Latest news with #HB930
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Shift change on the second floor, an abortion bill advances and chromite is ready for its closeup
Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller pose with newly sworn in Cabinet members, administration officials and their families after a Wednesday event at the State House. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters) Some have already started in an acting capacity, some have yet to get the keys to the new office, but they all gathered Wednesday on the second floor of the State House where Gov. Wes Moore (D) made it official, swearing in two new Cabinet-level secretaries and seven office leaders. The nominees had to be confirmed by the Senate before they could be sworn in. The Cabinet secretaries got the full deal — one hand in the air and one on a Bible, before signing an official book. The others got their own handshake and photo op with the governor. New Cabinet officials included Commerce Secretary Harry Coker Jr. and Dr. Meena Seshamani, the next secretary of Health who starts Tuesday. Others included new Maryland Cannabis Administration Director Tabatha Robinson, Maryland Insurance Administrator Marie Grant, Correctional Ombudsman Yvonne Briley-Wilson, Katrina Wiggins as administrator of the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Boards and Shelly Martin as inspector general of Health. Also sworn in was new Appointments Secretary Mollie Byron, who is taking over from Tisha Edwards, who was Wednesday's ringleader, one of her last jobs in the office. During the ceremony, Moore commended his administration's newest officials for serving the state as it navigates 'multiple storms at once.' Those 'storms' include 'a business model in the state of Maryland that needed updating' and 'knowing that the relationship between the federal government and its states has been ruptured,' Moore said. Moore got a laugh in his opening remarks when he said that Robinson, the new Maryland Cannabis Administration director, would 'light up' Maryland. 'No pun intended,' Moore said with a laugh, apologizing to his communications staff. 'That wasn't even in my notes.' Legislation to create new grants to fund abortion services, using untapped funds from insurance surcharges, has now won approval from both chambers and is well on its way to becoming Maryland law. The Senate approved House Bill 930, sponsored by Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery), on a largely party-line 31-15 vote Wednesday. It was unchanged from the verion the House passed 98-37 in March, meaning the bill is now off to Gov. Wes Moore's (D) desk, where he is expected to sign it given his history of support for reproductive rights. HB930 would give the state Department of Health access to about $25 million in funds that were collected as part of the federal Affordable Care Act, but have not been spent down. The money comes from $1-a-month fee that insurers in the ACA marketplace are required to collect on every policy, to fund abortion services for their policyholders. Before approving the legislation, Democratic senators shot down an amendment from Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) to restrict the use of those funds for Maryland residents only — an amendment he previously offered on the Senate version of the bill, which was rejected. 'This has nothing to do with the legality of abortion, the access to abortion for anyone in Maryland,' Ready said. 'It just says we're going to prioritize these Maryland ratepayer dollars for Maryland women.' Sen. Dawn Gile (D-Anne Arundel), who led floor discussion on the bill, said that the uptick from out-of-state patients seeking abortion in the state was one of the leading reasons to support the legislation and those patients should not be cut out of the bill by Ready's amendment. 'Our health care infrastructure here is under distress. We have lots of people here from out of state, it's very important that individuals have access to these funds,' she said. 'This is about basic access to health, using funds that are available, that are sitting in these accounts.' The Senate version, Senate Bill 848, is identical and has already received both House and Senate approval, so it also awaits the Governor's consideration.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GOP attempt to derail abortion-funding bill falls short after emotional debate
Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery), in the House chamber Thursday, defended her bill to create a fund to help pay for abortion services for uninsured and underinsured women. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Lawmakers on both sides of the abortion debate shared personal and emotional stories Thursday, with one holding back tears at one point, in a failed Republican attempt to derail a bill that would make millions available to help pay for the procedure. The House ultimately voted 98-37 along party lines Thursday night to approve House Bill 930, but not before 40 minutes of debate during a House session earlier in the day when Republicans tried to put up a variety of amendments. The debate, at times, got personal. Del. Tiffany T. Alston, (D-Prince George's County), said the state should stay out of decisions about an abortion, which 'should be made between a doctor and a patient.' 'As someone who has had a transvaginal ultrasound and had an ectopic pregnancy, you do not get those sounds out of your head,' Alston said. 'It was a medical emergency – and it is not the government's business about what happens with my body, when I am meeting with my doctor. We should not be legislating this stuff.' On the other side, Del. April Rose (R-Frederick and Carroll) told the story of a niece who was encouraged to end her pregnancy due to presumed medical issues of the fetus. