Under the shadow of the solar eclipse, Montgomery County-based legislators and their colleagues hunkered down Monday at the Maryland State House in Annapolis, attempting to push through as many bills as possible during the final hours of the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session.
Closing day of the legislative session, known as “sine die,” is the last opportunity for lawmakers to pass any outstanding legislation. Any bill that does not pass on Monday by midnight will have to be reintroduced in the next session in January 2025.
“I’m extremely proud of the House Democrats and what we did for the tenants, for patients … in terms of my committee; juvenile justice, gun safety, also fighting for victims of sexual assault,” Del. Aaron Kaufman (D-Dist. 18), who represents Chevy Chase and Kensington, told MoCo360.
One such piece of legislation is the Tenant Safety Act of 2024, sponsored by Del. Vaughn Stewart (D-Dist. 19), who represents Silver Spring, which passed Monday afternoon. The bill allows tenants to join together as plaintiffs to sue landlords if they fail to repair any part of a rental property that is dangerous or poses a health risk.
Other bills sponsored by Montgomery County lawmakers that passed Monday afternoon include the Gift Card Scam Prevention Act, sponsored by Sen. Ben Kramer (D-Dist. 19), who represents Silver Spring, which creates new regulations to prevent gift card fraud, and the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024, sponsored by Del. Sara Love (D-Dist. 16), who represents Bethesda, which will create regulations around online consumer data collection and allow consumers to revoke access to their data.
Del. Joe Vogel (D-Dist. 17), who represents Rockville and Gaithersburg, told MoCo360 prior to the first voting session on Monday afternoon that he has two bills he is hoping will cross the finish line by midnight. One would establish a Climate Technology Founder’s Fund in the Maryland Clean Energy Center.
“It would allocate $7 million dollars of funding for early-stage climate startups, to bring in climate companies from other states, and to invest in programs that help academics and professors and students turn their ideas into businesses in the climate space, creating jobs and addressing the climate,” Vogel said.
Vogel said he is also optimistic about another piece of legislation he sponsored, HB1091, which would provide security funding for abortion clinics and other medical facilities that offer reproductive health care.
Kaufman is also holding out for passage of a bill he co-sponsored with district partner Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Dist. 18) the Jaycee Webster Victims Rights Act. It’s named for Jaycee Webster, a Silver Spring resident who was murdered in 2017. The legislation would require victims and their relatives to be provided with support services and be notified by a human, not an automated service, if the perpetrator is released from prison.
Del. Jared Solomon (D-Dist. 18), who represents Chevy Chase and Kensington, said this was the most “normal” sine die he’d experienced in six years in the legislature, noting the pressures of COVID-19 had lessened this session, which he said helped with productivity.
“We’ve had an incredibly successful session … a bill that I’ve worked on now for two years to overhaul the way school systems do active shooter drills and trainings, and require school systems to send home information on safe gun storage passed unanimously out of both chambers,” Solomon said, referencing HB0461. “That is a huge, huge victory for keeping our young people safe and protecting their mental health and well-being.”
Both the House and Senate will continue to meet until midnight.