Here you will find a list and a brief descriptor of each piece of legislation I have sponsored that passed into law.
During my time in the House of Delegates and now as Chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee I have tried to be a passionate advocate and an effective legislator. My agenda has always been and will always be premised on expanding economic and social opportunities for all Marylanders. It has been my particular concern to ensure the meaningful inclusion of those Marylanders historically excluded from the opportunities our great state has to offer.
2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
SB 530 – Housing Opportunities Made Equal Act – HOME ACT
Ending the practice of housing discrimination based on ones legal source of income. Home Act seeks to deconcentrate poverty by providing additional opportunities for tenants utilizing public subsidies to live in certain neighborhoods; prohibiting a person from refusing to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of source of income; establishing qualifications and limitations on the prohibition against discrimination in housing based on source of income; etc.
SB 531 – The CROWN Act – Discrimination – Definition of Race – Hair Texture and Hairstyles
Defining “race”, for the purposes of certain laws prohibiting discrimination, to include certain traits associated with race, including hair texture, afro hairstyles, and protective hairstyles; defining “protective hairstyle” as one that includes braids, twists, and locks; and authorizing an employer to establish and require an employee to adhere to reasonable workplace standards related to the nature of the employment of the employee and that are not precluded by any provision of State or federal law, subject to a certain exception.
SB 534 – Courts – Discovery – In-Custody Witness Testimony
Requiring a State’s Attorney to record certain information if a State’s Attorney obtains certain testimony from an in-custody witness and to report certain information to the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention; requiring the Office to securely store and maintain certain information; providing that the Office may only disclose certain information to certain persons; requiring a State’s Attorney to comply with certain discovery requirements; applying the Act prospectively; etc.
SB 907 – Public Safety – Crime Plan and Law Enforcement Councils (Maryland State Crime Plan)
Establishing the Law Enforcement Coordinating Council to prevent and reduce crime by coordinating and focusing State resources and ensuring interagency communication and intelligence-sharing; requiring the Council to prepare a certain comprehensive crime plan for the State or for each region of the State; requiring the Council to meet twice each year; requiring the Governor, or a designee, to attend at least one Council meeting each year; requiring the Council to submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly; etc.
2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
SB 196 – Vehicle Laws – Licenses, Identification Cards, and Moped Operator’s Permits – Indication of Applicant’s Sex
Requiring an application for a license, an identification card, or a moped operator’s permit to allow an applicant to indicate the applicant’s sex as female, male, or unspecified or other; requiring the Motor Vehicle Administration to ensure that the license, identification card, or moped operator’s permit of an applicant who indicates that the applicant’s sex is unspecified or other displays an “X” in the location on the license, identification card, or permit that indicates the applicant’s sex; etc.
SB 290 – Public Health – Cottage Food Products – Definition and Sale
Altering the definition of “cottage food product” to include nonhazardous food, as specified in certain Department of Health regulations, that is sold in the State in accordance with certain provisions of law and regulations directly to a consumer or to retail food stores or food cooperatives; requiring cottage food products for sale at a retail food store to include a certain label with certain information; requiring a business owner to submit certain information to the Department before selling a cottage food product; etc.
SB 327 – Justice Reinvestment Act – Diminution Credits – Sentencing
Clarifying that changes in provisions of law relating to the application of diminution credits made by the Justice Reinvestment Act shall be construed prospectively to apply to inmates who are sentenced or committed to custody on a finding of violation of probation on or after October 1, 2017.
SB 328 – Labor and Employment – Noncompete and Conflict of Interest Clauses
Providing that certain noncompete and conflict of interest provisions that restrict the ability of an employee to enter into employment with a new employer or to become self-employed in the same or similar business or trade are null and void as being against the public policy of the State; providing the Act does not apply to an employment contract or
similar document or agreement with respect to the taking or use of a client list or other proprietary client-related information; etc.
SB 330 – Public Buildings – Diaper–Changing Facilities
Requiring, except under certain circumstances, that a diaper-changing facility be installed in certain public restrooms in certain public buildings; requiring the Board of Public Works, through the Department of General Services, to adopt certain standards; providing that the Department of General Services, the University System of Maryland, and the Department of Transportation are responsible for the enforcement of certain provisions of the Act under certain circumstances; etc.
SB 521 – Veteran Suicide Prevention – Comprehensive Action Plan
Requiring the Maryland Department of Health to develop a certain action plan to increase access to and the availability of professional veteran health services to prevent veteran suicides; requiring the plan to address certain matters; requiring the Department to collaborate with interested parties in developing the plan; requiring the Department to implement certain initiatives and reforms by June 30, 2023, and June 30, 2029; requiring a certain report to the Governor and General Assembly by July 1, 2020; etc.
