Maryland record year: 890 bills passed, 142 already law

By Len Lazarick

Len@MarylandReporter.com

In a record year in which 3,127 bills and joint resolutions were introduced, 890 bills or 28% were passed and 142 have already become laws, most of them (114) in Tuesday’s bill signing.

At the signing ceremony, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan continued to tout bipartisan cooperation and the contrast with Washington inaction, a theme he plans to carry through his reelection campaign in heavily Democratic Maryland.

“The success of our legislative session shows that, unlike the partisan gridlock we see in Washington, here in Annapolis we work together in common sense, bipartisan way to get things done,” Hogan said. “I want to thank the legislature for joining with us to make our schools safer, protect our communities from violent crime, provide tax relief for hardworking Marylanders, ensure our citizens have access to health care and create even more jobs.”

Here is a list of bills signed Tuesday. The most significant statewide measures are on the first two pages, with many local bills at the bottom of the list.

Record number die

While the number of bills and joint resolutions set a record, breaking a record set just last year by 266, the number of bills passed this session did not match last year’s record of 935, according to compilations by the Department of Legislative Services.

That also means that a record number 2,237 bills and resolutions died this session in one way or another, some in the final flurry of last day activity Monday.

There were also 854 bills cross-filed this year, meaning the same version was introduced in the House and Senate, with sponsors in both houses. Of the bills filed this session, 382 had been introduced in previous annual sessions of the legislature.

Final status of bills we covered

Here is the final status of some legislation previously reported on by MarylandReporter.com.

• A bill to put sports gambling on the November ballot passed the House but died without a vote in a Senate committee after a March 27 hearing.
• A late-moving bill to provide Maryland’s own protection for Internet privacy and net neutrality that passed the House last Thursday never made it out of the Senate Rules Committee.
• Last Thursday, Hogan allowed two bills to become law without his signature that allows unions to receive personal contact information of new state employees and contact them within 30 days of hire about union membership benefits. Both bills were sponsored by Sen. Richard Madaleno, D-Montgomery, a candidate for governor this year.
• Bills to ban conversion therapy in the state, SB1028, also sponsored by Madaleno, and, HB 532, same-day voter registration, have passed the Senate and the House and are headed to Hogan’s desk for his signature.
• A bill bringing possible relief to Maryland motorists who face thousands of dollars in fines from unpaid E-ZPass tolls finally passed both houses on Monday after some back and forth between committees over the amount of the fines.
• A bill to cover casino revenue losses to boost education funding won final passage in the House and Senate last week.

Here is a list of the 890 bills passed this session.

Reporter Glynis Kazanjian contributed to this story.