On Tuesday, Senator Bailey presented two bills related to education and public safety. The first, Senate Bill 583, would create a system for parents to report classroom disruptions to the Maryland Center for School Safety to collect data on disruptions and ensure that local school systems are responding appropriately to parental concerns. The second, Senate Bill 673, changes provisions of law that govern the management of the Maryland Natural Resources Police force to give the Secretary of Natural Resources more authority over the hiring and promotion processes, similar to other statewide law enforcement agencies such as the State Police. Senator Bailey also included amendments with this bill to address concerns that were brought to him by NRP officers and DNR.
On Wednesday, Senator Bailey presented bills to benefit hunters in District 29 and throughout the State. The Senator was honored to be joined by Calvert County Commissioner President Buddy Hance to present Senate Bill 220, which would expand Sunday hunting in Calvert County to each Sunday of the game bird and game mammal seasons. He also presented Senate Bill 582, which would provide protections for landowners who allow hunters to use their property by clarifying that these landowners are covered by Maryland’s recreational use statute.
Three more of Senator Bailey’s bills were passed by Senate committees this week. The first, Senate Bill 579 would help protect State and local highway maintenance workers by authorizing their service equipment and vehicles owned by the State or local governments to use green flashing lights simultaneously with yellow or amber flashing lights while in use. The second, Senate Bill 455, would establish a pilot program and a task force to work towards obtaining more accurate data to estimate the number of fish caught in Maryland’s waterways by recreational anglers. The third, Senate Bill 876, would establish a surcharge on civil and administrative penalties imposed for the discharge of pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries and give this revenue to a new Oyster Repletion Fund to finance the repletion of natural oyster bars in waters impacted by water pollution violations. These bills now go to the full Senate for their consideration next week.
Calvert Bond Authority
On Thursday, Senator Bailey voted to support Senate Bill 442, which provides Calvert County with the authority they need to issue bonds for capital projects in the County. This bill passed with an amendment to include a new facility for the Solomons Volunteer Rescue Squad and Fire Department in this bill, which will allow Calvert County to move forward with this important project.
Senate Republican Tax Relief Bills
At a press conference this week, the Senate Republican Caucus announced a number of bills intended to provide Marylanders with needed tax relief. These bills include Senate Bill 337, which would repeal the automatic annual increase in the gas tax that is tied to inflation, and Senate Bill 735, which would repeal the “Netflix Tax,” the sales tax imposed two years ago on digital products. Senator Bailey is proud to be a co-sponsor of both of these bills, particularly Senate Bill 337 to prevent looming increases in the gas tax at a time when gas prices are already unacceptably high.
Crime Bill Passes Committee
On Wednesday, the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee voted to pass a bill that included provisions intended to combat the issue of rising crime in our State. Senate Bill 861 was amended to include elements of two bills that Senator Bailey co-sponsored that make the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony a crime of violence and to make theft of a handgun a felony.
Federal Funding for St. Patrick Creek Dredging
Congressman Steny Hoyer has informed our office that the Federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill includes $2 million in funding for dredging St. Patrick Creek.