Several bills from Frederick County pass Maryland General Assembly as session winds down
Two of the bills that made it through the state legislature are based on priority legislation Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater submitted to the state delegation last year.
One, HB442, would allow statements made by a child to a professional forensic interviewer to be read in court. Currently, the rule against hearsay prevents forensic interviewers from testifying about statements children made to them.
The bill's primary sponsor is Del. Karen Simpson, a Democrat from District 3.
Fitzwater, a Democrat, had also asked the delegation to propose a statewide version of Family Connects Frederick County. The program provides a free home visit with a nurse to families with a newborn baby delivered at Frederick Health Hospital.
But the amended legislation that advanced to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore — HB334 in the state House of Delegates and SB156 in the state Senate — stops short of expanding the program to other jurisdictions.
Instead, the cross-filed bills will establish a work group on universal nurse home visiting services in the state. The work group would be tasked with compiling data on existing services, identifying gaps in service and making recommendations to the state legislature by the end of 2025.
Del. Ken Kerr sponsored the House version of the bill. Sen. Karen Lewis Young sponsored the Senate version. Both Kerr and Lewis Young are Democrats representing District 3.
Kerr is also the lead sponsor of a bill establishing a work group on cyber security at hospitals and other health care entities. That bill has also advanced to the governor.
Kerr previously told The Frederick News-Post that he hoped HB333 could prevent data breaches like the one that occurred this year at FHH, in which patients' names, Social Security numbers, birthdays and addresses were compromised.
Also of note in the public health sphere is HB39, which would repeal a Maryland law that criminalizes knowingly transferring or attempting to transfer HIV.
Advocates of the bill have said that the intentional transfer of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases is already covered by the state's reckless endangerment statute, which has a higher penalty.
They have also argued that the existing law unnecessarily stigmatizes people with HIV and discourages people from knowing their HIV status.
The bill's lead sponsor is Del. Kris Fair (D-3), who is also the director of The Frederick Center, a nonprofit organization that caters to the LGBTQ+ community.
In a press release on Thursday, Fair called the bill's passage 'a win for public health, for racial justice, and for correcting historical wrongs.'
Three bills sponsored by the entire Frederick County delegation have also been approved by the General Assembly. They are:
* HB512
* — to increase the number of ounces of alcohol Frederick County businesses with salon liquor permits such as barbershops and hair salons can serve to customers
HB866
* — to allow the manager or other official of a theater in Frederick County to hold the establishment's liquor license
HB1026
* — to update the rules for beer and wine tastings in Frederick County
* Two other pieces of legislation requested by Fitzwater were still pending the General Assembly as of press time on Friday. They are:
SB175
* — to ban the sale, transfer or distribution of nonconductive jacketed corrugated stainless steel tubing, a common fuel gas piping material linked to the 2021 line-of-duty death of Frederick County Battalion Chief Josh Laird.
* As of press time on Friday, the bill had been amended and passed by the House. The Senate must still approve the amended version. The legislative session is scheduled to conclude at the end of the night on Monday.
HB23
* — to allow the governing body of a county or Baltimore City to set special tax rates for certain commercial or industrial property for the purpose of financing transportation improvements or public education.
As of press time on Friday, the bill was still in the Senate's Budget and Taxation Committee after passing in the House.
Moore will have until May 27 to sign or veto each bill passed by the state legislature during the 2025 session. A bill also can become law if the governor takes no action.
Most of the bills that become law will take effect on Oct. 1. Bills related to budget and taxation will take effect on July 1, the first day of fiscal year 2026.
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