On Thursday, Senator Bailey’s first bill of the session passed the Senate. Senate Bill 357, which would ensure that charitable organizations that operate gaming devices in St. Mary’s County can be licensed by the County, passed the Senate unanimously. This bill will now go to the House of Delegates for further consideration.
St. Mary’s College and Historic St. Mary’s City Reception
On Tuesday, Senator Bailey was proud to host St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the Historic St. Mary’s City Commission for a legislative reception in Annapolis. This reception was an opportunity for representatives and students from these two important institutions in District 29 to meet with legislators to thank them for their prior support and share with them the good work each continues to do to benefit our State.
Teachers of the Year Honored
On Monday, the Senate honored the 2026 Teachers of the Year from each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions. Senator Bailey was pleased to welcome Calvert County’s Teacher of the Year William Voshell from Calvert High School and St. Mary’s County’s Teacher of the Year Tylita Butler from Esperanza Middle School to Annapolis to recognize their important work for our students.
Expanding Transparency and Accountability
In addition to his legislative agenda, Senator Bailey continues to be focused on opportunities to increase transparency and accountability in State government. During this session, the General Assembly has heard examples of where officials who are supposed to be ensuring this accountability are being denied access to the records that they need to conduct their investigations. For example, during one budget hearing earlier this year, the Inspector General for Education detailed how there are a number of school systems that are not complying with his office’s requests for records as part of ongoing investigations into possible waste, fraud, or abuse.
For this reason, Senator Bailey has co-sponsored Senate Bill 991 – Public Information Act – Inspectors General – Access of Public Records. This bill would require a custodian of a public record to allow an inspector general whose office is created by State or local law to inspect public records if required to carry out an investigation.
Public Meeting on Route 235 Proposal
On Thursday, March 12, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) will be holding a public meeting on a project that, as proposed, could reduce the number of lanes on Maryland Route 235 between Chancellors Run Road and Pegg Road to make room for a pedestrian trail. Senator Bailey is incredibly concerned about the impact that this will have on traffic in this area and is currently working to obtain more information about the proposal from SHA. While pedestrian safety projects are important, there are likely other projects that could use State investment to achieve the same goal in this part of St. Mary’s County, such as further extensions and improvements to the Three Notch Trail. Please see the information below from SHA if you would like to attend this meeting:
“The follow-up workshop will be held 5 – 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12, 2026, at Great Mills High School, 21130 Great Mills Road, Great Mills. SHA will present concepts that have been developed since the initial workshop for pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements along the MD 235 corridor. Attendees will have the opportunity to view these proposed improvements on maps and displays and offer feedback.”
Megalodon Hearing Thursday
Our office continues to hear from so many of you about how to testify on Senate Bill 135, which would designate the Megalodon as the State shark. The Senate bill hearing for this legislation will be held before the Senate’s Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee on Thursday, March 12 at 1:00 p.m. If you are interested in giving testimony to the Committee on this bill, all testimony must be submitted and all witnesses must sign up through the General Assembly website on Tuesday, March 10 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
You will need to use your MyMGA account or create an account on the General Assembly’s website (mgaleg.maryland.gov) to sign up to testify or submit written testimony on a bill.
Video tutorials about how to set up an account and submit testimony can be found at https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Information/VideoTutorials.
More information about the Senate’s committee witness guidelines can be found at https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/pubs/Other/2026SenateWitnessGuidelines.pdf.