Legislative Update –
February 15, 2020
Most
all the bills have introduced. Now
progress is being made on some of the bills that have to be passed by the House
of Delegates and State Senate and then signed into law. Almost all the bills that are going to become
law have to pass either the Senate or House of Delegates by March 16th
so they can be heard in a timely fashion in the other legislative body.
I am listing the list of some of the bills
that passed one of the legislative bodies this week and then other bills that I
am tracking. All bills have to be passed
by the State Senate and the House of Delegates and then signed into law.
Bills
That Have Made Progress
o
Build to Learn Act of 2020 HB
1/SB 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. Passed
House of Delegates
·
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. Passed House of Delegates Senate Hearing Held
·
Special Election to Fill a Vacancy in the General
Assembly - SB 10/HB 103 This bill requires a special election if there is a vacancy
in the first year of the term. The
special election would occur on the dates of the Presidential Primary and
General Election and would not cost any extra money. Passed the Senate! House
Hearing Held
·
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 Passed the House of Delegates –
Passed State Senate (now both bills have to pass the other chamber
and if there are differences between the two bills they have to be reconciled)
·
Prohibition From Intentionally Releasing a Balloon Into the Atmosphere
– SB 28 –Balloon releases are popular for celebrations and
memorials. But proponents of balloon bans argue that what goes up, must come
down — and the deflated balloons and strings that land miles away pose a danger
to wildlife and contribute to a litter problem.
Passed the Senate
Status of Other
Important Bills
Consumer Rights
·
Bans the Use of Credit
History in Rating Policies SB 17/HB 431- Prohibits
an insurer, from pricing insurance based
on the credit history of an applicant; Senate Hearing Held
·
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. Hearing House Economic Matters Feb
12
·
Lifeline Low-Cost Auto Insurance Pilot for Prince George’s and
Baltimore – HB 660/SB 934 This bill lowers the
minimum liability coverage for good drivers.
MD has the highest minimum liability coverage in the US. – House Hearing Economic Matters – Feb 20th
·
Medical Debt
Protection Act – HB 1081 This would increase protections
including ensuring that a person couldn’t lose his/her home because of medical
debt.
Criminal Justice
·
Maryland
Second Look Act – HB 323/SB 591 This bill authorizes inmates serving a
lengthy term of incarceration to file a petition for modification of sentence
after serving greater than 25 years in prison.
The judge may modify the sentence if he/she determines that retention is
not necessary for the protection of the public. Hearing Judiciary Committee – Feb 4
·
Pre-release Unit for
Women – HB 608 HB 828–
MD has four pre-release facilities for men but none for women. House Hearing Judiciary Committee – Feb
18th
·
Taking the Governor
Out of the Parole System - HB 1219/SB 817
The
independent Parole Board recommends whether long term prisoners should be
released but for the last twenty years Maryland’s Governors have not followed
up on the recommendations of the Parole Board because of politics.
·
Possession of small Amounts of of
Marijuana – HB 550
Increases from 10 grams to 1 ounce, the amount of marijuana below which
possession is a civil offense, rather than a criminal offense and provides that
a person may not be charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana
based solely on the possession of less than 1 ounce.
Education
·
Blueprint for
Maryland's Future HB 1300/SB 1100 – In 2016, the Maryland Legislature formed the Commission on
Innovation and Excellence in Education, popularly known as the Kirwan
Commission. The commission issued a report earlier this year with an aggressive
plan to improve Maryland’s schools. This
is the bill Implementation of the plan requires increased spending of up to $4
billion per year. The big question this year is how are we going to
raise the money to fund this bill. There
are a lot of good bills that have been introduced to raise revenue. These bills have also have to be passed to
fully implement the recommendations outlined in HB 1300/SB 111. – Hearing Feb
17
Environment
·
Plastics and
Packaging Reduction Act – HB 209/SB 313
Prohibits a store from distributing plastic carryout bags to a customer at the
point of sale; requiring a store to charge and collect at least 10 cents for
each durable carryout bag the store provides to a customer Hearing Senate
Finance Comm Feb 13 1 PM
·
Prohibition on Use
of Chlropyrifos – HB 229/SB 300 Prohibiting the use of chlorpyrifos in the
State Hearing Environment and Transportation Feb 12
·
Community Choice Energy
– SB 315/HB 561 Allows local jurisdiction to aggregate the residents in their
community to negotiate with energy providers for lower rates and a greater
percentage of energy from renewable sources.
purchase energy at a lower rate. House Hearing Economic Matters
Feb 13
·
Banning Single Use
Plastic Straws HB 296 – Prohibiting a food
service business from providing a single-use plastic straw to a customer Hearing Economic Matters – Feb 19
·
MTA Conversion to
Electric Buses HB 432 – Mandates that new buses
purchased by the state be electric powered. House Hearing Environment and Transporation – Feb 18
·
Constitutional
Amendment for Environmental Right – HB 517 Enable voters to choose to amend the state’s constitution to include a
right to a clean, safe and healthful environment as a way to protect
individuals and communities against the worst possible cases of environmental
degradation. House Hearing Environment
and Transportation Feb 19th
·
Consideration of
Environmental and Labor Concerns in Public Service Commission Rate Decisions HB
531 Requires
the Public Service Commission to incorporate the evaluation of the impact of
electric power plants on the environment in their decision making process.
