The 2017 Legislative Session
AnnapolisReport
Senator Delegate Delegate
Susan C. Lee C. William Frick Ariana B. Kelly
T
he General Assembly of Maryland, at its 437th session,
January to April 2017, considered over 2,800 bills and
resolutions that affect many areas of importance to
Maryland citizens. Of these bills, 935 passed both chambers with
most expected to become law on October 1, 2017. The most
significant measures are discussed below.
Budget
Overview: As required by the Maryland Constitution, the
General Assembly passed a balanced operating budget bill for
fiscal 2018, Chapter 150 which provides $43.6 billion in
appropriations for fiscal 2018 an increase of $498.8 million
(1.2%) above fiscal 2017. General fund spending accounts for
39.5% of the total budget. Federal funds support 29.8% of all
spending. Special funds constitute 20.7% of the budget, and higher
education revenue provides the remaining 10.0%. State agency
operations constitute the largest area of spending, accounting for
40.7% of the total budget. Entitlements represent 29.1% of the
budget, and 19.7% is provided as aid to local governments.
Remaining appropriations fund pay-as-you-go capital spending,
debt service on State general obligation bonds, and an
appropriation to the Rainy Day Fund. The legislature also met
nearly all of the Spending Affordability Committee
recommendations, including those related to the structural
shortfall, personnel, reserve fund balance, and revenue volatility.
State Government
State Responses to Recent Federal Proposals: The General
Assembly passed multiple measures during the 2017 session to
address recent proposed changes in federal policy, among others
giving broad powers to the Attorney General to investigate,
commence, and prosecute or defend any civil or criminal suit or
action that is based on the federal governments action or inaction
that threatens the public interest and welfare of the residents of the
State and rescinding all prior applications by the General Assembly
to the U.S. Congress to call a convention to propose amendments
to the U.S. Constitution. A Family Planning Program was
established in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
(DHMH) to ensure the continuity of family planning services in
the State. The Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection
Legislative District 16 Montgomery County
Delegate
Marc Korman
Commission will (1) monitor potential and actual federal changes
to the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Maryland Childrens Health
Program, Medicare, and the Maryland All-Payer Model. Chapter
18 establishes the Maryland Financial Consumer Protection
Commission to assess the impact of potential changes to federal
financial industry laws and regulations, budgets, and policies.
Natural Resources & Environment
Hydraulic Fracturing: During the 2017 session, the General
Assembly passed legislation to ban fracking in Western Maryland.
Chesapeake Bay Restoration: In response to the proposed
elimination and/or reduction in the federal fiscal 2018 budget
blueprint submitted by the President to Congress of funding for
federal programs that support Chesapeake Bay restoration, Senate
Joint Resolution 8 expresses the General Assemblys opposition to
those proposed federal budget cuts and urges the Governor to
publicly oppose the proposed cuts.
Oyster Management: Chapter 703 of 2016 requires the
Department of Natural Resources (DNR), as part of its fishery
management plan for oysters, to conduct a study, in consultation
with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Chapter 27 prohibits DNR from taking any action to reduce or
alter the boundaries of oyster sanctuaries in the Chesapeake Bay
until DNR has developed a fisheries management plan for the
scientific management of the oyster stock following the completion
of the study required under Chapter 703.
Cownose Rays: Chapters 398 and 399 require DNR to
prepare a fishery management plan for the cownose ray by
December 31, 2018, subject to funding made available to DNR for
that purpose. The Acts also prohibit a person from sponsoring,
conducting, or participating in a cownose ray fishing contest in
State waters until July 1, 2019.
Education
Universal Prekindergarten: Chapter 25 is an emergency bill
that establishes the Workgroup to Study the Implementation of
Universal Access to Prekindergarten for 4-Year-Olds. The
workgroup is required to estimate the number and proportion of
eligible four-year-old children currently being served by publicly
funded prekindergarten programs using specified data and to make
Legislative District 16 Montgomery County
recommendations regarding an implemen-
tation plan to make quality, full-day
prekindergarten universally available to
four-year-old children.