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'My niece had a transvaginal ultrasound. Her baby was the size, actually smaller, than this bottle,' she said, holding up a standard-sized disposable water bottle. 'She was told that she should abort the baby because of all of the potential health implications. He is 4 – and he is fantastic,' Rose said, her voice starting to shake as she held back tears. 'I am standing for him, and for the women who should have the opportunity to make the choice of life.' Many of the amendments debated Thursday were recycled versions of measures that have been tried and killed in recent committee hearings or in previous years by the heavily Democratic and pro-abortion legislature. Anti-abortion arguments can be a tough sell in Maryland, where voters in November voted 3-1 for a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights, but that didn't keep Republican lawmakers from trying. They were challenging Del. Lesley J. Lopez's (D-Montgomery) HB930, which would give the state Department of Health access to about $25 million in funds that were collected as part of the federal Affordable Care Act, but have not been spent down. The money comes from $1-a-month fee that insurers in the ACA marketplace are required to collect on every policy to fund abortion services for their policyholders. The fund has been growing by about $3 million a year for the past 15 years, as collections have outpaced need. If the bill is passed and signed into law, those funds would be distributed to providers to help cover abortion costs for uninsured and underinsured individuals, along with other situations. Del. William J. Wivell (R-Washington and Frederick) offered an amendment that would require data collection on abortions done in the state, including the method of abortion, age of the fetus and reason for the abortion. Lopez reminded him that he submitted similar language in a bill back in 2020, when it 'died a dignified and peaceful death in a drawer,' she said, meaning the bill was never brought to a vote because it was not likely to pass out of the Health and Government Operations Committee. 'The reason why the committee did not move on it, was because it was out of alignment with the will of the committee and the will of the body,' Lopez said. 'We have been actively working to try to protect data on reproductive care for years.' When that amendment failed on party lines, Wivell offered an amendment that would have required a 24-hour wait time after a transabdominal ultrasound before a pregnant patient could receive an abortion. It would also have the physician offer to let the patient hear the 'fetal heartbeat.' The amendment resembled legislation that was scheduled for a hearing in February but withdrawn by the sponsor, said Lopez, who called for its defeat. 'I think it's important to note that just last November, our voters, in almost every single legislative district, voted to enshrine reproductive rights without conditions into our constitution — and what this amendment does, is introduce a condition for care,' Lopez said. Del. Susan K. McComas (R-Harford), didn't see it that way, and argued that Wivell's amendment was a matter of 'informed consent.' 'I have been corresponding with a lady out in Western Maryland who has had two abortions,' McComas said 'She is very, very sorry that she was not allowed to know that she could have a sonogram, and she might not have had those two abortions if she knew she could hear a heartbeat.' Marathon of abortion-related bills in House Health committee shows fight is not over in the state That amendment failed, as did three other GOP proposals, including one to require the collection of data on how many, if any, taxpayer dollars go to abortion services for out-of-state patients. Another would have restricted use of the ACA grants to abortions provided to Maryland residents, excluding patients who come in from out of town. The last amendment would have required that abortion providers receive training to spot signs of sex trafficking victims. Lopez said that was unnecessary, since medical providers already get similar training. Lopez urged passage of her bill, saying the ACA dollars would otherwise go to waste. 'These funds have been collected for the past 15 years, and they have no other purpose than going to provide abortion services,' Lopez said. 'If we do not use those funds, if we do not have a grant program, they will continue to get dusty, they will go unused.' Full House approval of the bill comes just days before Monday's 'cross-over' deadline, the date by which a bill must be approved by one chamber of the legislature to be guaranteed a hearing in the other. The Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill 848, was approved 8-3 in a party-line vote in the Finance Committee earlier this week. It is likely to come up for a vote by the full Senate soon. In committee, Republicans unsuccessfully offered two familiar amendments to SB848, which was sponsored by Sen. Guy Guzzone (D-Howard). Sen. Johnny Mautz (R-Middle Shore) on Wednesday offered an amendment to require reporting on the use of taxpayer funds toward abortion, specifically looking at how many residents are benefiting from the fund compared to the number of out-of-state patients, similar to an amendment that would be offered on HB 390 the following day. Same goes for an amendment that Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) offered, to require that ACA-funded grants for abortion services be restricted to Maryland residents. Both Republican-backed amendments failed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Marathon of abortion-related bills in House Health committee shows fight is not over in the state
