Highlights of the 2017 General Assembly
Here are some of the bills passed by the Maryland General Assembly during its annual 90-day session, which ended at midnight. Approved legislation goes to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan for his signature or veto. He also can allow bills to become law without his signature.
Baltimore
Hogan, Mayor Catherine Pugh, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Maggie McIntosh and others hammered out a deal under which the state will provide more than $23 million to help Baltimore’s school system close a $130 million budget gap next year and reduce the number of expected layoffs. Lawmakers also handed the mayor the power to appoint members of the city school board. Currently, the mayor and the governor share that authority.
Paid sick leave
Rejecting an alternative proposed by Hogan, the Assembly passed a bill that would require businesses with 15 or more employees to allow workers to earn at least five days of paid sick leave per year. The policy would affect an estimated 700,000 Maryland workers. Hogan has threatened to veto the measure, a move that would set up an override battle when the legislature returns in January.
Environment
Maryland became the first state where fracking is feasible to pass a law banning the natural gas extraction method. As the legislation picked up momentum in the Assembly, Hogan joined in endorsing the ban — to the dismay of some of his supporters in Western Maryland. Lawmakers ruled out opening oyster sanctuaries to harvesting until a population count is completed. That bill will become law without Hogan’s signature.
Taxes and spending
With a revenue shortfall of about $400 million coming into the session, sweeping tax cuts were never on the table. Hogan’s $43.5 billion budget passed relatively easily, but the legislature refused to grant him relief from many of the spending mandates he sought to scrap.
Education
The Assembly approved legislation limiting the actions state education officials can take to overhaul struggling schools without the local school system’s approval. Among other things, the bill blocks the Maryland State Board of Education from privatizing such schools or creating a separate district for them. Hogan condemned the measure and vetoed it, but Democratic lawmakers overrode his action. The legislature also passed a bill that would put strict limits on suspensions and expulsions of children in pre-K through second grade and require schools to provide individualized intervention as an alternative.
Cash bail
The House squelched an attempt to revise a rule diminishing the role of cash bail in determining who stays in jail while awaiting trial. After Attorney General Brian Frosh noted that Maryland’s cash bail system might be unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals adopted the rule that puts cash bail last on the list of preferred pretrial release conditions. The failed bill would have made cash bail an option equal to other conditions.
Trump resistance
Lawmakers passed three resolutions and at least six new laws in response to Republican President Donald J. Trump’s policies or plans. They passed a bill that empowers the attorney general to sue the federal government — and another that provides him money and more staff to do it. They also passed the nation’s first law to protect Planned Parenthood from federal budget cuts. And they repealed long-standing calls for a federal constitutional convention out of concern such a gathering would be dominated by forces loyal to the new president.
Other issues
After a fierce lobbying battle involving the craft beer industry, taverns and liquor distributors, the Assembly approved a bill that would increase the amount of beer Maryland brewers can sell at their taprooms. The compromise is expected to pave the way for Ireland’s celebrated Guinness brand to locate its main North American brewing operations in a former distillery in Relay.
Hogan’s No. 1 demand entering the session was repeal of a bill adopted last year setting up a scoring system for large transportation projects. He didn’t get all he wanted, but lawmakers agreed to delay implementation of the system until after the 2018 election and to conduct a study in the meantime.
Honeybee keepers will be allowed to shoot black bears attacking their hives if they meet certain conditions.
Frosh gained new powers to take the makers of generic drugs to court over so-called “price-gouging.” And a bill passed that would allow terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs that haven’t yet received federal approval.
A House committee killed a bill that would have barred internet service providers from selling customers’ browsing histories when the chairman declared it too complex to consider with only hours remaining in this year’s session.