Heroin and Opioid Addiction and
Overdose Prevention and Education:
Many addictions begin during the teenage
years when teenagers gain access to the
prescription medications of family and
friends. Chapters 573 and 574 establish
various policies and procedures for public
schools and institutions of higher education
relating to the prevention of heroin and
opioid addiction and overdose. The Acts
require the State board to include heroin
and opioid addiction and prevention,
including a discussion of fentanyl, as part of
the drug addiction and prevention program
in public schools.
School Bullying Electronic Tip
Program: Chapter 197 authorizes a local
board of education to establish a two way
electronic tip program for the anonymous
reporting of bullying, harassment, or
intimidation of a student. The information
received through the electronic tip program
is confidential and may not be made part of
a students permanent educational record.
Tax-free Period for Backpacks and
Bookbags: Chapter 6 of the 2007 special
session created an annual sales tax-free
period for back-to-school shopping for the
purchase of any item of clothing or foot-
wear, excluding accessories, that costs $100
or less. Legislation added backpacks and
bookbags to the list of eligible items during
the tax-free period by exempting the first
$40 of the price of the backpack
or bookbag.
Health & Human Services
Heroin and Opioids: According to
DHMH, opioid-related deaths increased by
23% between 2014 and 2015 and have
more than doubled since 2010. Heroin-
and fentanyl-related deaths have risen part-
icularly sharply. Numerous bills were
introduced during the legislative session to
address the opioid epidemic in the State.
These bills require DHMH to establish
crisis treatment centers and crisis hotlines,
establish guidelines for co-prescribing
opioid overdose reversal drugs; and require
the Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services and local jails and
detention centers to develop plans for
substance use disorder treatment. Also,
legislation passed requires a health care
provider providing treatment for pain to
prescribe the lowest effective dose of an
opioid and a quantity that is no greater than
that needed for the expected duration of
pain severe enough to require an opioid that
is a controlled dangerous substance, with
certain exceptions.
Pharmaceuticals: Concerns about the
high cost of prescription drugs, including
some significant price increases for generic
drugs, have prompted calls for action to
lower prescription drug costs. Twenty states
Attorneys General (including Marylands)
filed a civil complaint against six pharm-
aceutical companies in December 2016
alleging price fixing schemes to artificially
inflate prices on generic drugs. Federal
prosecutors have made similar claims
against several former pharmaceutical
executives. Chapter 818 prohibits a
manufacturer or wholesale distributor from
engaging in price gouging in the sale of an
essential off-patent or generic drug.
The Elderly: Chapters 212 and 213
establish the Task Force on Long-Term Care
Education and Planning to examine the
status of long-term care education in the
State, consider options for improving efforts
to educate residents of the State about
planning for long-term care, and make
recommendations regarding long-term care
education. Chapter 206 establishes the
Healthy Aging Program within the
Maryland Department of Aging to promote
healthy aging and living by older adults at
the State and local level. Chapter 605
extends the elder abuse investigation
completion deadline from 30 to 60 days,
consistent with child abuse investigations.
Business & Economic Issues
Consumer Protection: Chapter 518
modifies the Maryland Personal
Information Protection Act to include fixed
timelines for notification of certain data
breaches; expands the definition of personal
information to include biometrics, health
information, and email accounts; and
requires certain safeguards when destroying
an employee's records. Chapter 828
prohibits a consumer reporting agency from
charging a consumer a fee for placing a
security freeze if the consumer has not
previously requested the freeze.
Renewable Energy Portfolio
Standard: Maryland enacted the Renewable
Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2004 to
facilitate a gradual transition to renewable
sources of energy. During the 2016 session,
the General Assembly passed Senate
Bill 921 and House Bill 1106. The Acts
increase the annual percentage requirements
for meeting the RPS from the former 20%
by 2022 to be 25% by 2020. The Governor
vetoed the bills, but the General Assembly
overrode the vetoes during the 2017 session,
and the bills became law in February 2017.