Also, when they are considering regulating and servicing public service
companies that they consider maintenance of fair and stable labor standards for
affected workers. House Hearing Economic Matters – Feb 27
o
Clean Jobs Building
Act - HB 1490 – Net
zero standards for new government buildings and new commercial buildings by
2025
o Coal Transition Bill – HB 1545/SB 887 Shutting
down the six existing coal plants in MD while compensating employees who will
lose their jobs because of the plant shutdowns
House Hearing Economic Matters – 3/5
o Carbon Tax HB 1543/SB
912- Establish a greenhouse gas (GHG)
pollution charge on all GHG-producing substances distributed or used in the
State. House Hearing Economic Matters
– 3/12
·
Climate Solutions Act
of 2020 - SB 926/HB 1426- Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Act Increases
the greenhouse gas reductions that the State must achieve by 2030 to 60% and
requires the State to achieve net-zero statewide greenhouse gas emissions by
2045 and establishes a Climate Jobs Workgroup
·
Taking Incineration
out of the Renewable Portfolio Standard – HB 438 / SB 560
Gambling
·
Referendum
on Sports Betting – HB 169 / SB 325 –Hearing Ways and Means Feb 4 / Senate Budget and Taxation – Feb 5
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. Passed House Judiciary Committee / Senate
Hearing Feb 5
Health Care
·
Study
on Universal Health Care – SB 228 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 Senate Hearing Finance Committee Feb 19th
·
End of Life Option - HB
643/SB 701 Allows
terminally ill patients (specifically patients who have been certified as
having six months or less to live) to request medication to end their
lives. There are many safeguards in this bill, such as ensuring that only
the terminally ill patient can make the request; that they have to make it
three separate times and then have it notarized; that a separate doctor has to
certify that they qualify as terminally ill; and that the medication be self
administered. This is an option only. It will allow those who are
suffering to end their suffering. Senate
Hearing Judicial Proceedings – Feb 28
·
Legalization and
Taxation of Cannabis - HB 1400
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;.
Hearing Environment and Transportation Committee – House and Senate Hearings
Held
Immigrant Justice
·
Restricting
Cooperation with ICE in Civil Matters -
HB 388 Prohibits law
enforcement agents from making inquiries about an individual's immigration
status, citizenship status, or place of birth or transferring an individual to
federal immigration authorities, without a warrant. Hearing Held
·
Safe Areas For Immigration
Enforcement – HB 403 To allow public schools, hospitals, and courthouses to draft
policies that limit civil immigration enforcement activities on their premises
in order to ensure these facilities remain safe and accessible to all; Hearing Held
·
Dignity not
Detention – HB 677 Phases
out and eliminates existing ICE detention facilities and prevent new ones from
coming to Maryland. House Hearing Judiciary
Committee Feb 25th
·
Revenue
·
Capital
Gains Tax Increase – HB 222
Providing
for an additional State individual income tax rate of 1% on net capital gains
of individuals. House Hearing Held
• End Ineffective Business Subsidies
– HB 223 - Ends ineffective business tax credits. House
Hearing Held
•
Digital
Advertising Gross Revenues SB 2/HB 695 This is the first proposal introduced that produces revenue
to fund the new educational initiatives proposed by the Kirwan Commission. This bill adds a tax on digital advertising,
The tax, would apply a 2.5% to 10% tax (depending on size) to businesses that
make money from digital advertising. Senate Hearing Held
• Taxing Electronic Smoking Devices – SB 3/HB 695 This bill will make
e-cigarettes taxable (they are currently exempted) Senate Hearing Held
• Combined
Reporting HB 295- Requires large, multistate
corporations to pay their fair share in corporate taxes for profits generated
from subsidiaries in Maryland. House
Hearing Held
·
Throwback Rule HB 473 -Requires
large, multistate corporations to pay their fair share in corporate taxes for
profits generated related to sales in Maryland. House Hearing Held
·
Close the
pass-through/LLC loophole HB 507- 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. House Hearing Held
·
Corporate
Tax Fairness Act (Combined Reporting & Throwback) – SB 311 A
combination of Combined Reporting and the Throwback rule in the same bill. Senate Hearing Held
·
Carried
Interest HB 439/SB 216- 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. Senate and House Hearings
Held
·
Estate Tax
Giveaway Reversal HB 256- Reverses
handout to wealthy given in 2014 by resetting the estate tax exemption limit at
$1 million instead of $5 million. House Hearing Held
·
Sunsets All Business Tax Credits – HB 565 – This bill sets dates for certain business tax credits to end
(they can always be renewed). Many of
these credits are not effective and they need to be reviewed before they are
automatically renewed – House Hearing
Held
·
Enabling Counties to Enact Progressive
Taxes – HB 1494 – Counties are going to have to pay more
money to support education. This bill
enables Counties to change their income tax from a flat tax to a progressive
tax. Counties would still have to enact
legislation to implement this.
