% sales tax to digital
downloads of products such as e-books, songs, movies and streaming TV services.
This bill will raise $150 million
* Long
guns: This bill requires background checks on private sales and
transfers of rifles and shotguns. The buyer and seller would have to go to a
licensed dealer to have a federal background check completed.
* Prescription
drug review board: This bill charges a fee to companies that sell prescription
drugs and used the money to run the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability
Board.
* Tobacco,
nicotine and digital ads: Multiple taxes were rolled
into one bill: an increase in the per-pack tax on cigarettes, new taxes on nicotine
vaping systems and a first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising.