SB 527 – Correctional Services – Inmates – Labor
Requiring the Commissioner of Correction to include in an annual report certain statistics on job classifications for inmate labor, certain daily wage scales, and the total number of inmates currently employed at certain facilities; and requiring the Division of Correction to include in a report regarding Maryland Correctional Enterprises certain similar statistics regarding inmate employment and wages.
SB 697 – Family Law – Parentage and Adoption
Providing that a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction during the marriage of the child’s mother with the consent of the mother’s spouse is the legitimate child of both spouses for all purposes; providing that a child conceived by means of assisted reproduction after the death of the mother’s spouse and using the genetic material of the mother’s spouse is the legitimate child of both spouses under certain circumstances; etc.
SB 766 – Public Schools – Student Discipline – Restorative Approaches
(Cross-file Enacted: HB0725 / CH0691)
Requiring the State Board of Education to provide technical assistance and training to county boards of education regarding the use of restorative approaches on request; requiring certain regulations to incorporate the use of restorative approaches; requiring the State Department of Education to submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, on or before October 1 of each year, a student discipline data report that includes a description of restorative approaches in the State and a review of disciplinary practices and policies; etc.
SB 767 – Criminal Procedure – Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits – Analysis
Requiring that a sexual assault evidence collection kit be submitted to a forensic laboratory for analysis unless a certain requirement is met; requiring that a victim who wishes to remain anonymous and not file a criminal complaint be informed that the victim may initiate a criminal complaint at a future time; requiring a certain law enforcement agency that receives a sexual assault evidence collection kit to submit the kit and all requested associated reference standards for forensic analysis within 30 days of receipt of the kit; etc.
SB 770 – Vehicle Laws – Electric Low Speed Scooters
(Cross-file Enacted: HB0748 / CH0227)
Establishing that an electric low speed scooter is considered to be a bicycle for the purposes of the Maryland Vehicle Law; providing that an electric low speed scooter is not a motorized minibike, motor scooter, or motor vehicle for the purposes of the Maryland Vehicle Law; establishing that the operator of an electric low speed scooter may ride by standing on a certain platform; providing that provisions of the Maryland Vehicle Law do not prevent a local authority from regulating, in its jurisdiction, the operation of bicycles; etc.
SB 773 – Health Care Malpractice Qualified Expert – Qualification
Altering, from 20% to 25%, the percentage of an expert’s professional activities that may have been devoted to certain activities that directly involve testimony in personal injury claims during the 12 months immediately before the date when the claim was first filed in order for the expert to qualify to testify in relation to a certain proceeding; establishing
that a certain health care provider shall be deemed to have met a certain requirement during the pendency of a claim under certain circumstances; etc.
SB 774 – Correctional Services – Restrictive Housing – Reporting by Correctional Units and Requirements Relating to Minors
Expanding the entities required to submit a certain report relating to restrictive housing; requiring the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention to submit certain information from each correctional unit in a report to the General Assembly; prohibiting a correctional unit from placing a minor in restrictive housing unless there is clear and convincing evidence that certain conditions exist; requiring that a minor in restrictive housing be provided certain conditions and privileges; etc.
SB 816 – Property Tax Credit – Surviving Spouse of Veteran
Altering eligibility for a credit authorized against the county or municipal corporation property tax for the surviving spouses of certain retired veterans who are at least 65 years of age and have not remarried; providing that certain surviving spouses who are under the age of 65 years and have not remarried may continue to receive the tax credit if the surviving spouses qualified for and received the tax credit before June 1, 2019; and applying the Act to taxable years beginning after June 30, 2019.
2018 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
SB 626 – Vehicle Registration – Exemption From Registration Fees – Surviving Spouses of Veterans
Repealing the requirement that the surviving spouse of a deceased disabled veteran be at least 65 years old to qualify for a certain exemption to vehicle registration fees.
SB 730 – Local Government – Municipal Elections – No-Excuse Absentee Voting
Prohibiting a municipality from requiring an individual to provide a certain reason in order to vote by absentee ballot.
SB 1037 – Montgomery County – Fire and Explosive Investigator – Definition
Altering a certain definition to provide that a Montgomery County fire and explosive investigator is an individual who is assigned full time to the Fire and Explosive Investigations Unit of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, rather than the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office.
SB 1038 – Criminal Law – Animal Cruelty – Sentencing Conditions
Authorizing a court as a condition of sentencing to prohibit a defendant convicted of certain crimes relating to cruelty against animals from owning, possessing, or residing with an animal for a specified period of time.
