SB 672 requires Maryland's State Department of Education to create a plan by December 1, 2026, to expand access to high-quality early childhood education and childcare for children from birth through age 3 in Prince George's County. The plan must analyze costs for parents, the county, and state; workforce needs for providers; current capacity to serve more children; and potential new revenue sources. It mandates consultation with Prince George's County and relevant state agencies during development. The bill directly affects infants and toddlers in Prince George's County, their families, and local childcare providers. The plan must be submitted to the Governor, state legislature, and Prince George's County delegation by the deadline, with implementation beginning July 1, 2026.
SB 389, the Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act, automatically designates transit-oriented development (TOD) areas near rail stations with hourly weekday service (8 a.m.-6 p.m.) as enterprise zones - bypassing normal limits on such designations. It requires Maryland’s development corporation to prioritize loans for projects redeveloping state-owned land near rail stations and delays development taxes/fees for qualifying residential projects. The bill also adds project labor agreements as a scoring factor for TOD funding and adjusts local land-use regulations to support transit-focused development. Directly affecting developers, local governments, and communities near transit hubs, it aims to accelerate housing and infrastructure near rail corridors.
This Maryland bill expands protections against noncompete and conflict of interest clauses by applying existing restrictions to employees of companies that move their majority of workers or headquarters out of the state. The law makes such restrictive clauses automatically unenforceable for workers earning at or below 150% of the state minimum wage, those in licensed health occupations, and direct patient care roles earning up to $350,000 annually. For higher-paid health care workers, the bill maintains current limits by capping noncompete agreements to one year and restricting geographic restrictions to within 10 miles of their primary workplace. Employers of these health care employees must also notify patients if a former employee relocates to a new practice location. The changes apply only to employment contracts signed on or after October 1, 2026.
SB 90 adds hypertension to Maryland's list of occupational diseases presumed to be work-related for specific emergency responders. It makes firefighters, fire fighting instructors, rescue squad members, advanced life support unit members, and State Fire Marshal personnel eligible for workers' compensation benefits if they have hypertension diagnosed by a provider, experience it for at least 90 consecutive days, have at least 2 years of cumulative service in those roles, and are currently employed in those positions. This creates a legal presumption that the hypertension is work-related, eliminating the need to prove direct causation, while clarifying that individuals cannot receive both workers' compensation and disability retirement benefits for the same hypertension condition. The bill takes effect October 1, 2026.
SB 84 would grant graduate assistants at Maryland's public universities (including the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland) the right to form a separate collective bargaining unit. The bill amends state law to explicitly include "all eligible graduate assistants" as a distinct bargaining group, meaning they would negotiate contracts separately from other university employees like faculty or staff. This change takes effect on July 1, 2026, and directly affects graduate students working as teaching, research, or administrative assistants in these institutions. The policy creates a formal structure for graduate assistants to collectively address employment terms like pay, benefits, and working conditions.
SB 387 prohibits large food retailers (15,000+ sq ft) in Maryland from using dynamic pricing (real-time price changes based on demand or AI) or consumer surveillance data (like location or biometric tracking) to set prices for individual customers. It also bans using protected class data (e.g., race, gender) to deny accommodations or advantages to consumers. The bill further prevents retailers from reducing union-guaranteed employee benefits without negotiating with union representatives. These provisions aim to regulate pricing practices, prevent discriminatory data use, and protect collective bargaining agreements, with violations subject to enforcement under Maryland’s consumer protection laws.
SB 957 clarifies that Maryland public school teachers holding a National Board Certification (NBC) with a 10-year award period are eligible for specific salary increases tied to their career ladder status. It establishes a $8,000 salary increase for renewing a 10-year NBC, plus $7,000 for a first maintenance renewal after 5 years, and $6,000 for a second maintenance renewal. The bill applies retroactively to teachers with eligible 10-year certifications and ensures these salary increases are separate from other career ladder benefits like the $10,000 increase for initially becoming an NBC teacher. It directly affects certified classroom teachers in Maryland public schools who hold or renew this specific type of National Board Certification.
SB 764 establishes a minimum wage of $25.00 per hour for education support professionals in Maryland public schools, effective July 1, 2028. It directly affects county boards of education (which must pay this wage) and noncertificated school staff in non-supervisory bargaining units, such as aides, secretaries, and maintenance workers. The bill requires the State Department of Education to report by December 1, 2026, on the cost of implementing this wage, broken down by school system. It does not change current wages but mandates a new hourly rate for these positions starting in 2028.
