2019 End of Session Report
The 2019 Session saw over 2,500 bills introduced - 1,056 in the Senate and 1,445 in the House of Delegates. By midnight of April 8th we had passed over 860 bills. The following is a summary of the accomplishments of the 2019 Session. * Bills Senator Young Sponsored or Cosponsored Legislation Passed on a Veto Override The Governor has 6 days to act on legislation presented to him while the Maryland General Assembly is in Session. Of the 17 bills presented during Session 4 w
General Assembly completes its work, mourns loss of Speaker Busch
ANNAPOLIS — With flags flying at half-staff in honor of Speaker Michael Busch, who died from complications of pneumonia at age 72 on Sunday afternoon, the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate finished their work on Monday and adjourned. The 2019 legislative session was filled with heated debates on what direction to take the state regarding the minimum wage, guns, energy and even oyster sanctuaries, which Busch sponsored legislation on in his last session. The Senate voted
General Assembly approves first phase of sweeping education reform
ANNAPOLIS — The foundation for sweeping changes to Maryland’s educational system is now in place. The vast majority of lawmakers agreed this session to a set of aspirational goals, teacher salary increases and the creation of an independent inspector general to review fraud, waste and abuse in public schools with the passage of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The bill will enable the General Assembly to adopt new funding formulas and targeted changes to the state’s educa
Long-serving Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch dead at 72
ANNAPOLIS — Michael Busch, the longest-serving Maryland House speaker in the state’s history, died Sunday. He was 72. Busch, a Democrat who became speaker in 2003, had developed pneumonia after a follow-up procedure to a 2017 liver transplant after being diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a liver disease. He also had heart bypass surgery in September, after experiencing shortness of breath. Chief of staff Alexandra Hughes said Busch died surrounded by loved ones. Bu
More restrictions put on power of Board of Public Works by House bill
Gov. Larry Hogan’s recent attempts to acquire land from the federal government for a Redskins stadium and to expand the Baltimore-Washington Parkway have led to yet another effort to limit the power of the Board of Public Works made up of the governor, comptroller and state treasurer. The bill passed the House of Delegates Thursday in a party-line vote after lengthy floor debate. As amended, HB1282 would require a justification and cost-benefit analysis to be submitted to th
Maryland passes countermeasure to Trump family-planning rule
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Moving to counter Trump administration attempts to restrict abortion, the Maryland legislature has become the first in the country to pass a bill that would reject federal money for family planning services if clinics can't make abortion referral as part of their services. The rule proposed by President Donald Trump would prohibit family planning clinics funded by the program from making abortion referrals. Critics denounce that as a "gag rule." The Mary
Senate committee sets education bill in motion in final week of General Assembly
ANNAPOLIS — In the final week of the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers have started to review a major piece of education legislation. The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee tackled on Monday the policy side of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a bill that begins funding for the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations on how to redesign education statewide. Lawmakers are locked into spending $255 million — below the $325 million recommended by the co
Md. Senate to consider statewide ban of the pesticide chlorpyrifos
ANNAPOLIS — The state Senate will consider a bill to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos more than two weeks after a majority in the House of Delegates approved a prohibition on its use statewide. Chlorpyrifos has become a source of federal and state scrutiny, following a long legal battle in federal court and the publication of conflicting studies of the toxicity of the chemical even in very small doses. The House of Delegates voted 90-44 on March 15 to ban the product statewide,