Social Justice
·
Sex, Gender Identity
or Sexual Orientation – HB 488 -Establishes that the discovery or perception of, or belief about, another
person's sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, whether or not accurate,
does not constitute legally adequate provocation to mitigate a killing or an assault from the crime of assault.
Transportation
·
County Consent for Expansion of
Toll Roads – SB 229 HB 292
- Prohibits the State construction of new toll roads without
the consent of a majority of the affected counties. Hearing House Environment
and Transportation Comm. House Hearing
Held
·
Transit
Safety and Investment Act - HB 368
-
Governor Hogan has been removing money from the Maryland Transit Administration
for the past 5 years and they are in such dire straights that they can't afford
maintenance of buses and light rail.
This bill will allow them to receive funding for all of their
outstanding maintenance items. House
Hearing Held
·
Prohibition of State Funds for
MAGLEV – HB 715 Prohibits the State from using any
appropriation for a magnetic levitation transportation system in the State; House Hearing Appropriations Committee –
Feb. 25
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. House Hearing Held
·
Graduate Assistant Collective
Bargaining Fairness Act – HB 214 Grants collective
bargaining rights to graduate assistants within the University of Maryland
system, Morgan State University, and St. Mary's College of Maryland; House Hearing Held
·
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 Senate Hearing Finance – Feb 20
·
Family Medical Leave
Act – HB 839/SB 539 Bill
establishes a private sector family and medical leave insurance fund to provide
partial wage replacement for employees who take unpaid leave to care for a new
child or a family member with a serious health condition. House Hearing Feb 24
Voting Rights/Democracy Initiatives
·
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. Hearing Held
·
Election Law - Individuals Released from
Correctional Facilities - Voter Registration - HB0051 – HB 568/SB91
- This bill requires correctional
facilities to provide inmates who have completed their sentence with a voter
registration form before releasing them and informing them that they will have
the right to vote but must register to do so. Hearing Held
·
Prohibition
on Foreign Contributions to Campaigns HB34/SB87 Prohibits a foreign-based corporation from
making a political contribution to a campaign or making an independent
expenditure to the campaign. House Hearing Held
·
Shut the Revolving Door Act
of 2020 – HB 315/SB 206 – Stops senior members of the executive branch from immediately
getting jobs as lobbyists after their leave their job. Hearings Held
·
Authorizing Counties to Allow Public Financing of Local School
Board Elections HB 337/SB 298 Hearing
Held
o Small Donor Incentive Act for State
Legislators – HB 1494 Expands
public finding to members of the General Assembly – Hearing Ways and Means
Committtee – March 5
o Prohibition
on Developers Making Contributions to County Execs – HB 1544 - There are
complaints that Prince George’s County is the only County that forbids
developers from making contributions to the County Executive. This bill would make that prohibition state
wide. House Hearing Environment and
Transportation – Feb 24
Local Prince George’s County Bills
(Local
bills go through a different process than other bills. They are voted on by the Delegates and
Senators from the local County and normally if passed by the County Delegation,
they are normally approved by the whole House of Delegates.)
·
Allowing the
County to Charge A Fee for Use of Disposable Bags HB 321
·
Prohibiting a State agency from acquiring or constructing any
toll road, toll highway, or toll bridge in
Prince George’s County unless authorized by Prince George’s County HB 258 –
Hearing Economic and Transportation Committee Feb 20
·
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 (This is not a bill that I support) Hearing House Ways and Means Committee Feb
27
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 about
these bills is so they can contact their 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 web-site: www.mgaleg.maryland.gov and type in the bill number.
For the first time ever, you are
now able to watch video live-streaming of the House floor proceedings. The 2020 session is a pilot, with only one in
three days being live cast.
Previously, only the audio portion
of the floor sessions was available online.
That meant that the only way for the public to watch floor debates was
to come to Annapolis and watch in person from the floor viewing gallery.
Archives of video from prior
legislative days are available on the General Assembly web-site. In addition,
meetings of most committees are available online, as in past years. To view and listen to proceedings go to the
General Assembly web-site: 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 are your representatives, 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.
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 are your representatives, 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.
