Del. Jennifer White Holland

Maddy summaryHB 923 adds two new positions to Maryland's State Board of Education: an Educational Support Member and an Administrator Member. The Educational Support Member must be a non-certified, non-supervisory school employee in a bargaining unit, elected by their peers; the Administrator Member must be a principal or similar school administrator, elected by administrators. Both members would serve alongside the existing 13 regular members and can attend executive sessions but cannot vote on appeals to the State Board under §6-202. This bill amends Maryland’s education code to formalize these election processes and qualifications for the new roles.

Maddy summaryHB 965 requires Maryland's Department of Transportation to create a fair method for distributing transit grant funds to counties starting in fiscal year 2027. It mandates that funding be based primarily on each county's population (from the U.S. Census) or another equitable metric the department determines, while also allowing for growth of local transit systems. This bill directly affects all Maryland counties receiving funds through the Locally Operated Transit System Grant Program. The new distribution method replaces the previous approach and takes effect July 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 499 (Expungement Reform Act of 2025) changes Maryland’s expungement process to make it easier for people with certain misdemeanor convictions to clear their records. It reduces waiting periods after completing a sentence (removing the previous 3-year limit for some offenses), expands eligibility to include more misdemeanor convictions, and requires courts to confirm restitution payments are made or unpayable before expungement. The bill also prohibits the Maryland Judiciary Case Search system from referencing expunged records. These changes directly affect individuals with eligible misdemeanor convictions who have completed their sentences.

Maddy summaryHB 1422 establishes the Maryland Reparations Commission to study and recommend benefits for individuals whose ancestors were enslaved in Maryland or were impacted by historical inequitable government policies (such as housing segregation and redlining during the Jim Crow era). The Commission, composed of 15 members including state officials, historians, community representatives, and public members, will examine U.S. reparations models and potential benefits like monetary compensation, tax rebates, or housing assistance. It must submit a preliminary report by January 2027 and a final report by November 2027 to the Governor and General Assembly. The bill focuses solely on research and recommendations, not on implementing specific reparations.

Maddy summaryHB 1431 restricts federal immigration enforcement agencies from accessing Maryland state and local government databases without a valid warrant. It requires state/local law enforcement agencies, DMV, and other government units to deny federal requests for personal information, photos, or facial recognition data unless accompanied by a federal or Maryland court warrant. The bill also mandates annual reporting to the legislature on all such federal requests received, including how many were denied or granted with warrants. This directly affects Maryland state agencies, local governments, and federal immigration officers seeking access to these databases.

Maddy summaryHB 1006, the "Protecting Sensitive Locations Act," requires Maryland's Attorney General to create guidelines limiting immigration enforcement at specific sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, places of worship, childcare centers, and domestic violence shelters. State agencies operating at these locations must either adopt policies aligned with the guidelines or submit written justification and existing policies if they choose not to comply. The bill directly affects all Maryland state agencies managing facilities listed in the law, such as public schools, community health centers, and emergency shelters. Its key mechanism is mandating agency adherence to the guidelines or transparent documentation of non-compliance. The law aims to reduce immigration enforcement disruptions at places where vulnerable populations seek essential services.

Maddy summaryHB 1084 repeals a requirement that local correctional facilities must provide at least one FDA-approved opioid medication for treatment, replacing it with a state-funded grant system. The Maryland Secretary of Health will provide annual grants to counties covering the costs of implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs for incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder. This change shifts funding responsibility from local facilities to the state, expands the Opioid Restitution Fund’s uses, and ensures MAT access for all incarcerated individuals assessed as needing it, including pregnant individuals. The bill directly affects counties (through funding) and incarcerated people (through treatment access) in Maryland’s correctional facilities.

Maddy summaryHB 868, nicknamed "Granny's Law," allows personal representatives (executors) to petition courts to interpret wills regarding health-related legacies based on the decedent’s intent to address health equity. It applies when a will leaves money to health providers or charities but doesn’t explicitly require it for health equity, even if the decedent lived with health equity interests. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that such legacies must address health equity unless proven otherwise, and requires beneficiaries to show how the legacy was used for that purpose within three years. It also lets courts defer to personal representatives who include specific language in wills authorizing them to act without court approval for health equity efforts. The law applies retroactively to wills probated after a certain date.

Maddy summaryHB 1476 prohibits Maryland employers from disclosing or threatening to disclose an employee’s immigration status to government agencies to hide violations of labor, wage, or tax laws. It directly affects employers who might use immigration status to conceal issues like unpaid wages (under Maryland’s Wage and Hour Law) or failure to provide benefits. The bill authorizes Maryland’s Commissioner of Labor and Industry to investigate complaints, attempt mediation within 90 days, and impose civil fines up to $10,000 for repeated violations. Employers can request an administrative hearing within 15 days of a penalty notice. The law takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 735 removes psychiatry and all subcategories of psychiatric services from Maryland's Certificate of Need (CON) requirements. This means psychiatric health care facilities and providers offering mental health services no longer need state approval to establish, operate, or expand these services. The bill amends Maryland law by deleting "psychiatry" from the definition of "medical service" in Section 19-120(a)(6)(i) and removing it from the list of services requiring a CON under Section 19-120(j)(iii)(5). This directly affects psychiatric hospitals, clinics, and mental health providers by eliminating a regulatory hurdle for their operations.