Maryland

Requiring the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to adopt regulations to reduce or mitigate the effects of problem gambling; requiring the regulations to establish a voluntary exclusion list; requiring the Commission to provide contact information of individuals that request to be placed on the exclusion list to the Maryland Center for Excellence on Problem Gambling; prohibiting an individual from wagering on and prohibiting a sports wagering licensee from offering or accepting a wager on certain player-specific proposition bets; etc.

Establishing the Prince George's County Workgroup on Farmers Markets and Street Vending Zones; requiring the Workgroup to identify and review current regulations and safety, health, environmental, or community concerns about farmers markets and street vendors; and requiring the Workgroup to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the Prince George's County House and Senate Delegations, the Chair of the County Council, and the County Executive by December 1, 2026.

Authorizing the Maryland Transportation Authority to use lane use control signal monitoring systems on a highway under the jurisdiction of the Maryland Transportation Authority to enforce the motor vehicle offenses of entering or traveling in a lane over which a red lane use control signal is shown; requiring the District Court to remit to the Authority any civil penalties collected by the court resulting from a citation issued using a lane use control signal monitoring system operated by the Authority; etc.

Prohibiting a research facility or a testing facility from using certain dogs and cats for research or testing purposes; prohibiting a research facility or testing facility from performing devocalization procedures on dogs or cats; prohibiting a testing facility from using traditional animal test methods under certain circumstances; applying certain provisions of law regarding the adoption of dogs and cats used for scientific research purposes to testing facilities; etc.

Authorizing active service members and spouses, under certain circumstances, to practice in the State under an occupational or professional license issued in another state; and altering the definition of "eligible veteran" for purposes of certain provisions of law governing occupational or professional licensing processes to include former service members who have been discharged from active duty before the date on which the license application, renewal, or changed of status is submitted.

Establishing November 11 as a tax-free day each year during which an exemption from the sales and use tax is provided for sales to certain veterans if the taxable price of the item for sale is less than $250.00; and requiring an individual, in order to qualify for the exemption, to provide to the vendor evidence of eligibility for the exemption.

Allowing a credit against the State income tax for certain retirement income attributable to an individual's employment as a 9-1-1 specialist; and requiring the Department of Emergency Management to report to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2028, the aggregate amount of the tax credit certificates issued for each preceding taxable year and the number of 9-1-1 specialists employed in the State who have vested under an employee retirement system.

Establishing the Workgroup on Aging Out of Foster Care to identify the types of resources available for youth who have aged out of foster care to help them achieve self-sufficiency, determine the effectiveness of currently available resources and identify the challenges with current services and programs offered before a youth ages out of the system; and requiring the Workgroup to submit a report of its findings and recommendations by June 1, 2027, to the General Assembly.

Replacing references to a bus lane monitoring system with references to a bus obstruction monitoring system; and prohibiting a person from stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle in a bus stop zone if a transit vehicle is present, subject to certain exceptions.

Prohibiting a court or a party in a criminal or juvenile delinquency case from disclosing or allowing inspection of a certain court filing or record to a nonparty unless the court or the party redacts certain identifying information relating to a certain victim of sexual assault or victim of stalking that appears in the filing or record, subject to a certain exception; providing for disclosure or inspection of a certain record or filing by a certain health occupations board; etc.

Repealing the limitation on the maximum amount of a credit against the State income tax that an individual may claim for certain expenses incurred for a donation of deer meat to certain organizations; and applying the Act to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Establishing medetomidine and xylazine as Schedule III controlled dangerous substances under the Maryland Controlled Dangerous Substances Act

Authorizing the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt certain regulations related to affirmatively furthering fair housing; prohibiting a person from acting in a certain manner that has a discriminatory effect; and providing that certain conduct necessary to achieve certain nondiscriminatory interests does not constitute a certain violation.

Providing collective bargaining rights to nontenure track faculty of system institutions of higher education, Morgan State University, or St. Mary's College of Maryland whose primary assignments involve academic instruction, including teachers, researchers, and department heads and those in comparable positions; and establishing a separate collective bargaining unit for nontenure track faculty.

Defining, for purposes of collective bargaining in community colleges, the term "supervisory employee" to mean an employee who is authorized to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline employees, direct employees for 50% of the employee's working hours, and address employee complaints; and excluding from the definition a department head or an employee in a comparable position or any faculty member below the level of assistant dean.

Establishing a direct admission program at participating public senior higher education institutions for certain eligible high school students beginning in the 2028-2029 academic year; requiring the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the State Department of Education, and public senior higher education institutions to establish eligibility requirements for the program; and requiring the Commission with the Department to study and make recommendations to the General Assembly on the program by July 1, 2027.

Requiring each county and municipal automated traffic enforcement program to submit to the Vision Zero coordinator an annual report containing certain information regarding each citation issued under the program during the quarter to a motor vehicle registered in another state.

Proposing a Constitutional Amendment requiring that a special election be held at the same time as the regular statewide primary and general elections that are held in the second year of a term to fill a vacancy in the office of Delegate or Senator in the General Assembly if the vacancy occurs on or before the date that is 55 days before the deadline for filing certificates of candidacy for the regular statewide election that is held in the second year of the term.

Requiring counties in which a volunteer fire company is located to offer no-cost preventive cancer screenings in accordance with certain guidelines to volunteer firefighters volunteering and retired volunteer firefighters who volunteered with the volunteer fire company; authorizing a county to satisfy the requirement by providing a certain annual examination or applying for a certain grant; requiring the volunteer fire companies to maintain a list of volunteer firefighters and retired volunteer firefighters; etc.

Establishing that it is a misdemeanor to intentionally cause offensive contact, engage in conduct tending to put another in fear of offensive contact, or attempt to cause offensive contact; providing a penalty for a person who violates the Act of imprisonment of up to 90 days or a fine of up to $500 or both; and altering a certain list of convictions that are eligible for expungement under certain circumstances.

Requiring certain wastewater treatment plants to maintain a publicly accessible website on which certain information relating to certain discharges is required to be published in a certain manner; and requiring certain wastewater treatment plants to begin certain testing within 24 hours after a bypass, overflow, or treatment failure that requires testing for certain chemicals or bacteria.

Increasing from $15,000 to $20,000 over a period of 5 taxable years the amount allowed as a subtraction modification under the Maryland income tax for certain retirement income attributable to an individual's employment as a public safety employee.

Altering the definition of a "foster care recipient" to mean an individual who resided in an out-of-home placement on or after the individual's 8th birthday rather than 13th birthday for purposes of determining eligibility for a certain tuition exemption.

Authorizing a designated Howard County department to place certain surveillance systems at certain dumping sites in Howard County; requiring the District Court, in consultation with the designated department, to prescribe a certain citation form; requiring the designated department to mail a certain citation or warning to the owner of a motor vehicle that is recorded by a certain surveillance system; etc.

Requiring the Maryland Department of Health to organize the Maryland Medical Reserve Corps; altering the membership, leadership selection process, and staffing of the Commission on Public Health; requiring the Commission to provide guidance for the implementation of recommendations made by the Commission on Public Health; establishing the Public Health Workforce Development Fund; requiring the Department of Legislative Services to develop a process to assess the health equity impacts of relevant legislation; etc.