Del. Greg Wims

Maddy summaryHB 211 grants collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants and postdoctoral associates at Maryland's public universities (including the University System, Morgan State, and St. Mary's College). The bill amends Maryland law to remove these workers from an existing exclusion, creating separate bargaining units for them - distinct from faculty or undergraduate student employees. Key provisions define "graduate assistant" as a graduate student in teaching/administrative/research roles and "postdoctoral associate" as a doctoral-level employee in research positions, explicitly including them in collective bargaining protections. This change directly affects these graduate and postdoctoral workers, allowing them to negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions through union representation.

Maddy summaryHB 1014, the "Fair Share for Maryland Act of 2025," makes significant changes to Maryland's tax code affecting residents, businesses, and estates. It adjusts estate tax calculations to maintain Maryland's tax rate despite potential federal changes, imposes a business transportation fee on corporations and pass-through entities, and expands eligibility for the earned income tax credit by lowering income thresholds for individuals without qualifying children. The bill also requires annual inflation adjustments for tax credit phase-out amounts, limits net operating loss deductions, and modifies child tax credit eligibility. These changes directly impact Maryland taxpayers, businesses, and families relying on state tax credits.

Maddy summaryHB 752 establishes the Commission on State and Local Government Real Property Bearing Confederate Names to identify and recommend renaming state and local government properties (like streets, parks, and buildings) with Confederate names. The commission, composed of 24 members appointed by the governor (including one per county), must develop a framework to identify such properties and submit recommendations by October 1, 2032. It cannot directly rename properties but will advise state and local governing bodies. The bill affects all Maryland state agencies and political subdivisions (counties, cities, school districts) owning real property with Confederate names.

Maddy summaryHB 387 imposes an excise tax on firearms dealers' gross receipts from firearm sales within Maryland and to Maryland residents. The tax revenue will fund three existing state programs: the Coordinated Community Supports Partnership Fund (Education), the Maryland Trauma Physician Services Fund (Health), and the Maryland Violence Intervention and Prevention Program Fund (Public Safety). The bill creates new tax provisions under "Title 7.7" in the Tax-General Article to collect and distribute these funds, replacing previous language in multiple code sections. This directly affects firearms dealers through the new tax obligation and directs funding to community safety and health programs. The policy change is a concrete tax mechanism for reallocating firearm sales revenue to specific public safety initiatives.

Maddy summaryHB 488 requires Maryland's State Department of Education to collect and publish detailed discipline data for all public schools, broken down by student characteristics including race, ethnicity, gender, disability status, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency. The data must be available as an electronic spreadsheet on the Department's website at the state, school system, and individual school levels. The bill also mandates annual reporting on schools with high suspension rates for specific student groups to identify potential disparities in discipline. This policy increases transparency around school discipline practices without changing disciplinary procedures.

Maddy summaryHB 495 requires Maryland schools with existing antidiscrimination policies to update those policies to include specific information, such as reporting options for sexual violence, school contact details, investigation processes, victim resources, and medical facility locations. It mandates that policies be written in plain, age-appropriate language, printed for readability, available in common languages spoken by students/staff (5%+ of population), and accessible via oral interpretation for less common languages. Schools must distribute policies annually through handbooks, email, campus postings, and websites, and provide mandatory training to students at the start of each school year and to employees within four weeks of hire. This applies to all public/private K-12 schools, preK programs receiving state funding, and colleges in Maryland.

Maddy summaryHB 630, the Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act, requires all Maryland county school boards to create and implement policies by the 2026-2027 school year that limit student cell phone use during instructional time (excluding lunch). The policy must prohibit phone use and require secure storage, ban social media apps during school hours, and include disciplinary measures like warnings for first violations. Exceptions allow phone use for students with IEPs/504 plans, health monitoring, emergencies, or for educational purposes directed by staff. The bill directly affects public school students and county boards of education across Maryland.

Maddy summaryHB 631 prohibits the State or its political subdivisions from using eminent domain to take privately owned property subject to a permanent agricultural or conservation easement. This directly affects landowners who hold such easements, protecting their property from forced acquisition for public projects. The bill amends Maryland’s real property law (specifically Section 12-101(b)(2) of the Annotated Code) to add this explicit prohibition. It does not apply to existing legal processes for state roads or Baltimore City. The law takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 581 modifies Maryland law to allow condominium boards to increase annual assessments for non-reserve common expenses by up to 5% above the previous year's level, overriding any restrictions in condo documents that previously required owner approval for such increases. This directly affects condominium associations and their unit owners by changing how boards can adjust regular operating costs (like maintenance or utilities). The bill specifically targets non-reserve expenses - excluding reserve funds for future capital projects - and sets a clear 5% annual cap on these assessment hikes. It does not affect increases for reserve funding, which remain unrestricted under the bill. The change takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 606 requires real estate professionals - such as developers, builders, brokers, and agents - to report the final sale price of new homes sold in Maryland into a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or similar public database within 30 days of the sale. This applies specifically to new home sales and directly affects those selling new properties. The key provision mandates that final sale prices, not initial listings, be entered into existing MLS systems used by real estate professionals. The bill takes effect October 1, 2025, aiming to increase transparency in new home pricing data without creating new reporting systems.