After the initial flurry of bills that passed early in session, the process slowed down, a few bills have passed one of the two chambers since my last newsletter, but most of the activity is with the various Committees that are meeting and hearing the close to 3,000 bills that were filed.
The next few weeks will be very
hectic as any bill that stands a chance to pass has to be voted on by one of
the two chambers by March 23rd to have a chance of passage. So if you are interested in getting your
favorite bill passed, now is the time to contact your legislator.
Here are a few bills that passe the House of Delegates
in the last week:
Private
Immigration Detention Facilities - Zoning Requirement HB 1017 - Prohibiting
the State or a unit of local government from approving the use of a building or
structure as an immigration detention facility by a private entity. Passed the House of Delegates/Referred to the
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
Correctional
Services - Correctional Facilities and Immigration Detention Facilities -
Minimum Mandatory Standards – HB 1018 Requiring the Secretary of Public
Safety and Correctional Services to adopt regulations establishing certain
minimum mandatory standards governing the care, custody, and conditions of
civil detainees in immigration detention facilities. Passed the House of Delegates/Referred to the
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
Digitally
Unmasking Agents for Lawsuits - HB351 allows residents & the Attorney
General to sue government agents for violating your rights. If the agents are
anonymous, the bill uses police technology to help identify who to sue. Passed the House of Delegates/Referred to the
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
I’m listing below
the bills I’ve been following, but they’re only a few of the very important
bills being discussed. Next newsletter
I will focus on those bills that are making progress.
You can find out
the status of every bill by going to the Maryland General Assembly website and
putting in the bill number in the search box: mgaleg.maryland.gov.
Here is the status of bills that I am following.
Consumer
Protection
The Protecting Consumers and Jobs from
Predatory Pricing Act – SB 387 Senate Finance Committee – Hearing Held
Criminal
Justice
Protection of Identity of Victim of
Sexual Assault or Stalking SB 294/HB 450 Senate
Judicial Proceedings; House Judiciary Committee – Hearings Held
Youth Charging Reform
Act - SB323/HB409 - The bill requires 16- and 17-year-olds
charged with 12 offenses–including murder and carjacking – begin their cases in
adult court. Other charges will now start in juvenile court. It also ends the
automatic adult charging of 14- and 15-year-olds, starting all cases in
juvenile court. House Judiciary Committee – Hearing Held/ Senate Judicial
Proceedings Committee: No hearing date.
Democracy
Violation of Constitutional Rights (No
Kings Act) HB332 Lets people in Maryland sue in civil court if a federal
agent violates their constitutional rights. Committee: House Judiciary Hearing Held
Clean Maryland Democracy Amendment
HB584 Constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal voting rights, banning
foreign donations, and directing the creation of a Maryland Voting Rights Act.
Committee: House Government, Labor, and Elections: Hearing Held
Education
Student Data Privacy &
Discrimination Reporting – SB 659 Specifies who will be able to get a
student's personal information, or information about their family. Committee:
Senate Education, Energy & the Environment Hearing Date: March 4
Elections
Re-Districting: HB 488 adopts the
Governor’s Redistricting Advisory recommendation. It would make the 1st Congressional District
now held by Republican Andy Harris more competitive. – Passed the House. It is opposed by the Senate President,
so its future is in doubt. Referred to
the Senate Rules Committee
Voting Rights Bill – SB 255 would
prohibit a municipality or county from attempting to block a protected class
from electing their candidate of choice or influencing a local election by
diluting the group’s vote. Passed the Senate and referred to the House
Government, Labor and Elections Committee.
Special Elections to Fill Vacancies: SB
5 Constitutional amendment to require special elections for legislative
vacancies to fill vacancies who are appointed in first year of a 4-year session. Passed Senate and referred to House Committee
on Government, Labor and Elections
Maryland Corporate Power Reset Act HB
1378 Limits corporate influence, including foreign influence, in elections
and ballot campaigns. Committee: House Government, Labor & Elections Hearing
Date: March 4
Local Board of Elections Employees SB 670–
Authority at Polling Places
Gives local election board employees
authority over on‑duty police officers.
Committee: Senate Education, Energy, and the
Environment. Hearing Held
Environment
Climate Crimes Accountability Act HB572:
Authorizes investigations and actions against entities whose unlawful conduct
contributes to climate change and creates the Climate Crimes Accountability
Fund. House Judiciary Hearing Date:
Hearing Held
Maryland Beverage Container Recycling
Refund and Litter Reduction Program – SB 345/HB 331 - would create a
beverage container deposit program in Maryland with a 10- or 15-cent refundable
deposit on metal, glass, and plastic beverage containers, depending on
container size. Hearings Held
Data Center Planning & Transparency
Act – HB 1411 Requires environmental and community impact transparency for
datacenters, including projected power and water usage and backup power. House
Environment & Transportation Committee: March 10
Prohibition on the Chemical Conversion of
Plastic HB 796 Prohibits facilities that convert plastic to fuel or
feedstock through toxic processes. Committee: House Environment and
Transportation Hearing Held
Gun Control
Machine Gun Convertible Pistols Ban
SBn334 Bans the manufacture, sale, purchase, or transfer of pistols that
can be converted into machine guns Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
Hearing Held
Health
Hospital Licensure – Nonprofit Ownership
HB 599 Requires any hospital licensed on or after October 1, 2026, to be a
nonprofit organization, and restricts future ownership transfers to for-profit
entities. House Health Committee – Hearing Held
Tax on Social Media Giants – HB 468
- tax on social media giants like
Meta and TikTok to fund children's mental health services statewide. The
proposed legislation targets companies with over one million monthly users or
$500 million in annual revenue, directing tax proceeds into a dedicated fund
for youth mental health programs. Referred to House Ways and Means
Committee.
