“If we want democracy to flourish, we will have to fight for it.
We will have to nurture it. We will have to demonstrate its value, again and again,
in improving the lives of ordinary people.” – Barack Obama
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
The 447th Legislative Session of the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) adjourned Sine Die on April 7th. Despite a $3 billion budget shortfall and an unpredictable administration in the White House, I am proud of the work we were able to accomplish to ensure we protect our values amidst a time of great uncertainty. Before we dive into some of the more pertinent pieces of legislation from this past session, I want to thank you for the privilege of representing you in the Maryland Senate, and for your engagement. Our democratic experiment cannot thrive absent people like you who are willing to participate. Together we will continue striving for a stronger and a more inclusive community.
My priorities for the Judicial Proceedings Committee (JPR) this session included strengthening safeguards for immigrant communities, creating a more equitable justice system by improving upon the medical and geriatric parole process, and by balancing the dire need to create more affordable housing with the imperatives of protecting our most vulnerable renters. I am also happy to report that the District 20 Team was able to secure $12,734,000 for capital projects in our district.
An overview of some of the most important issues the MGA addressed during the 2025 legislative session is provided below. I hope you find the contents of this letter informative. As always, please feel free to contact me at will.smith@senate.state.md.us if I can ever be of service to you.
The Judicial Proceedings Committee Continues to Lead the Way
As Chairman of the JPR, I continue to prioritize legislation aimed at dismantling systemic inequities and ensuring that our state remains a welcoming place where every Marylander has the ability to reach their full potential. This past session we took strides to create a more equitable criminal justice process by significantly reforming access to our medical and geriatric parole. We strengthened housing protections for our most vulnerable, we worked to protect our immigrant communities, and we focused on public safety and gun violence reduction.
Balancing Public Safety with Overdue Reform
Medical and Geriatric Parole: The overdue need to reform geriatric and medical parole in Maryland was so apparent that the Office of the Public Defender, multiple state’s attorneys, and the vast majority of the MGA worked to come to a consensus on a measure that modified parole considerations for individuals 65 and older and streamlined the medical parole process (Senate Bill 181 and House Bill 1123). This legislation will also save the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services millions of dollars a year, money that will be reinvested in programs aimed at rehabilitation and crime prevention.
Expungement Reform: Our criminal justice reform efforts have always been premised on both accountability and rehabilitation. The vast majority of those incarcerated in Maryland will eventually reenter society. The question then becomes what can and will we do to ensure their success when formerly incarcerated individuals come home. This session we worked in collaboration with Governor Moore to pass the Expungement Reform Act of 2025 (Senate Bill 432), legislation that will expand expungement opportunities for deserving Marylanders by reducing expungement waiting periods and through broadening the scope of offenses eligible for expungement.
Protecting Our Immigrant Communities
In the midst of growing sentiments of xenophobia and otherism, it is incumbent upon all of us to stand up and protect our values as an inclusive vibrant community. I am proud to both live and serve in a district that knows immigrants are a welcomed strength and an asset to our community. Apart from the diversity and richness immigrants infuse into our communities, in Maryland, immigrants play a crucial role in the economy, contributing as workers, entrepreneurs, consumers, and taxpayers. Indeed, many immigrants take on some of the most demanding and dangerous jobs. Immigrants have long bolstered Maryland’s population. Over the past decade, in the face of natural population decline and increasing domestic outmigration, immigrants have been a source of stability for the state. As of 2022, immigrants represented 16.7% of Maryland’s population. The American Immigration Council estimates that in 2023 Maryland’s combined population of immigrants paid $15.8 billion in federal, state, and local taxes and had a total spending power of $39.5 billion. There is no question that our state benefits immensely from our immigrant population.
This session we took steps to protect our immigrant communities from lawless and warrantless actions by preventing immigration enforcement in sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and religious institutions, unless the agents possess a judicial warrant, or exigent circumstances exist (Senate Bill 828 and House Bill 1222). We also required the Maryland Attorney General to develop guidelines relating to immigration enforcement at sensitive locations. The JPR also took critical steps to streamline the U-Visa application process for immigrants who are victims of crime or who are aiding police investigations – thereby encouraging people to report violent behavior and crime without the fear of being deported for doing so (Senate Bill 608).
Though I am proud of what we have done to protect our immigrant community, I am under no illusion that we have done enough. I will continue to work in the months ahead to ensure that we do everything in our power to live our values and protect our communities.
Protecting Vulnerable Tenants
This year we passed multiple tenant protections, including legislation requiring landlords adhere to clear standards for remediating mold issues in rental properties, thereby protecting tenants from harmful living conditions (Senate Bill 856).We also passed legislation to ensure landlords provide at least six days’ final notice before a scheduled eviction. This six days’ final notice is in addition to what is already required by law. The notice must also contain a statement about the tenants’ right to counsel. (Senate Bill 442 / House Bill 767).