Del. Lesley Lopez sponsorsed HB 930, which would create a grant fund to help expand abortion access. The bill is part of the priority legislation for the The Women Legislators of Maryland. (Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Marylanders overwhelmingly voted in support of enshrining reproductive rights into the state constitution back in November, but that doesn't mean the debate ended on Election Day. A slew of abortion-related bills from both sides of the issue were heard over an afternoon of testimony Thursday before the House Health and Government Operations Committee. It started with a bill that would tap into around $25 million to expand abortion services, from a fund collected by Affordable Care Act insurers, and ended with a handful of bills from anti-abortion Republicans that have not made it out of committee in recent years. Despite the outcome of the reproductive freedom ballot question last year, both sides on Thursday claimed their bills to be what Marylanders want it comes to abortion. 'Abortion has long been used as a political football,' Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery) said in opening remarks for House Bill 930. 'But the truth it clear. It is widely supported across political parties: 76% of Marylanders supported adding full reproductive access to our Constitution.' Her bill would utilize money that has been collecting dust for around 15 years. A requirement in the Affordable Care Act, it prompts insurers collect a $1 premium per person per month that can only be used for abortion services. Lopez says that over the course of 15 years, the fund has accumulated some $25 million, which could be used to provide abortion coverage for uninsured or underinsured individuals. Her bill would create a grant fund with those dollars to do so. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE She noted that Maryland plays a unique role in the post-Dobbs-decision world, as the state is considered a safe haven for those seeking abortions coming from states that have restricted or even banned abortions. 'An unpredictable patchwork of rights and restrictions force our urgent attention,' Lopez said. 'Our work is more important now than ever before.' But some Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion advocates think Maryland should take a cue from states like Texas and restrict abortion access when doctors can hear the 'fetal heartbeat,' which can be as early as six weeks of gestation, according to state analysts. Del. Ric Metzgar (R-Baltimore County) is sponsoring House Bill 108, which would require a physician to listen for a fetal heartbeat before administering an abortion, which would be prohibited if a heartbeat is heard except under certain circumstances. Metzgar was not able to introduce the bill himself, so his chief of staff, Paul Blitz, presented the bill to the committee. Jonathan Alexandre, legislative counsel for the Maryland Family Institute, argued that the heartbeat is the 'indisputable' sign of life. 'So much happens with the engine that is our heart,' he said in support of the bill. 'And it is the scientifically proven, indisputable way for us to know that there are signs of life within that child, within that human. It is the uninterrupted, universal sign of life. The only thing that does interrupt that heartbeat, legally in the state, is an abortionist's scalpel or an abortion pill, meant to stop that child's heartbeat.' The hearing moved swiftly on the restrictive bills, with only a couple advocates speaking in support of each bill. Two Republican-backed bills take issue with the state's lack of reporting abortion data to federal officials, and offered to change that with legislation to require data collection on abortions in the state. House Bill 1357 is sponsored by Del. Teresa E. Reilly (R-Cecil and Harford), who could not make the hearing due to a family conflict. Del. Thomas S. Hutchinson (R-Middle Shore), introduced the bill in her stead, which would require the Department of Health to collect data on the costs of birth, postpartum care, pregnancy care, and abortion in the state. Laura Bogley, executive director for Maryland Right to Life, emphasized that the bill would not restrict anyone's access to an abortion. 'It would advance women's reproductive health care by enabling the state to accurately measure the degree of which public investments in reproductive health care are actually serving the needs of pregnant women and their families,' Bogley said. 'It has no bearings on a woman's access to abortion.' Del. Robin Grammer (R-Baltimore County) introduced House Bill 373, which would have the state report data to the annual Abortion Surveillance report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Maryland is one of only four states that does not participate, along with California, New Hampshire and New Jersey. Sources like the Guttmacher Institute track abortion data in Maryland. According to Guttmacher, more than 30,000 abortions occurred in Maryland in 2020. But those in support of Grammer's legislation say that Maryland should contribute to the federal dataset. Jeffrey S. Trimbath, president of the Maryland Family Institute, argues that data collection is valuable regardless of whether someone is pro-abortion or anti-abortion. 'Regardless of which side of the debate you're on, you should want good data,' Trimbath said. 'How many abortions are taking place in Maryland? Are there certain neighborhoods, economic groups, ethnic groups in which abortions are taking place more than others? 'Are there correlational indicators that inform this practice — such as the number of previous abortions, number of live births, the person's marital status?' he asked. 'All of these are important questions that could inform good policy on either side of this issues.'