Housing
Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity
Act – SB 389/HB 894 - aims to accelerate transit-oriented development (TOD)
by rezoning 300+ acres of state-owned land, eliminating parking minimums near
transit, and encouraging mixed-use, affordable housing projects to increase
ridership and housing supply. Hearing Held
Starter and Silver Homes Act – SB 36 This
legislation, requested by the Governor, aims to restrict local zoning authority
regarding lot sizes, setbacks, and design elements to encourage more affordable
housing. Hearings Held
Immigration
Limitations on Stops, Detentions and
Arrests Near a Judicial Facility HB 309 Prohibits stops, detentions, or
arrests for certain civil offenses in or within one mile of a judicial facility
when someone is attending official proceedings. House Judiciary Committee
Hearing Held
Immigration Detention Facilities – HB 630
Prohibits operating an immigration detention facility in any building that
wasn’t originally designed and constructed for detaining people, like
warehouses for example. Committee: House Judiciary Committee Hearing Held
Removal of Face Masks from ICE Agents:
SB1 would prohibit face coverings on law enforcement officials working
in the state, including ICE agents who are typically masked. SB 1 passed the
Senate and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee
Labor
Collective
bargaining rights for non-tenured professors and graduate students at
the University of Maryland: HB 106 & HB 141/SB 6 & SB 84: House
Committee on Government Labor and Elections – Feb 10; Senate Finance
Committee: Hearing Held
Arbitration Reform for
State Employees HB604/SB 28: proposes to reform collective bargaining for state
employees by introducing binding arbitration to resolve impasses. House
Government, Labor and Elections; Senate Budget and Taxation Hearing Held.
Worksite Enforcement Act of 2026 – HB 516:
Directs the Maryland Department of Labor to establish clear procedures for
receiving and investigating workplace complaints and requires hiring regional
investigators. Committee: House Government, Labor, and Elections Hearing Held
Maryland Raise the Wage Act – HB 1479
Raises the state minimum wage to $18 and ties future increases to CPI growth:
House Government, Labor & Elections Committee Hearing Date: March 5 at 1:00
p.m.
Renters
Discrimination
in Housing - Income-Based Housing Subsidies – HB 315/SB 335 – This bill would prohibit a landlord may
not refuse to rent to a prospective tenant who pays rent with the assistance of
an income-based housing subsidy. House
Economic Matters: Senate Judicial Proceedings: Hearings Held
Local Good Cause Eviction SB 462
Allows counties to adopt local “good cause” protections so landlords can’t
refuse to renew leases or end holdover tenancies without a legitimate reason.
Committee: Senate Judicial Proceedings Hearing Held
Revenue
Tax Package That Would Decouple MD from
Trump Tax Breaks So MD Wouldn’t Lose Tax Revenue. All these bills were referred to the House
Ways and Means Committee and Hearings were Held.
HB 801 Eliminates the "qualified
small business stock" deduction, which allows wealthy venture
capitalists and others to receive a 100 percent tax exemption when they cash
out their early-stage investments in companies that have soared in value.
HB 880 - Decoupling from additional
expanded and accelerated deductions for certain business expenses and interest
payments
HB 1080 - Decouples from a provision
providing lower effective corporate tax rate for profits from the sale
abroad of goods and services embodying intangible assets (like patents and
brands) developed and held in the U.S. Also prevents the state from designating
additional Opportunity Zones, which are used to provide tax breaks to
developers.
HB 926 - decoupling from the new
higher cap on the state and local tax deduction. Allowing the cap to
increase would only benefit people who own very expensive property.
HB 930 - Decoupling from
education-related changes that benefit private schools, including
prohibiting the governor from joining the new federal voucher program.
Social
Justice
Cheltenham Veterans Center – HB 552 calls
for an investigation of property near the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery in
Prince George’s County that may hold unmarked graves of youth from the former
House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children. Referred to House
Committee of Government, Labor and Elections. Hearing Held
Youth Charging Reform Act – SB323/HB
409 - raises the age at which a juvenile would be tried as an adult for
certain crimes, from 14 to 16. Referred to House Judiciary Committee and Senate
Judicial Proceedings Committee. Hearings
Held
Transportation
Required Crew for
Movement of Freight - SB 156 establishes minimum crew requirements
for freight rail operations, strengthening safety standards and protecting
railroad workers and the communities rail lines run through. Senate Finance
Committee: Hearing Held
Utilities
Utility Cost
Recovery Limitations – HB1 would prohibit investor-owned gas and electric
companies from paying many employee bonuses with ratepayer dollars, and it
would restrict the use of rates for supervisor compensation that exceeds
$210,00 a year. Passed the House of
Delegates and Referred to the Senate Education, Energy and Environment
Committee
Broadband
Accountability and Affordability Act HB 1037/SB605 – Allows the state to
regulate broadband. At this time the
Public Service Commission can only regulate the old copper wire lines, but no
one uses those lines anymore so there is no regulation on phone and internet
service. This bill would change
that. Referred to House Environment and
Transportation Committee – Hearing March 3; Senate Finance Committee – Hearing Held
HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR BILLS
When there is
a Committee Hearing on A Bill Scheduled, it is important to contact.
members of the
Committee. The General Assembly website lists all the committees, the members
of each committee and their contact information. Go to the main page (https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite)
and click on the Committees tab.
Call or send
an email to your legislators using the contact information found. Here is where
you can find out who your Delegates and Senator are:
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/District
.
If you would like
to include a short description of the bills, you can include the descriptions
shown above. You are also encouraged to include any details of why you think
this bill is important.
Dear
(legislator),
My name is
_________ and my address is ______________. I am writing to let you.
know that the
following bill(s) is(are) important to me and to all Marylanders. I
would like to
request that you be a champion for these bills and help them get.
passed quickly.
