Dear neighbor,
The 2021 legislation session of the Maryland General Assembly has concluded and it was an especially productive 90 days. We passed major legislation to overhaul policing, improve the unemployment system, address public and mental health, continue education improvements, and much more.
It was a highly productive session for me personally, with one bill already enacted into law, seven bills awaiting the Governor’s signature, and three additional bills passing the House. I also had the honor of being the floor leader for a high-profile bill to provide economic relief to immigrants.
I’m incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to represent Gaithersburg and Rockville in the House of Delegates and look forward to continuing to engage with you.
Economic Relief
Too many Marylanders and businesses are struggling because of the pandemic. Early in the session, we passed the RELIEF Act, which provided 422,531 Marylanders one-time stimulus payments, as well as significantly boosted an existing tax credit that benefits low-income workers. This law also exempted unemployment benefits from state income taxes. Small businesses benefited from deferred payment of unemployment insurance taxes and by allowing them to keep some of the sales tax they collect.
I had the honor of being the floor leader for a bill to provide economic relief to Maryland taxpayers who are immigrants or who live in a mixed-status family. This new law allows Marylanders who file their taxes using an ITIN number to qualify for a targeted tax credit for low-income workers. This provision was amended into a bill sponsored by Senator Nancy King and I to create a Maryland Child Tax Credit. This tax credit will help low-income families with a disabled child and who have been excluded from the federal Child Tax Credit because of their very low-income and/or immigration status.
Maryland received $3.9 billion in federal stimulus funds. The money will be spent to assist Marylanders struggling to pay their utility bills, to increase benefits for temporary cash assistance and temporary disability payments, to increase employment training and apprenticeships, and to bolster the state’s unemployment trust fund.
Our state’s tax code also contributes to economic hardships for some. A bill I sponsored with Senator Jim Rosapepe will allow counties to provide tax relief to working families by replacing the flat local income tax rate with a progressive tiered income tax. Another bill fixed the multi-year underpayment of property tax credits to low-income homeowners. Both bills are on the Governor’s desk for his consideration.
Police Reform
One of the most important issues before the General Assembly was police reform. I heard from more constituents on this issue than any other in the past year. The good news is that we passed a comprehensive package of bills that limit the use of force, restrict the use of no-knock warrants, require use of body-worn cameras, and ban the procurement of certain military equipment. Maryland is now the first state in the nation to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. The officer discipline process will also be overhauled through expanded civilian oversight, swifter and uniform penalties, expanded public access to police records, and a new independent unit in the Attorney General's office to investigate police-involved deaths. Although the Governor vetoed several of these bills, the legislature was successful in overriding these vetoes prior to adjournment.
Unemployment Reform
My office has heard from hundreds of constituents about problems with the state’s unemployment system. Consequently, I worked with some colleagues to research and propose a comprehensive set of recommendations on how to improve the system. House leadership agreed to the plan and the General Assembly subsequently passed a package of bills to ensure better customer service, faster response times, and essential fixes to prevent such failures from occurring again. The legislation also creates an easier process for applicants to track claims and to receive their benefits as either paper checks or through direct deposit. We also increased from $50 to $200 the weekly amount claimants can earn while still receiving unemployment benefits and made it easier for people who lose their jobs to sign up for health insurance. All of these unemployment reform bills were enacted without the Governor’s signature.
Public and Mental Health
Addressing the pandemic continued to be a major focus. The COVID-19 Testing, Contact Tracing, and Vaccination Act of 2021 will ensure that the Maryland Department of Health continues to respond to and plan for needed state action. To that end, the annual budget included $572 million for COVID testing, contact tracing, and vaccinations. A newly enacted law expands telehealth access under Medicaid and requires all private insurers to cover telehealth medical visits.
We also took action to address long-standing disparities in public health by targeting new resources to communities with documented health disparities and by requiring health equity and bias training as part of the licensing process for all health care providers.
The pandemic has taken a toll on people’s mental health. A new law named for Thomas Bloom Raskin, Congressman Jamie Raskin’s son, creates an opt-in program for people who want to receive periodic mental health check-ins. I sponsored a bill to put life-saving information about Maryland’s crisis hotline on every college student id card. Other bills passed include a program to develop alternatives to the police for people experiencing a mental health crisis, allowing youth to seek mental health care, and making it easier for psychologists to practice across state lines.
Other bills awaiting the Governor’s signature include protections for essential workers during emergencies, stronger regulations on hospital debt collections, protections against lead in drinking water at schools, and requiring schools to provide free menstrual hygiene products in restrooms. Pharmacists will be required to notify consumers if lower-cost alternatives are available to fill their prescriptions. And I worked with a broad coalition of stakeholders to pass a bill to ban 12 toxic chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.
Housing
Many Marylanders fear losing their home because of the pandemic. Maryland may become the first state in the nation to grant tenants a right to counsel in specific eviction cases. Ninety-six percent of landlords come to court with a lawyer as opposed to only 1% of tenants. Another bill awaiting the Governor’s signature increases the amount of notice a landlord must give when they plan not to renew a lease. I sponsored a bill with Senator Shelly Hettleman to pave the way for use of reusable tenant screening reports, which will make apartment hunting less expensive.
