When Maryland’s legislative session starts Jan. 8, lawmakers will address a projected $2.9 billion state deficit, as well as high-profile bills that include in vitro fertilization treatment protections, phone-free classrooms and new election regulations.

Over 250 bills have been pre-filed by state lawmakers to go along with the thousands expected to be introduced in the 90-day session. Some are considered priorities by Maryland’s Democratic-majority leadership, while state agencies have requested others.

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, serving in his third year, will also introduce legislation to deal with what he calls a “historic budget deficit.” Tax increases, budget cuts, or a mix of these are believed to be on the table, along with what some politicians see as a threat to federal programs and funding dynamics with the incoming Trump administration.

Senior lawmakers designated Senate Bill 1 as “The IVF Shield Bill,” signaling it is a top legislative priority. The bill would ensure access to such treatments for all Marylanders and provide legal protections for doctors and nurses providing them.

Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher, D-Montgomery County, the lead sponsor of the bill, said protecting the right to IVF and other fertility services on a state level is necessary because of a potential federal ban on the procedure.

“If other states ban IVF, the doctors who practice it in those states can still practice it in Maryland. If there is a federal ban on IVF, that procedure in Maryland is protected,” Waldstreicher said.

Phone-free schools

A bill that some consider the most consequential of all is Senate Bill 29, the “Phone Free Schools Pilot Program.” SB 29 would establish a pilot program in Carroll and Montgomery counties’ school systems to study the limited use of cell phones in academic settings. Co-sponsor Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, R-Carroll, called the bill a pathway to providing data to parents, school systems and the Maryland Department of Education.

The question of whether allowing cell phones in the classroom benefits students or teachers has been debated for years. If this legislation is successful, it could result in a sea change of practices across the state, beginning with more school systems entering pilot programs.

Violence and bullying attributed to cell phone use will also be examined as part of the study.

“The purpose is to collect data to determine the effect of local school system policies that will limit the use of cell phones during the school day — on academic achievement, student classroom engagement, student social interaction, student behavior and discipline,” Ready said.

Selecting Carroll and Montgomery county school systems was intentional, said Waldstreicher, a co-sponsor of the bill.

“We very purposely chose one jurisdiction more urban and diverse and one more rural,” he said.

Montgomery County already has a phone-free pilot program in eight middle schools and one high school, according to Liliana López, spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools.

“Schools implement an Away All Day program where students do not use or access personal mobile devices during the instructional day,” Lopez said. “Principals have discretion on cell phone use during non-instructional times. High schools, in particular, have expressed interest in providing use during lunch.”

Carroll County has already adopted a “hybrid” phone-free policy, Ready said.

“Phones are not allowed during instruction time, but they are allowed to be on campus,” he said.

The level of phone availability is based on the level of education: elementary, middle and high school.

“In elementary, obviously, cell phones are much more restricted. At middle, it’s a little bit more freedom. And then high school, a lot more freedom, but still not in instruction time,” Ready said.

He said parents have mixed feelings about having cell phones available to students at all times, while educators generally consider them a hindrance to the learning environment.

“There’s been a lot of positive feedback about it because it’s not a total ban, but it does sort of take away the wild, wild west,” Ready said. “In general, cell phones pose a real challenge in the classroom.”

The bill would take effect July 1, 2025, if it passes, and the pilot program would be in effect for the 2025-26 school year, Ready said.

Two other bills would also study cellphone use: SB130, “County Boards of Education — Student Cellular Devise Use Policy,” sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Joanne Benson, D-Prince George’s County, and SB69, “Maryland Department of Health — Access to Telephones — Study,” sponsored by Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, R-Baltimore County. Neither Benson nor Salling responded to requests for comment.

Election laws

Lawmakers have introduced an array of bills aimed at increasing transparency, lowering election costs and giving voters more power over local political committees.

Many of the bills are centered around filling vacant elective seats at the state and county levels. State law allows local political party leaders to fill vacancies for state legislator seats, which ensures the same political party holds the seat. County charters, often referred to as bylaws, dictate the policies for filling vacant seats on the county level, but it’s different for each jurisdiction.

In some cases, such as Baltimore County, where County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., is leaving for Congress, the county council by a simple majority vote — four council members — will appoint a replacement to fill the remaining two years of Olszewski’s four-year term. In other jurisdictions, like Prince George’s County, a special election can be held or the council will appoint a replacement, depending on the timing of the vacancy.

A bill proposed by Sen. Clarence Lam, D-Anne Arundel and Howard counties, SB171, would prohibit members of central committees from voting for themselves when filling vacant state delegate or senate seats.

“Yes, they have been allowed to do that in the past, and it’s led to some issues, which is why we are hoping to close that loophole,” Lam said.

Lam said in some circumstances, central committees representing a legislative district could have as few as three people voting.

Another bill, SB2, sponsored by Montgomery County Democrat Sen. Cheryl Kagan, would give voters the say, instead of the central committee, in who fills a vacant legislator seat when the vacancy occurs within approximately 11 months of the first year of a new governor’s administration.

State lawmakers are often tapped to fill roles by a newly elected governor. Under Kagan’s bill, an election to fill the vacancy would fall into the next scheduled statewide election, the Presidential election, occurring in the second year of a new gubernatorial administration.

“There has been a strong sentiment, at least in the Senate, that legislators should be elected and not selected,” Kagan said. ‘The voters should be picking their own legislators and not necessarily Democratic and Republican Party leaders, especially when the vacancy occurred right after Election Day.” Kagan added: “SB2 is a compromise bill. It only solves part of the problem with legislative vacancies.”

If a vacancy occurred after the parameters in Kagan’s bill, central committees would continue to vote for a replacement to serve the remainder of the state lawmaker’s four-year term. The bill would also be a constitutional amendment, requiring passage by three-fifths of all General Assembly members and approval by voters in a ballot referendum in the next statewide election.

Kagan also plans to sponsor a bill to simplify the language on ballot referendums. She said complicated language leads to non-voting, “which is not good for democracy.”

Jared DeMarinis, the state administrator of elections, is also proposing a change to election law. His bill, SB262, would eliminate costly special primary elections when vacancies occur on the county level by allowing candidates, including registered unaffiliated candidates, to run in a single special general election to fill vacancies for county council or county executive. A special primary election to fill a vacant county council seat last August cost Prince George’s County taxpayers $2 million.

DeMarinis said it would also speed up filling an empty elective seat, which often takes several months, or longer.

The bill would also require counties to hold a special primary or special general election in an already scheduled presidential or gubernatorial elections if it falls within 120 days of the scheduled state election.

“I consider this a good governance bill, a cost savings bill, and a bill that would allow for greater voter participation,” DeMarinis said.

Kagan’s and DeMarinis’ bills are controversial to some party leaders, especially among Democrats who create many of the vacancies in the state because they hold more elected offices. Kagan’s bill would allow for an election redo if a vacancy was created by a person who just won elective office in the gubernatorial election. DeMarinis’ bill would allow Republican and unaffiliated and smaller party candidates into a single race that would normally be decided in a primary election in some jurisdictions, like Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, and possibly Baltimore City, where Republican and unaffiliated candidates are rarely elected because the primary is the general.

Maryland’s 477th annual legislative session will commence on Wednesday, Jan. 8, and adjourn on Monday, April 7, 2025.

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