Legislation of Interest to Charlestown Residents

2023 Maryland General Assembly

Status Report Updated May 7, 2023

The Maryland General Assembly has adjourned.

Thirteen pieces of legislation tracked by the Legislative/Political Committee made it to the Governor.
These bills have been signed by the Governor.

1. Open Meetings Act- State Ethics Commission
2. Cryptocurrency – Campaign Finance Prohibitions – Disclosure by Financial Institutions
3. State Board of Elections – Municipal Elections-Publication of Results on Website
4. St. Board of Elections – Municipal Elections- Publication of Permits on Website
5. Election Law – Ballot Processing & Reporting Procedures
6. Election Law – Ballots – Processing & Reporting Procedures
7. Human Services – Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council
8. Establishing the Baltimore Regional Water Governance Task Force
9. Budget Bill – Supplemental Budget Requests 1 & 2

These bills that we tracked have passed and been sent to the Governor to be signed. They are still waiting for him to sign them:

1. Baltimore County – Board of EducationMember Elections & Appointments
2. Baltimore County Circuit Court Judgeships
3. Dept. of General Services – Energy Conservation Standard (Md. Sustainable Buildings Act of 2023)
4. Natural Resources – Greenspace Equity Program – Establishment

The Legislative/Political Committee of the Residents’ Council is non-partisan and does not take a position on any bill being heard before the Maryland General Assembly. Bills will be added for tracking, as selected by the Legislative/Political Committee.

The following bills were selected by the committee because of their interest to Charlestown residents.

The Legislative-Political Committee tracked bills coming before the Maryland legislature in the following subject areas:

1. Ethics
2. Election Law &Voting
3. Health Care
4. Conservation/Climate Change
5. Establishment of Task Forces
6. Maryland State Budget FY2024

State Ethics Laws Bills Tracked

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BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
SB 35/H858	Kagan	Open Meetings Act – State Ethics Commission	Approved by the Governor
SB 753/HB1010	Folden	Public Information Act – Personal Records of Elected Officials & Joint Ethics Committee Records	Ed. Energy & Env. *

Election Law Bills Tracked

BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
SB39/ HB114	Kagan Qi	Ballot Access – Affiliating with a Party – Unaffiliated Voters	Ed., Energy & Env. Ways & Means
SB 89/HB177	Carter	Election – Ballot Questions – Publication of Proposed Laws	Ed., Energy & Env.
HB 22	Lang	Absentee Ballots – Signature Required & Verification	Ways & Means
HB 35	Lang	In Person Voting – Proof of Identity	Ways & Means
HB 95	Hill	Election Judges – Training & Signs – Accommodation for Voters in Need of Assistance	Ways & Means
SB111/HB441	Kagan	Election Law-Campaign Finance – Draft Committees & Explanatory Committees	Passed Senate House Ways & Means
HB130	Rosenberg	Election Law – Foreign Manufacture of Election Systems – Notification & Termination of Contract	Passed House House Ways & Means
HB132	Jackson	State’s Attorney, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Register of Wills, Sheriff and Judge of the Orphans Court – Nonpartisan Elections	Passed House Senate Ed., Energy & Env.
SB176/HB643	Kagan	Insufficient Number of Candidates for a Primary Election	Ed., Energy & Env.
SB195/HB1282	West	Orphan’s Court Judges – Election	Passed Senate House Judicial Proceedings
SB269/HB192	Rosapepe/Palakovich-Carr	Cryptocurrency – Campaign Finance Prohibitions – Disclosure by Financial Institutions	Approved by the Governor
SB287/HB509	Gallian	State Board of Elections – Municipal Elections- Publication of Results on Website	Approved by the Governor
HB 213	Watson	Election Law – Local Public Campaign Financing – Boards of Education	Ways & Means
HB176	Feldmark	Local Public Financing – Expansion to Additional Offices	Ways & Means
HB177	Feldmark	Elections – Ballot Questions – Publication of Proposed Laws	Way & Means
HB210	Ebersole	Baltimore County – Board of Education – Member Elections & Appointments	Passed Both Chambers To the Governor
SB410	Rosenberg	Election Reform Act of 2023	Ways & Means
HB441	Jones, D.	Election Law – Campaign Finance – Draft Committees Bd Exploratory Committee	Ways & Means
HB 447	Crosby	Local Elections – County Commissioners – District Voting	Ways & Means
HB468	Fair	County Boards of Ed. – Voter Registration Link – Posting Requirement	Ways & Means
HB509/SB287	Tomlinson	St. Board of Elections -Municipal Elections – Publication of Permits on Website	Approved by the Governor
HB535/SB379	Feldmark	Election Law – Ballots Processing & Reporting Procedures	Approved by the Governor
HB542/SB605	Fair	Election Law – Citizens Who Live Overseas – Right to Vote	Ways & Means
SB 379 HB535	Kagan	Election Law – Recounts – Procedures	Passed the House Passed the Senate House Ways & Means
SB342 HB 555	President	Baltimore County – Circuit Court Judgeships	Passed Both Chambers To the Governor
SB 379 HB 535	Kagan	Election Law – Ballots – Processing & Reporting Procedures	Approved by the Governor
SB 567 HB 35	Ready	Elections – In-Person Voting – Proof of Identity	Ed., Energy & Env.*
HB1200/SB925	Washington, A	Elections – Election Judges – Minimum Compensation	Passed Both Chambers To the Governor
HB 334	Montgomery Co. Delegation	Voting Systems – Ranked Choice Voting & Inclusion of City of Takoma Park Municipal Elections on the State Ballot MC-7-23	Ways & Means*
HB1264	Mangione	Election Law – Polling Places at Continuing Care Retirement Communities	Rules & Executive Nominations

