‘Disappointed, not defeated': Backers of failed bills say they won't give up the fight

Yahoo

09-04-2025

Renter advocates gather in Annapolis to call on lawmakers to pass Good Cause Eviction legislation in mid-February. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters).
Jessica Brady Reader and Lauren Petit told lawmakers the heart-wrenching stories of their experiences with stillbirth and the emotional and financial toll it takes on a family, urging support for a bill that would grant a $1,000 tax credit to such families.
Reader felt that members of the House Ways and Means Committee were sympathetic to the issue, and she was hopeful for the bill's chances. But the measure never got a committee vote, which Reader attributes to lawmakers having to prioritize other legislation as the end of session neared.
'I am disappointed the bill did not become law, but I am definitely not defeated,' said Reader, a Kensington resident who is already planning to be back in the legislature next year to lobby the issue
She is one of the many advocates who work long hours to push for bills every year that they believe will help their lives or the lives of fellow Marylanders — only to watch their work of days, months, sometimes years fall by the wayside as their bills die.
And just as many are quick to begin work for the next session. Reader had already committed herself to 2026 less than 24 hours after the end of the 2025 legislature.
'I am very proud that, if nothing else, we're able to raise awareness through our advocacy this year,' Reader said.
Some advocates, like Reader and Petit, can only standby as their issues do not come up for a vote. Others saw their bills pass, but in a form they did not like. Still others have been fighting for years to see their proposals advance, but not far enough to become law.
For Matt Losak, executive director of the Montgomery County Renters Alliance, 2025 was the latest in more than a decade of unsuccessful attempts to pass so-called Good Cause evictions legislation.
He said advocates plan to be back next session to give the bill another run, after Senate Bill 651 stalled in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee right before the crossover deadline this year.
Losak said that the Good Cause legislation is desperately needed to protect renters, by requiring that landlords cite a specific reason when they do not renew a lease with a current tenant. The bill that failed this year would have allowed local jurisdictions to adopt such eviction policies.
'It is the essential legislation that will protect tens of thousands of Marylanders from unfair eviction. Even though it has not succeeded year after year, what has happened is it has succeeded in getting greater attention and greater support,' Losak said.
Environmentalists at the Potomac Riverkeeper Network were 'deeply frustrated and disappointed' about the failure of legislation to restrict PFAS chemicals, so-called 'forever chemicals' for their extreme persistence in the environment. They are already planning to be back next year.
One bill would have limited the concentration of certain PFAS chemicals in the biosolids that come from wastewater treatment plants, and are often spread on farm fields. The bill did not get out of committee, in the face of opposition from wastewater treatment plant operators, but it is still desperately needed said Betsy Nicholas, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network's, in a statement.
Nicholas said she looks forward to working with the bill's sponsors, Del. Dana Stein (D-Baltimore County) and Sen. Sara Love (D-Montgomery), as well as the state Department of the Environment, to regulate PFAS in biosolids 'through a combination of regulations and legislation.'
'There was too much agreement from too many stakeholders to walk away from the concept,' wrote Evan Isaacson, a senior attorney for the Chesapeake Legal Alliance.
The nonprofit ShoreRivers also plans to keep advocating for the bill, as well as additional bans on PFAS — a shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in consumer products, said Matt Pluta, the Choptank Riverkeeper and director of riverkeeper programs at the organization.
'The lack of progress on this year's bill means continued use of PFAS-laden biosolids with no end date in site, which will further contaminate local groundwater and surface waters,' Pluta said in a statement. 'This, in turn, increases health risks from contaminated drinking water, local seafood, and wild game.'
Another PFAS bill did advance — but not in the direction advocates wanted. They initially supported a bill banning certain PFAS from pesticides in Maryland, but pulled their support when lawmakers narrowed the definition of PFAS frustrating groups like Maryland's Smart on Pesticides Coalition, who feared that it would loosen PFAS regulation elsewhere in the state.
'There will be conversations in the interim to figure out what the best way to move forward is. We want those important conversations to happen before making any decisions on next session,' said Bonnie Raindrop, the group's coordinator.
Immigrant advocates said they also plan to come back next year after an emotional evening on the last day of the legislature when lawmakers pushed through migrant protections at the last minute, but stripped out one of the strongest protections — a prohibition on so-called 287(g) agreements between county police and federal immigration officials. Critics say the agreements allow local police to essentially act in an immigration capacity.
Lawmakers pass watered-down immigrant protections bill in final minutes of 2025 session
'We'll be back next year — stronger, more organized and committed to ending 287(g),' said Cathryn Jackson, policy director for CASA, in a text Tuesday. 'Every day this program stays in place, more families are harmed and the urgency for action increases.'
Members of Maryland's immigrant populations had high hopes for House Bill 1222, which would have restricted 287(g) agreements. Lawmakers wound up adding other protections to the bill — to safeguard immigrants' personal data and limit immigration agents authority in spaces like churches and schools. But with the clock ticking on the session, they stripped out 287(g) language as they rushed to pass a watered-down bill in the face of the Trump administration's mass deportations.
Jackson said it was 'deeply disappointing' that lawmakers, particularly in the Senate, 'didn't rise to the moment' and restrict 287(g) agreements this session, but said that the fight is 'far from over.'
'We're not going anywhere,' she said.
Another bill that advocates said was watered down was the Second Look Act, which would allow some people who served at least 20 years in prison to petition the court for a reduced sentence. That person couldn't be convicted a sex offender and cannot have been sentenced without the possibility of parole.
After years of trying, House Bill 853, sponsored by Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Baltimore County), passed this year and is now before the governor. But advocates are upset by a last-minute Senate amendment that makes the law unavailable to anyone convicted of killing a first responder.
The bill also narrowed Pasteur's previously submitted bills by make the law available only to those convicted of a crime they committed between the ages of 18 to 25, which would be about 350 people.
Yanet Amanuel, public policy director for the ACLU of Maryland, said individuals sentenced to life without parole should not have been excluded.
'Some of the most deserving people to receive a second chance are those serving LWOP [life without parole] sentences,' Amanuel said Tuesday. 'People do change after 20 years. There are very deserving people who have been rehabilitated and…had mentors of people who were inside [prison].'
For advocates like Reader, each attempt is another chance to push their issue forward until, one day, their bill becomes law.
'This one didn't quite make it across the finish line this time,' Reader said. 'But we had gotten such positive feedback both in the Senate and the House when we testified, so I am pretty confident that we'll be able to grow our support next session.'