The House passed other housing relief bills that unfortunately did not make it across the finish line, including to increase the eviction filing fee, to protect tenants in regards to utility billing and withheld security deposits, and to allow tenants who lost income due to COVID to use that as a defense in eviction proceedings.
Education
The legislature overrode the Governor’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, landmark reforms to ensure that every child receives a world-class education no matter their zip code. With this override, the Built to Learn Act also went into effect, which is the largest one-time investment in school construction in Maryland history. Montgomery County will receive an additional $55-$60 million a year as a result.
Additionally, we passed legislation to address student learning loss, support pregnant and parenting students, prohibit fees for K-12 summer classes, and protect educators with COVID-related medical concerns from being retaliated against.
Other notable education bills on the Governor’s desk include addressing hunger among college students and making it easier to transfer colleges.
Notably, education funding will increase. The General Assembly passed legislation to increase funding for Maryland’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities in order to level the playing field across Maryland institutions of higher education. We reversed the Governor’s proposed budget cuts for community colleges. K-12 public schools will benefit from a 3.5% increase in annual state aid and $600 million in federal stimulus funds for pandemic-related costs.
Environment & Animals
The House and Senate passed numerous bills to address climate change. Although the wide-ranging Climate Solutions Now Act didn’t make it across the finish line, several initiatives from the bill were included in other pieces of legislation that did pass. Bills to plant 5 million trees and to transition the state's fleet of buses to zero-emission vehicles were both sent to the Governor's desk.
We also passed bills to double the capacity for residential rooftop solar and community solar projects and to remove black liquor—a by-product of paper mills—from Maryland's Renewable Portfolio Standard. Montgomery County will also be allowed to proceed with a Community Choice Aggregation program to negotiate greener energy and lower electricity rates. Schools and businesses with cafeterias will be required to start composting food waste.
Several animal protection bills passed this year, including prohibiting organized wildlife killing contests, a ban on testing cosmetics on animals, and closing a loophole in the state’s prohibition on sales of animals from puppy and kitten mills.
Equity
The Speaker of the House championed a “Black agenda” of bills, several of which passed, to improve racial equity in homeownership, health, and economic opportunity.
My legislation to prohibit the use of the ‘panic defense’ passed. No longer can a defendant use a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as an excuse for the defendant’s violent action. Another bill awaiting the Governor’s signature would strengthen the state’s hate crime law. We also passed a bill to waive the requirement for someone to publish in the newspaper that they seek to change their legal name, which will protect the privacy of transgender Marylanders.
We passed data privacy protections to ensure that the federal government is not accessing Maryland driver’s license data unless they have a warrant; this was a major concern for the immigrant community. We also created a new Office of Immigrant Affairs in the Governor’s Office.
District 17’s own Senator Cheryl Kagan sponsored the bill that repeals our outdated state song, which sympathizes with Confederate motivations.
Voting
Maryland will soon have a new permanent mail-in ballot registry so that voters who always want a ballot mailed to them don’t need to make a request for each election. More than a dozen early voting centers will be added across the state in a newly enacted law and the hours of operation would be expanded to 7 am to 8 pm under another bill. We also passed improvements to voting access for college students, residents of retirement communities, and members of the military and ensured that individuals released from correctional facilities are notified of their restored voting rights. The state’s public financing system was also reformed.
Criminal Justice
After years of attempts, the Maryland Trust Act finally passed. This legislation prevents a police officer from asking about a person’s immigration status or transferring them to an ICE detention center. Part of this legislation was amended into the Dignity Not Detention Act, which bans new private immigration prisons in Maryland.
The House and Senate passed legislation to remove the Governor from parole decisions for those who are sentenced to life in prison; Maryland will now join the majority of states that follow this model. We also passed and overrode a veto to end juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole and provided compensation for individuals who were erroneously convicted, sentenced, and jailed. Another veto override closes a loophole on background checks for long gun transfers.
Other criminal justice reforms that passed include automatic expungement of certain criminal records that did not result in a conviction after three years and decriminalization of possession of certain drug paraphernalia. The General Assembly passed privacy protections for DNA information (e.g. from ancestry testing services) against unreasonable searches. My legislation to reward whistleblowers who report high dollar tax fraud to the Comptroller’s Office also passed.
Transportation
After a multi-year effort, the General Assembly passed legislation to establish minimum funding levels to keep our public transit in a state of good repair. Maryland has a $2 billion backlog of maintenance projects for our public transportation systems. The House once again passed several bills to put guardrails on the I-270/495 widening project, but the Senate again failed to act on the bills.
Funding
After facing a billion dollar deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the legislature passed a FY 2022 budget that eliminates the structural deficit for the next two years, restores the Rainy Day Fund, and leaves a cash balance to account for unforeseen impacts from COVID.
In total $125 million is coming to our county for capital projects, including schools, parks, and nonprofits. The Montgomery County Delegation secured funds for the completion of Montgomery College’s Leggett Math and Science Building. All of District 17’s funding requests for Interfaith Works and the Cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg were funded, plus an extra $150,000 I was able to secure for Manna Food Center.
Thank You
Even though the legislative session is over, my legislative office will continue to operate, albeit at a reduced capacity. Please reach out if there is anything I can do to assist you with state agencies or to share your opinion. The best way to reach me is julie.palakovichcarr@house.state.md.us.
Julie Palakovich Carr
Delegate, District 17