Health Care Bills Tracked

BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
HB160/SB137	Stewart/Klausmeier	Income Tax – Credit for Long-Term Care Premiums (Long-Term Care Relief Act of 2023)	Ways & Means Budget & Tax
HB53	Forbes	Human Services – Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council	Approved by the Governor
SB387 HB274	S -Young, Beidle, and Rosapepe H -Bhandari, Forbes, et al.	Task Force on Reducing Emergency Department Wait Times	Finance Heath & Gov. Operations
HB28	Lehman, et al.	Income Tax – Credit for Caregivers of Senior Family Members	Ways & Means

Conservation/Climate Change Bills Tracked

BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
HB230 SB224	Fraser/Hidalgo, Terrrasa, et. al.	Dept. of Env. – Zero-Emission Medium-and Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Regulations (Clean Trucks Act of 2023)	Env. & Transportation* Ed., Energy & the Env.
HB30 SB235	House -Bhandari, et.al.	School Buildings – Solar Technology – Solar Panels on Schools	Appropriations* Budget & Tax
HB147 SB250	Frasier, Hidalgo	Climate Crisis Plan Required of Each County	Ed., Energy & Env. *
HB347	Ruth, Terrasa, et. al.	Attorney General:  Climate Change Actions Authorization	Health & Gov. Operations*
SB 469	Elfreth & Guzzone	Task Force to Study Solar Tax Incentives- Authorization	Budget & Tax*
SB 526	Elfreth et. al.	Natural Resources – Forest Preservation and Retention	Ed., Energy & Env. * Senate Ed., Energy & Env.
HB 6 SB 92	Hill Lam	Dept. of Gen. Services – Energy Conservation Standard (Md. Sustainable Buildings Act of 2023)	Passed Both Chambers To the Governor
HB 503	Stein, Lehman, Addison, et.al.	Natural Resources – Greenspace Equity Program – Establishment	Passed Both Chambers To the Governor
SB158 HB 319	Hettleman	Pesticide Registration – PFAS Testing – Requirements	Ed., Energy, & Environment/Economic Matters*

Establishment of Task Forces

BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
SB880	Sydnor & Carter	Establishment of the Baltimore Regional Water Governance Task Force	Approved by the Governor
HB274	Bhandrai, Forbes, A., Johnson, S., Johnson & Kaiser	Establishing the Task Force on Reducing Emergency Department Wait Times to Study best practices for reducing emergency department wait times	Health and Government Operations

Maryland State Budget FY2024

BILL #	SPONSOR	DESCRIPTION	COMMITTEE/STATUS
SHB200/SB181	The President	Budget Bill	Approved by the Governor