Senior Call-check Services: Generally,
senior call-check programs call an
individual or receive a call from an
individual each day at a predetermined
time. If the individual does not answer, or
does not call, the program notifies family,
friends, and/or local agencies of that fact.
Chapter 673 requires the Maryland
Department of Aging to establish and
administer the Senior Call Check Service

and Notification Program, subject to
specified conditions.
Long-term Care Insurance:
Chapter 672 prohibits a carrier that offers,
issues, or delivers a policy, contract, or
certificate of long-term care insurance in the
State from charging a premium to an
insured under a long-term care policy or
contract or changing the premium charged
before the premium rate or rate change has
been filed with and approved by the
Maryland Insurance Commissioner.
Public Safety
Firearms Domestically Related
Crimes: Under current law, a person may
not possess a regulated firearm, a rifle, or a
shotgun if the person has been convicted of
a disqualifying crime or received a
probation before judgement for certain
domestically related crimes. However, a
probation before judgement for second-
degree assault is not a disqualifying crime,
even if it was domestically related.
Chapter 804 includes domestically related
second-degree assault probation before
judgements as a disqualifying crime.
Victim Protections: Chapter 643
provides victims and their representatives a
mechanism to request certain electronic
monitoring technology that notifies them in
real-time if there is a violation of a stay-
away order, as a condition of pretrial release.
Protecting Victims of Sex
Trafficking: In accordance with the federal
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of
2015, Chapters 151 and 152, alter the
definition of sexual abuse in provisions of
law relating to the reporting and
investigation of suspected child abuse and
neglect to include sex trafficking of a child,
regardless of the victims relationship with
the alleged abuser. Chapter 645 requires
the Maryland Police Training Commission
to expand the curriculum and the
minimum courses of study of police
training conducted by police training
schools to include special training, attention
to, and study of the application and
enforcement of the criminal laws
concerning human trafficking, including
services and support available to victims and
the rights and appropriate treatment of
victims. Chapter 646 requires adult live
entertainment establishments to post the
human trafficking hotline on bathroom
stalls, to notify victims of sex trafficking
Legislative District 16 Montgomery County
that there is assistance available for them.
Security Upgrades for Facilities at
Risk of Hate Crimes or Attacks: Accord-
ing to news reports, at least two Jewish day
schools in Maryland received bomb threats
in February 2017. Chapter 732 authorizes
the Maryland Center for School Safety to
make grants to schools and child care
centers determined to be at risk of hate
crimes or attacks for security-related person-
nel and technology and facility upgrades.
Montgomery County District 16
The State budget continues to fund
local programs and services in Montgomery
County at significant levels. State aid to
local governments as well as other State
funding in the county are described below.
State Aid: Montgomery County will
receive $948.3 million in State aid in
fiscal 2018. This funding is equivalent to
the amount of revenue generated from a
$0.50 county property tax rate. Over the
last five years, State funding for
Montgomery County has increased by
$120.7 million or 14.6%, even though
the State was confronted with major
fiscal challenges.
In fiscal 2018, county public schools
will receive $688.8 million for operations,
and Montgomery College will receive
$49.8 million for operations. The county
library system will receive $3.1 million in
operating funds. State retirement payments
for county teachers, librarians, and
community college faculty will total
$167.7 million. Police protection and fire
and rescue aid will total $18.1 million.
Local highway and other transportation
grants will total $10.2 million in
fiscal 2018, and local Program Open Space
grants will total $6.5 million. Also, State aid
for public health services in the county will
total $4.0 million in fiscal 2018.
Mass Transit: The fiscal 2018 budget
provides $202.7 million in operating
assistance for mass transit programs in
Montgomery County. This includes
$163.1 million for Metrorail, Metrobus,
and MetroAccess operations and
$39.6 million for Ride On.