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Women's caucus pushes access to child care, health care as legislative priorities
The Women Legislators of Maryland released their list of priority bills for 2025. From left: Del. Teresa Woorman, Del. Michele Guyton, Del. Dana Jones, Del. Nicole Williams, Del. Lesley Lopez and Del. Jessica Feldmark . (Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Prerelease services for incarcerated women, grant funds for abortion access, cancer screenings and tax credits for child care facilities are just a smattering of the legislative priorities for the Women Legislators of Maryland. The women's caucus on Monday evening announced a priority list of 15 bills for the 2025 legislative session, with the possibility of more to come. Almost all the bills deal with access to child care or health care, amid potentially disruptive policies from the Trump administration. 'In November, we knew to believe the President-elect, that women's health care would be under attack,' Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel), president of the women's caucus, said Monday evening. 'It became clear to us that the caucus's … priority must be to do everything in our power to support and defend women's health care in Maryland. 'We're not going to sit idly by and watch women get hurt, and we are going to do everything in our power to fight back,' she said. The caucus is currently comprised only of Democratic lawmakers, as Republican women no longer participate. The caucus' priorities list includes six bills related to health care access and eight for child care. The priorities also include a bill that would help incarcerated women have an easier transition back into private life. Black Caucus lays out legislative priorities for 2025 session One of the top priorities is a renewed effort to tap into funds that are required to be collected by insurance carriers that cover abortion services. The Affordable Care Act requires those insurers to collect $1 premium per member per month and hold it in a 'segregated fund,' according to bill sponsor Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery). HB 930 would use those dollars to create a Public Health Abortion Grant Program Fund that would be used to expand access to abortion in the state. Lopez said that there is about $25 million available, though the official fiscal analysis has not yet been released. But it's not just abortion access — the caucus is pushing to improve women's health care overall, prioritizing several bills that call for expanding access to various screenings and testing for cancer. The caucus also supports a bill to do away with the sunset date for a health care subsidy aimed at helping young adults more easily afford health care. Del. Karen Toles (D-Prince George's) sponsored HB 1251, which would allow certified doulas into the birthing room, in addition to a patient's authorized guests, among other measures. She said that allowing a doula into the birthing room will provide 'extra eyes, ears' during labor, especially as other guests, such as a spouse, may not feel comfortable. 'The men that are the fathers want to be able to … [protect] the mothers that are giving birth to their child, but they may also be a little nervous as well,' Toles said. 'So having that additional person in the room will be extra eyes and ears and protection for the mothers.' On the child care front, several of the caucus' priority bills would make it easier to start a new child care facility. It comes at a time when families are struggling to find child care. 'Marylanders lack access to affordable, or any, child care services, which has women and families facing serious economic disadvantages,' Jones said. HB 389, sponsored by Jones and Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery) would let local jurisdictions provide a property tax credit for child day care facilities. 'At the end of the day, this is about money,' Palakovich Carr said. 'Most of these providers are small businesses. They are often women-owned businesses who are struggling, and by providing them some relief on their property taxes, we can help make their businesses viable.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore County) sponsors a bill aimed to help those starting a new child care facility. She said that 'one of the primary barriers to starting a licensed family child care center is that often landlords prohibit it.' Under HB 911, landlords would no longer be able to ban or prohibit the operation of a child care facility on their property, so long as the child care center adheres to established state and local regulations to operate the facility. The landlord would be able to require a security deposit up to two months' worth of rent from a tenant who wants to operate a child care facility on the property. At the end of the news conference, Jones said the 15-bill priority list is still growing, and that other bills could be added as session continues. 'This is our list so far, that doesn't mean this is the end of the list,' she said.