Reducing Crime and Maintaining Safe Neighborhoods
Gun Violence Prevention: Paradoxically, Maryland’s strict gun laws create a demand for illegally trafficked firearms. With stringent background checks, age restrictions, and limits on private sales, it’s harder for individuals to obtain guns here. This drives the black-market demand for trafficked firearms, many of which come from states with more relaxed regulations. Two-thirds of crime guns in Maryland are trafficked from southern states and the majority of trafficked guns entering Maryland travel through the I-95 corridor from southern states with weaker gun laws. This year I sponsored critical legislation aimed at decreasing the number of illegal firearms on our streets by ensuring those who illegally traffic firearms into our state will be charged with a felony (Senate Bill 443).
Eric’s ID Law: I was proud to have worked with two incredible constituents, Eric and Linda Carpenter-Grantham, to pass Eric’s ID Law (Senate Bill 618 / House Bill 707). This bill will allow those with invisible disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities, to opt-in to receiving a non-apparent disability notation on their driver’s license, identification cards, or moped license. This notation will ensure that first responders, especially law enforcement, are more prepared to interact with individuals with non-apparent disabilities.
Combating Aggressive Driving: According to the Maryland Department of Transportation, reckless speeding is estimated to be a contributing factor in one-third of all fatal crashes nationwide. To address this, we passed the Sergeant Patrick Kepp Act (Senate Bill 590) which expands the list of traffic offenses that constitute aggressive driving, including driving a vehicle at a speed of at least 30 miles per hour above the posted limit. This will give law enforcement officers and judges more tools in their toolbelt to crack down on reckless and aggressive driving in Maryland.
Organized Retail Theft Prevention: According to an October 2024 report from Capital One Shopping’s Research team, retailers in Maryland lost about $1.403 billion in revenue to theft in 2022. Organized retail theft is the large-scale, coordinated theft of retail merchandise with the intent to resell the stolen items for financial gain. The committee passed legislation enabling multiple jurisdictions to coordinate the prosecution of individuals who move from county to county in an effort to stay below Maryland’s $1,500 felony theft threshold (Senate Bill 11).
Deep Fakes and Revenge Porn: The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has made it alarmingly easy to generate hyper-realistic, non-consensual sexual images, often indistinguishable from reality. A 2023 study found that 98% of deepfake videos are pornographic, with 99% depicting women. With over 200 million visits to AI “undressing” sites in just the first half of 2024, the scale of this problem is growing rapidly. This is targeted harassment that can lead to severe emotional distress, reputational damage and even job loss. With Senate Bill 360, we created avenues for individuals who are victims of revenge porn generated by AI, to seek justice as we navigate this new technology and its consequences. This will strengthen protections for victims, addressing the risks posed by new technologies and ensuring perpetrators are held accountable.
Addressing our Rape Kit Testing Backlog: Additionally, we passed the Rape Kit Testing Tracking Program and Grant Fund (Senate Bill 669), which supports investigations into older, untested sexual assault kits and extends the submission deadline for evidence. Maryland has made progress in addressing its backlog of untested rape skits, but thousands remain. Initial counts found over 6,000 untested kits. Each kit represents a survivor who endured a painful and invasive exam in hopes their case would be investigated and justice pursued. With federal funding set to expire in 2025, this bill ensures that Maryland can continue testing kits, addressing critical backlogs and improving law enforcement’s ability to respond to sexual assault cases. We will continue providing police and prosecutors with the resources and tools needed to protect Marylanders.
Significant Legislation Outside of the Judicial Proceedings Committee
Fighting Back Against Federal Government Chaos and Overreach
Maryland is one of the most vulnerable states in the country to the fallout from the chaos in the federal Administration, with an outsized number of federal employees and contractors, a large number of federal agencies physically headquartered here, and billions-of-dollars granted to our research institutions. In response to the mass and indiscriminate firings of dedicated federal public servants, the MGA advanced Senate Bill 749 requiring the Maryland Department of Health to expedite license approval for fired federal health care workers who have been licensed in other states. Through Senate Bill 683 / House Bill 1424, we created a financial assistance program for laid-off federal workers outside of the normal unemployment insurance system and created an expedited process for hiring those workers into State government roles. And we created a bipartisan, Senate and House Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee to monitor how ongoing federal actions are impacting the State so we can respond quickly and as needed.
