Del. Mark Fisher

Maddy summaryHB 156, the "Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act," requires Maryland public and nonpublic high schools competing against public schools to designate interscholastic and intramural junior varsity and varsity sports teams based solely on biological sex. It prohibits schools from allowing students assigned male at birth to participate on teams designated for students assigned female at birth. The bill also prevents government agencies or athletic organizations from penalizing schools for maintaining separate teams for females, and allows students or schools harmed by violations to file civil lawsuits seeking damages, attorney fees, or injunctions. This law directly affects high school athletic programs and takes effect July 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1183 requires all vehicles used for instruction in Maryland driver education programs - including both commercial driving schools and public school programs - to be no older than 10 model years. This applies to all instructional vehicles used in classroom, lab, and on-road training sessions. The bill updates existing law by adding this age limit to vehicle standards for both driver education programs and drivers' schools, effective October 1, 2025. It directly affects driver education providers and the vehicles they use for student training.

Maddy summaryHB 1180 (Right to Learn Act) requires Maryland county school boards to notify parents of students in failing schools (defined as schools with a 1-star rating for three consecutive years) by January 1 each year, providing a list of alternative school options including nonpublic and military boarding schools. Students in failing schools must be offered the opportunity to transfer to an alternative school, with parents required to choose by April 1. The bill creates a "Right to Learn" scholarship program funding nonpublic school attendance for students eligible for free/reduced lunch or attending a failing school, with county boards reimbursing the state for scholarship costs. It also mandates county boards to provide military boarding school options to parents of students deemed violent or facing continuous disciplinary action, with the school system covering associated costs.

Maddy summaryHB 1182 repeals Maryland law requiring Methodist churches to hold their assets in trust for the United Methodist Church and be subject to its control. It specifically targets Sections 5-326 and 5-327 of the Corporations and Associations article, which applied to churches including former Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, and Washington Methodist Conference congregations. The bill removes this legal obligation, allowing affected churches to manage their assets independently without the United Methodist Church's oversight. The repeal 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.

Maddy summaryHB 361 (Sherry and Christian's Law) requires drivers charged with reckless or negligent driving that causes a death to appear in court personally instead of paying fines upfront. It directly affects individuals facing such charges by eliminating the option to prepay fines and mandating court appearances, unless a judge grants a waiver for "good cause." The bill amends Maryland law to specify that courts may allow plea agreements and fine payments only if the appearance requirement is waived. Violations under this section remain punishable by fines up to $1,000, and the law takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 394 creates legal liability for commercial websites that knowingly distribute obscene material to minors online, requiring them to use reasonable age verification (like government ID or commercial systems) before access. It prohibits companies or third parties performing age verification from retaining any personal identifying information after granting or denying access to the material. The bill allows minors or their guardians to sue violators for damages related to minors accessing obscene content or improper data retention. It explicitly excludes news organizations, broadcast media, and standard internet service providers from these requirements. The law takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 1005 modifies Maryland's income tax code to exclude tips or gratuities from taxable income for workers in specific service industries. It directly affects employees in food service facilities (like restaurants), businesses serving alcohol, hotels, and providers of passenger-for-hire or taxicab services. The bill adds a new provision (Section 10-207(qq)) defining these industries and specifying that tips received in these roles are subtracted from federal adjusted gross income for Maryland tax purposes. This change takes effect July 1, 2025, applying to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. The policy removes tips from taxable income for these workers, reducing their Maryland income tax liability.

Maddy summaryHB 547 requires Maryland hospitals to publicly list standard charges for common services patients can schedule in advance (like surgeries or imaging), starting in 2025. Hospitals must include at least 400 services until 2029, then 500, in machine-readable and plain-language formats. The bill also prohibits hospitals from selling patient data collected through price estimators and establishes a new Hospital Price Transparency Fund to support these efforts. This directly affects all hospitals in Maryland by mandating clearer pricing and data privacy practices.

Maddy summaryHB 766 amends Maryland's Wildlife Advisory Commission membership rules to require that the member representing the farming community be appointed from a list of candidates provided exclusively by the Maryland Farm Bureau. Previously, the Governor could solicit nominations from any farming community groups, but this bill specifies the Farm Bureau as the sole source for that seat. The bill does not change the total membership (10 members), the other representation categories (hunting, wildlife preservation, and passive recreation), or the academic researcher appointment. This change ensures the Farm Bureau directly influences the selection of its designated representative on the commission.