On Monday night, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 68 – Sexual Offenses – Crime of Violence and Lifetime Supervision, which Senator Bailey introduced to strengthen Maryland’s laws protecting minors against sexual abuse. This bill now goes to the House of Delegates for their consideration.
Senator Bailey also introduced three more bills this week:
Senate Bill 913 – Board of Public Works – Sotterley Plantation – Operating Grant would provide a State grant to fund the operations of Historic Sotterley in St. Mary’s County for the next three years to support this important historical site in our district.
Senate Bill 914 – Grossly Negligent or Drunk or Drugged Operation of Vehicle or Vessel – Penalties and Prior Convictions strengthens Maryland’s drunk driving laws by increasing the penalties for manslaughter and homicide by vehicle or vessel. The bill would also ensure that drunk driving of vehicles and boats are treated the same when considering whether an individual is a repeat offender, which would result in stronger penalties.
Senate Bill 960 – Natural Resources – Hunting and Fishing Offenses – Expungement would allow for the expungement of hunting and fishing offenses in a manner that is consistent with expungements that are available for other violations in Maryland law.
Bill Hearings
On Wednesday, Senator Bailey presented three more of his bills to the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee. The first, Senate Bill 456 – Firearms – Handgun Qualification License – Firearms Orientation Component, would permit the use of simulated ammunition to demonstrate an applicant’s safe operation and handling of a firearm, which would eliminate a regulation that was enacted to obstruct a law abiding citizen from obtaining a Handgun Qualification License (HQL) during the O’Malley administration. The second, Senate Bill 457 – Workgroup to Study Trial in Absence would study reducing the amount of arrest warrants issued for minor crimes and allowing the police to concentrate on more serious crimes. The third, Senate Bill 517 – Criminal Procedure – Location Information – Exigent Circumstances (Kelsey Smith Act for Maryland), would require cell phone carriers to provide law enforcement with location information of an electronic device in an emergency, rather than having to wait hours and days which is currently occurring.
Accountability and Implementation Board
Senator Bailey spoke this week on the Senate floor about the importance of ensuring that Southern Maryland and all regions of our State are represented on the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), which is responsible for overseeing the education reforms initiated by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Currently, all 7 members of this Board are from 4 counties in Central Maryland. Senator Bailey voted against the confirmation of members of the AIB due to this lack of representation from all parts of our State and that they ignored the facts that we have one of the highest graduation rates and the longest teacher retention in the state.
Election Integrity Announcement
This week, the Senate and House Republican Caucuses announced a package of bills to help improve election integrity in Maryland. This package includes two Senate bills, one that requires voters to show identification in Maryland before voting and one to require increased auditing of mail-in ballots for signature verification. Senator Bailey is a co-sponsor of both of these bills.
Recognition of Student Page
This week, Senator Bailey met with Cheyenne Toma, a student at Leonardtown High School, who attended a session this week as one of the General Assembly’s pages, to thank her for her work in support of the General Assembly.