Community Initiatives: The
fiscal 2018 budget includes $100,000 each
to YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase for
renovation of the 53-year-old facility in
Bethesda and to Bethesda Graceful
Growing Together for its community
center. An Interfaith Watershed Restoration
and Outreach Project benefits from
$15,000 intended to assist with addressing
the rainwater runoff that floods the space
between St. James Episcopal Children's
School and Beth Sholom Congregation in
Potomac, Maryland. Also, $100,000 is
provided for upgrades at the Bender Jewish
Community Center of Greater Washington,
in Rockville.
Capital Projects: Montgomery
County will receive $59.2 million for school
construction, as well as $3.4 million for
renovations to the Montgomery College
Math and Science Center at the Takoma/
Silver Spring campus, $2.5 million for the
Science and Applied Studies Building at the
Germantown campus, and $8.9 million to
begin construction of a new student services
center at the Rockville campus. The
University System of Maryland Shady
Grove campus will receive $88.7 million in
capital funds for construction of the
Biomedical Sciences and Engineering
Education facility. The county library
system will receive $100,000 each for
renovations to the Long Branch Library and
the Praisner Library.
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR
LEGISLATORS OFFICES AS FOLLOWS
Senator Susan C. Lee
James Senate Office Building
11 Bladen Street, Room 222
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone 301-858-3124
Susan.Lee@senate.state.md.us
Delegate C. William Frick
The Maryland House of Delegates
6 Bladen Street, Room 350
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone 301-858-3454
Bill.Frick@house.state.md.us
Delegate Ariana B. Kelly
The Maryland House of Delegates
6 Bladen Street, Room 210
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone 301-858-3642
Ariana.Kelly@house.state.md.us
Delegate Marc Korman
The Maryland House of Delegates
6 Bladen Street, Room 210
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone 301-858-3649
Marc.Korman@house.state.md.us
Senator Susan C. Lee was elected to the Senate in 2014 after 13 years as
House Delegate. She is an attorney, the Senate Deputy Majority Whip, and
a member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee; the Youth Victims
of Human Trafficking Workgroup; the Governors Family Violence Council;
and a Co-Chair of the Maryland Cybersecurity Councils Law, Policy, &
Legislation Subcommittee. Lee was the Senate Lead Sponsor of the Maryland
Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and is the former President of the Womens
Legislative Caucus and Co-Chair of the Commission on Cybersecurity,
Innovation, and Excellence and task forces on Identity Theft and
Nanobiotechnology.
Delegate C. William Frick has served in the House of Delegates since
2007. He serves in House leadership as the Majority Leader. Born and raised
in Montgomery County, Bill graduated from Montgomery County schools,
Northwestern University, and Harvard Law School. He is an attorney in
private practice. Delegate Frick serves in House leadership as the
Parliamentarian of the House. He sits on the Economic Matters Committee
and his interests include consumer protection, education, the environment,
and constituent service. He lives in Bethesda with his wife and two children.
Maryland General Assembly
90 State Circle
Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1991
Marc Korman Ariana B. Kelly C. William Frick
Delegate Delegate Delegate
Your Legislators from District 16 Montgomery County
AnnapolisReport
Delegate Ariana B. Kelly has represented District 16 since 2010. She
works to improve public health, increase family economic security, support
seniors, and create opportunity for everyone. She chairs the Health
Occupations and Long Term Care Subcommittee and serves as a member of
the Health and Government Operations Committee. She also chairs the
Joint Committee for Children, Youth, and Families and chairs the
Montgomery County House Democratic Caucus and its Economic
Development Committee. She was elected to serve as President of Women
Legislators of Maryland. Delegate Kelly is a MCPS parent, a graduate of
Walter Johnson High School, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Delegate Marc Korman began serving in the House in 2015. Born and
raised in Montgomery County and a product of the public schools, Marc
graduated from the University of Southern California, earned a Masters
from Johns Hopkins University, and has a law degree from the University of
Maryland. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and the
Education and Economic Development Subcommittee. Marc co-chairs the
Metro-WMATA Work Group. Marc sponsored legislation related to
improving the Metro system, budget reform, clean energy and the
environment, and government transparency. He lives with his family
in Bethesda.
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Susan C. Lee
Senator