Expanding Access to Affordable Abortion Care
In the 2024 General Election, Maryland voters overwhelmingly voted to enshrine the right to abortion care in our State constitution. Making reproductive care a constitutional right was a critical step to protecting access, but affordability is wholly distinct from availability. Moreover, as surrounding states restrict a woman’s right to choose, individuals from out-of-state are seeking necessary care here where they are free from political interference. To build on the constitutional amendment incorporated last November, the MGA passed Senate Bill 848 to establish a first-of-its-kind public health abortion grant program to increase access and finance the support network of abortion funds and providers in Maryland. This program utilizes existing and unspent insurance premiums for abortion coverage already set aside and required to be collected by the Affordable Care Act, totaling an estimated $25 million in surplus funds with an additional $3 million accruing each year. All people should have access to the care they need regardless of whom they are, where they live, whether they are insured, or how much money they earn.
Lowering Energy Bills by Promoting the Affordability, Reliability, and Predictability of our Electric Grid
As the MGA entered the 2025 Legislative Session, Marylanders started receiving unacceptably high energy bills. We had to take immediate action. Demand for electricity in Maryland and throughout the country is rising at an untenable rate. At the same time, coal and oil electric generation stations are retiring; while this is good for slowing climate change, it also has led to increased energy prices. To curb rising prices, the MGA introduced a leadership energy package to lower bills as quickly as possible. As passed, the package advances a comprehensive solution to enhance energy affordability and reliability. This is the most aggressive energy affordability package for Marylanders in decades:
- The Next Generation Energy Act (Senate Bill 937) provides a $200 million refund (averaging $80 per customer) to residential electric customers in two installments (once in the summer and once in the winter), expedites new and cleaner in-state generation to decrease our reliance on power from surrounding states, creates cost containment mechanisms around utility companies’ spending on gas infrastructure, ensures multi-year rate plans provide a tangible benefit to customers while capping costs, removes waste incineration from Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard subsidy program, and ensures large load customers like data centers pay their fair share.
- The Renewable Energy Certainty Act (Senate Bill 931) makes it easier to build renewable energy projects like solar and battery storage by removing unnecessary local roadblocks, places a first-in-the-nation 5% cap on the amount of agricultural land which can be used for solar, and allows local governments to participate in community solar programs.
- The Energy Resource Adequacy and Planning Act (Senate Bill 909) creates a new Strategic Energy Planning Office to streamline energy forecasting and reduce dependence on external grid operators, ensuring Maryland’s energy grid is more resilient and reliable.
Passing a Balanced Budget that Maintains Core Commitments to Marylanders
The MGA met its constitutional obligation to balance the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget (Senate Bill 319 / House Bill 350 and Senate Bill 321 /House Bill 352) by cutting spending while protecting schools, law enforcement, and health care services. The legislature approached the State’s budget deficit with a strategic mix of nearly $2 billion in necessary cuts and $1.2 billion in new revenue proposals, including changes to personal income taxes which will result in 94% of filers paying the same or a lesser amount. This targeted and balanced approach allowed us to avoid other revenue options like a $.75 delivery tax, a broad-based business-to-business tax, or the elimination of itemized deductions for Maryland taxpayers.
Despite disruptions in federal funding streams, we committed to preserving core services and protecting Maryland’s most vulnerable residents. Our $66.9 billion FY26 Operating Budget, which was $400 million less in general funds than the FY25 budget, includes:
- $15.6 billion in funding for Medicaid, covering about 1.5 million residents;
- $594.4 million in new funding for our public schools, representing a 7.3% increase from FY25;
- $500 million in new revenues to support the State’s transportation and aging infrastructure needs;
- $181.5 million restored in Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026 for community services for those with developmental disabilities;
- $139 million invested in growing the private-sector economy;
- $121.8 million in police aid, $46 million above the statutorily required amount, in addition to $60 million in victim services funding and $5.5 million for community-based services for young people;
- $100 million for climate pollution reduction efforts at the State and local levels; and
- $2.4 billion in cash reserves, including $2.1 billion in the Rainy Day Fund and $317 million in the General Fund to protect against continued federal uncertainty in the year ahead.
Investments into District 20
Strengthening Community Infrastructure: $12,734,000
Finally, I want to thank my staff for all their efforts in serving you and the entire state of Maryland. Our Chief of Staff, Kari Lee, and Legislative Director, Jenna O’Connell, have done a masterful job and we are lucky to have them in our service. I would also like to thank our amazing interns Abigail Bento, Sydney Biggs and Mace Viemeister, whose dedication and exceptional work ethic were critical in advancing the mission of our office.
It is a profound honor to serve you in the Maryland Senate and while I am proud of the progress we are making together; I know our work is not done. I look forward to our continued success together. Please stay in touch with me via email at will.smith@senate.state.md.us or social media (@Willcsmithjr)!
All the best,
William C. Smith, Jr.
Chair, Judicial Proceedings Committee
Maryland State Senator (District 20)