SB 275 Maryland Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Modernization of Military Laws Act

SB 275, the Modernization of Military Laws Act, updates Maryland's legal definitions and processes affecting veterans, active service members, and military families. It standardizes key terms like "uniformed services" and "veteran" across state laws, expands the veteran definition to include certain health service members, and requires the Secretary of Veterans and Military Families to create policies supporting military life transitions. The bill modifies election rules to simplify candidacy filings for service members unable to file in person, adjusts cemetery and housing discrimination protections, and updates state government procedures to better serve military-connected individuals. These changes aim to streamline access to rights and benefits for military personnel and veterans within Maryland's legal framework.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Jan 10, 2025 Signed May 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Modernization of Military Laws Act → Third - Modernization of Military Laws Act · 4 edits

MODERATE

SB 275 was amended to modernize military-related legal definitions and expand voting protections for service members. The bill now includes new definitions for 'Uniformed Services' and 'Reserve Component' in the Election Law, clarifies eligibility for absentee voting by military personnel, and updates references to relevant state articles. These changes ensure Maryland's election and state government laws align with current military terminology and provide clearer protections for service members' voting rights.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include additional sections of the Election Law and General Provisions, specifically adding new subsections (tt-1) to Section 1-101 and modifying how military service is defined in relation to voting eligibility.

DEFINITION

Added new definition for 'Uniformed Services' in Section 1-101(b-1) and (tt-1) to clarify military terminology in election law.

ELIGIBILITY

Modified voting eligibility criteria for military personnel by updating references to service definitions and ensuring alignment with current military status classifications.

TECHNICAL

Updated legal citations and replaced outdated volume references (2019, 2020, 2021) with current 2022 replacement volumes for consistency across state articles.

SCOPE

Expanded the bill's scope to include additional sections of the Election Law and General Provisions, broadening the legislative impact on military-related provisions.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House of Delegates Mar 14, 2025

How they voted

43–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 46

Feb 18, 2025

D Democratic33

31 Yea 2

93% Yea

R Republican13

12 Yea 1

92% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 6, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor - Chapter 253

executive

Mar 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned Passed

upper

Mar 31, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Report by Health and Government Operations

lower

Mar 14, 2025

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (131-0-8)

house of delegates

Mar 7, 2025

Committee

Referred Health and Government Operations

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

Feb 18, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (43-0-3)

senate

Jan 10, 2025

Committee

First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

6 primary · 0 co-sponsors