SB 1048 – Secure and Accessible Registration Act
Enacted over Governor’s Veto
Redesignating electronic voter registration agencies as automatic voter registration agencies; requiring automatic voter registration agencies to inform an applicant completing an applicable transaction that the applicant shall be registered to vote or shall have a voter registration record updated unless the applicant declines these services or is not eligible to register to vote; requiring automatic voter registration agencies to implement automatic voter registration by July 1, 2019.
SB 1156 – Pretrial Services Program Grant Fund – Establishment
(Cross-file Enacted: HB0447 / CH0771)
Establishing the Pretrial Services Program Grant Fund to provide grants to eligible counties to establish pretrial services programs; requiring the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention to administer the Fund; requiring certain distributions from the Fund to be used to supplement and not supplant certain other funds; establishing the requirements for a certain pretrial services program.
SB 1218 – Ending Youth Homelessness Act of 2018
Establishing the Ending Youth Homelessness Grant Program to focus on preventing and ending youth homelessness in the State and addressing disparities based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity requiring the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the Program; establishing the Ending Youth Homelessness Grant Fund; requiring, in and after the third year of funding, the Department to allocate 50% of the money appropriated to the Fund for certain housing programs.
SB 1239 – Appointment or Designation of Standby Guardian – Adverse Immigration Action
Making certain provisions relating to the appointment or designation of a standby guardian of the person or property of a minor under certain circumstances applicable to the appointment or designation of a standby guardian of the person or property of a minor in the event of an adverse immigration action against a parent; authorizing a parent to designate a standby guardian by means of a written designation; providing that the appointment of a standby guardian may not be construed to require the termination of parental rights;
2017 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
SB 651 – Public Schools – Suspensions and Expulsions Enacted over Governor’s Veto
Prohibiting the suspension or expulsion of prekindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, or second grade students from public schools with specified exceptions for an expulsion required by federal law or a suspension for not more than 5 school days under specified circumstances
SB 790 – Criminal Law – Animal Cruelty – Applicability
Clarifying that a person who has charge or custody of an animal and who unnecessarily fails to provide the animal with proper air, proper space, proper shelter, or proper protection from the weather is guilty of violating a specified prohibition against abuse or neglect of an animal; and clarifying that a person who intentionally mutilates, intentionally tortures, intentionally cruelly beats, or intentionally cruelly kills an animal is guilty of violating a specified prohibition against aggravated cruelty to animals
SB 792 – Maryland Trust Act – Notice and Reporting Requirements – Exemptions
This bill alters the notice requirements under the Maryland Trust Act for documents other than specified trust documents, to exempt a notice by a person to himself or herself. The bill specifically exempts a trustee who is a qualified beneficiary of a trust for which the trustee is serving, from providing himself or herself an annual trustee’s report or other information required to be furnished to qualified beneficiaries under the Act.
SB 793 – Maryland Trust Act – Representatives of Beneficiaries
Authorizing a settlor of a trust to designate specified persons to serve as a representative or successor representative of a beneficiary of the trust, to designate specified persons who may in turn designate a representative or successor representative of a beneficiary of the trust, and to specify the order of priority among those persons; prohibiting a trustee from serving as a representative of a specified beneficiary under specified circumstances; etc.
SB 794 – Legal Advice to Corporations – Clarification
Altering an exception to the requirement that an individual be admitted to the Maryland Bar before the individual may practice law in the State by authorizing an individual who is admitted to the bar of any other state to provide legal advice to the individual’s employer or the employer’s organizational affiliates.
SB 807 – Income Tax Credit – Wages Paid to Qualified Veteran Employees (Hire Our Veterans Act of 2017)
Allowing a credit against the State income tax for specified wages paid by specified small businesses to specified qualified veteran employees; prohibiting a small business from claiming the credit for a qualified veteran employee who is hired to replace a laid-off or striking employee; requiring the Department of Commerce, on application of a small business, to issue a tax credit certificate under specified circumstances; providing that the total amount of credit certificates issued may not exceed $500,000
SB 857 – State Government – Department of Veterans Affairs – Veterans’ Services Specialists
Requiring units of State government to designate an employee of the unit as a veterans’ services specialist to coordinate services with the director of the veterans Outreach and Advocacy Program in the Department of Veterans Affairs and attend specified training, to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with specified information, and to post specified information on the unit’s Web site; requiring the Department to coordinate specified meetings and submit a specified report; etc.
SB 858 – Commercial Law – Maryland Antitrust Act – Indirect Purchasers
Enacted over Governor’s Veto
This bill expands the basis for an antitrust cause of action by authorizing a person whose business or property has been injured (or threatened with injury) by an antitrust violation to maintain an action for damages, an injunction, or both, against any person who committed the violation – regardless of whether the injured person dealt directly or indirectly with the person who committed the violation.
