This session, Senator Bailey has pre-filed 14 bills for consideration by the General Assembly. Some of these bills have been re-introduced from last session, when the early adjournment of the legislature caused a number of bills to not have time to complete passage through the General Assembly. Others are bills that the Senator is introducing for the first time.
Senate Bill 15 – Firearms – Handgun Permit – Notice of Expiration and Renewal Instructions
This bill would ensure that all current holders of a handgun permit receive notification before the expiration of their permit. The State Police currently give an expiration notice to permit holders who have applied through their online system; however, there are still many permit holders who filed a paper application who do not receive this notice, and this bill would require the State Police to provide this notice to them as well.
Senate Bill 51 – Tri–County Council for Southern Maryland – Property Management – Southern Maryland Regional Agricultural Center
This bill will allow the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission to act as the property manager for the Regional Agricultural Center that is currently being constructed in St. Mary’s County. This technical modification would match the already agreed upon memorandum of understanding with St. Mary’s County for the property.
Senate Bill 99 – Hate Crimes – Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders
This bill adds law enforcement officers and first responders to the protected classes under State hate crime statutes pertaining to harassment and destruction of property and damage to an associated building.
Senate Bill 104 – Public and Nonpublic Schools – Electric Retractable Room Partitions – Operation Requirements
This bill would create safety standards for the use of electric retractable room partitions in Maryland schools to ensure that accidents involving children being seriously harmed or killed by these partitions, such as the one that occurred at a Virginia school in 2018, will not happen in Maryland.
Senate Bill 165 – Maryland Healthy Working Families Act – Applicability
This bill would save Maryland school systems a substantial amount of money by exempting substitute school employees from the State’s paid sick leave law. This exemption would be similar to one that already exists for individuals who work on an as-needed basis in the health and human services industry.
Senate Bill 203 – Aquaculture Lease Applications – Notices, Protests, Meetings, and Conflict Resolution
This bill is intended to address the conflicts between waterfront property owners and applicants for oyster leases that have become far too common in our area by requiring the Department of Natural Resources to mitigate the concerns of shoreline property owners and consider conflict resolution between the property owner and the applicant before issuing a lease.
Senate Bill 221 – Handgun Qualification License – Firearms Safety Training
This bill repeals the requirement that a firearms safety training course for a Handgun Qualification License (HQL) include a firearms orientation component that demonstrates the person’s safe operation and handling of a firearm. This requirement poses a significant burden to those seeking an HQL and the ability to safely handle a firearm can be demonstrated without having to use live ammunition.
Senate Bill 239 – St. Mary’s County – Public and Nonpublic Schools – Prohibition on Possession of Tobacco Products by Minors
This bill would prohibit a person under the age of 18 from possessing a tobacco product in school buildings or on school grounds in St. Mary’s County. This would address an issue that has been raised by St. Mary’s County Public Schools since the General Assembly repealed the prohibition on a minor possessing tobacco products or electronic smoking devices. This bill is narrowly focused and does not impose any criminal penalties for violations. A violation of this law would be a civil offense, and the first violation would result only in the minor being required to attend a tobacco cessation program.
Senate Bill 249 – Higher Education – Senatorial Scholarships – Program Accreditation
Under current law, a Senator can allow a student to use a Senatorial Scholarship at an out-of-state school only if the academic program the student is pursuing is not available at a Maryland college or university. This bill would require an in-state academic program to be accredited before it can be considered comparable.
Senate Bill 268 – Criminal Law – Crime of Violence – Definition
This bill alters Maryland’s definition of “crime of violence” to include sexual abuse of a minor under specified circumstances where the offender is an adult and the victim is a minor younger than age 16, as opposed to the age of 13 that is given in current law.
Senate Bill 277 – Property Tax Credit – Public Safety Officer – Definition and Limitation on Credit Amount
This bill would give local governments the authority to determine which public safety officers are eligible for local property tax credits in their jurisdiction and repeal an existing $2,500 limit on the amount of the property tax credit that can be provided by local jurisdictions to public safety officers.
Senate Bill 318 – Natural Resources – Fishing and Hunting Rights
This bill would affirm the importance of hunting and fishing to Maryland’s cultural and social heritage and economy and puts the rights of Marylanders to fish and hunt, subject to regulation, into State law.
Senate Bill 333 – Criminal Procedure – Sexual Offenders – Lifetime Supervision
The bill adds all circumstances of second-degree sexual offense as that crime existed before October 1, 2017, an attempt to commit a second-degree sexual offense, and sexual abuse of a minor, regardless of the minor’s age, as crimes that require lifetime supervision. This bill is narrowly targeted to protect Marylanders from a relatively small but significant number of offenders who have committed these very serious crimes.
Senate Bill 356 – Calvert County – Sunday Hunting
This bill would expand Sunday Hunting in Calvert County by allowing hunting on all Sundays of the game bird and game mammal seasons.