SB 941 – Public Safety – SWAT Teams – Standards
Enacted over Governor’s Veto
Requiring the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission to adopt a specified set of standards for the training and deployment of SWAT teams and of law enforcement officers not on a SWAT team who conduct no-knock warrant service in the State; and defining “SWAT team” as an agency-designated unit of law enforcement officers who are selected, trained, and equipped to work as a coordinated team to resolve specified critical incidents that may exceed the capabilities of first responders or investigative units.
SB 943 – Children With Disabilities and Child Care Providers – Dispute Resolution Process
Requiring the State Department of Education to develop a dispute resolution process to be used by families of children with disabilities and child care providers for resolving complaints of discrimination based on a child’s disability; requiring the Department, in developing the dispute resolution process, to convene a workgroup that includes representatives of specified entities; requiring the Department to submit to the General Assembly, by October 1, 2017, a report outlining the process and its implementation;
SB 944 – Criminal Law – Sexual Offenses – Classification
Reclassifying criminal conduct currently classified as sexual offense in the first degree and sexual offense in the second degree as rape in the first degree and rape in the second degree, respectively; and repealing the crimes of sexual offense in the first degree, sexual offense in the second degree, attempted sexual offense in the first degree, and attempted sexual offense in the second degree.
SB 949 – Criminal Procedure – Expungement – Possession of Marijuana
Enacted over Governor’s Veto
Authorizing a person to file a petition for expungement at a specified time if the person was convicted of possession of marijuana
SB 951 – Maryland Securities Act – Vulnerable Adults
Enacted over Governor’s Veto
Altering the Maryland Securities Act to regulate federal exempt broker dealers; establishing the Securities Act Registration Fund to be used to administer and enforce the Act; altering the actions that are unlawful under the Maryland Securities Act; requiring specified individuals that believe that a specified adult is the subject of financial exploitation to notify the Commissioner within 5 days of developing a reasonable belief that financial exploitation exists or to provide immediate notification under specified circumstances;
HOUSE OF DELEGATES
2016 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
HB 237 – Courts – Prohibition Against Testimony by Convicted Perjurer – Repeal
Repealing the prohibition on a person convicted of perjury from testifying in a proceeding; and providing that evidence that a witness has been convicted of perjury shall be admitted for the purpose of attacking the credibility of the witness, regardless of the date of conviction, if the evidence is elicited from the witness or established by public record during examination of the witness.
HB 249 – Members of the National Guard – Employment and Reemployment Rights – Enforcement
Authorizing members of the National Guard whose employment and reemployment rights have been violated to bring a civil action for economic damages, including lost wages and benefits; and authorizing a court to award specified damages, fees, costs, and other relief to members of the National Guard if the court determines that the member’s employment and reemployment rights were violated.
HB 306 – Labor and Employment – Hiring and Promotion Preferences – Veterans and Their Spouses
Authorizing employers to grant a preference in hiring and promotion to eligible veterans, spouses of eligible veterans who have service-connected disabilities, and surviving spouses of deceased eligible veterans; providing that granting a preference under the Act does not violate State or local equal employment opportunity laws; and defining the term “eligible”.
HB 636 – Maryland Tort Claims Act – Certain Claim Requirement – Exception
This bill creates an exception to the notice of claim and denial of claim requirements under the Maryland Tort Claims Act (MTCA) if, within one year after the injury to person or property that is the basis of the claim, the State has actual or constructive notice of the claimant’s injury or the defect or circumstances giving rise to the claimant’s injury.
HB 637 – Local Government Tort Claims Act – Notice Requirement – Exception
Providing a specified exception to a specified notice requirement for a claim under the Local Government Tort Claims Act; and applying the Act prospectively.
HB 873 – Election Law – Special Elections – Absentee Ballots for Absent Uniformed Services Voters and Overseas Voters
Requiring a county council to set the date for a special election to fill a vacancy in specified county offices so that the local board of elections may provide absentee ballots for that election to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters at least 45 days before the special election; requiring the State Administrator of Elections to require local boards of elections to provide absentee ballots for a special election to fill a vacancy in Congress to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters 45 days before the election; etc.
2015 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
HB 1009 – Criminal Procedure – Immunity – Alcohol- or Drug-Related Medical Emergencies
(Cross-file Enacted: SB0654 / CH0375)
The bill clarifies that the act of seeking, providing, or assisting with the provision of medical assistance for another person who is experiencing a medical emergency after ingesting or using alcohol or drugs may be used as a mitigating factor in a criminal prosecution of (1) the person who experienced the medical emergency or (2) any person who sought, provided, or assisted in the provision of medical assistance.