Del. Lesley Lopez

Maddy summaryHB 455 requires Maryland's Department of Veterans and Military Families to place American braille tactile flags in one or more state veterans' cemeteries. These flags, designed by the Kansas Braille Transcription Institute, allow blind and visually impaired visitors to experience the American flag through touch. The bill directly affects blind veterans and visually impaired individuals who visit Maryland's five state veterans' cemeteries. It amends state law to mandate the department designate specific locations for these tactile flags as a memorial feature.

Maddy summaryHB 509 establishes a Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites Workgroup to study how to create a state-wide cemetery inventory system. The workgroup, composed of state officials, historical organizations, cemetery representatives, and local community members, will standardize definitions, review current county and nonprofit cemetery documentation practices, and study systems in other states. It will recommend a single data system design, identify the best managing entity, estimate costs, and propose funding sources for a state inventory system to begin in fiscal year 2027. The workgroup must report its findings to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2025, and the bill expires June 30, 2026, without requiring immediate action. This bill directly affects county governments, historical preservation groups, and cemetery operators through its study of their existing practices.

Maddy summaryHB 938 requires continuing care providers (like senior living facilities) with a governing body to appoint an alternate member if only one resident representative serves on that body. The alternate can attend all meetings and vote only when the regular representative is unavailable. The bill also mandates that providers consult with resident associations before appointing an alternate and ensures residents can access nonconfidential meeting details within a month of approval. This applies to all continuing care providers in Maryland operating under the current governance structure.

Maddy summaryHB 535 establishes the Abandoned and Neglected Cemeteries Fund to provide care, preservation, and restoration for cemeteries in Maryland that are abandoned (where the operating organization no longer exists and ownership is unclear) or neglected (with maintenance citations, deterioration, or vandalism). The bill creates a voluntary income tax checkoff option on state tax forms, allowing individuals to contribute directly to the fund, which will also receive state budget appropriations and interest earnings. The Maryland Department of Labor will administer the fund, with money used exclusively for cemetery maintenance and restoration - supplementing, not replacing, existing cemetery oversight funding. The fund is nonlapsing, meaning it carries over year to year, and must be reported to the legislature annually.

Maddy summaryHB 448, the Modernization of Military Laws Act, updates Maryland laws to better support veterans, active service members, and military families. It standardizes key definitions like "veteran" and "uniformed services" across all state laws, requires the Secretary of Veterans and Military Families to create transition support policies, and eases voting access by allowing military members to file candidacy certificates remotely with an affidavit. The bill also updates housing and employment discrimination protections for veterans and clarifies election rules for service members. These changes directly affect military personnel, veterans, and their families across Maryland’s state government and election systems.

Maddy summaryHB 1069 prohibits Maryland insurers from including clauses that grant them sole discretion to interpret policy terms in health insurance, life insurance, and annuity contracts. It applies to all insurers, nonprofit health plans, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) selling policies in Maryland. The law amends state insurance regulations to ban such clauses, requiring interpretations to align with Maryland law rather than insurer preferences. The prohibition applies to policies issued, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 795 requires public service employers in Maryland (such as state/local government offices, public schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations) to certify employee full-time status for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. It establishes specific procedures for completing the federal loan forgiveness form and clarifies that employers must share data directly with the U.S. Department of Education. The bill also mandates the Student Loan Ombudsman to develop and distribute awareness materials about the program to borrowers, higher education institutions, and employers. These changes aim to streamline certification processes and increase participation in the federal loan forgiveness program.

Maddy summaryHB 881 requires all child support payments received in a month to fully pass through to families enrolled in Maryland's Family Investment Program (FIP) and prohibits local agencies from counting child support when calculating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. This bill amends Maryland law to ensure child support payments do not reduce FIP assistance amounts or SNAP benefits for eligible households. It specifically updates Section 5-310(a)(4) of the Maryland Code to disregard all child support in benefit calculations, rather than the current partial disregard. The law takes effect October 1, 2025, directly affecting low-income families receiving FIP or SNAP benefits.

Maddy summaryHB 1121 establishes a temporary pilot program to help foster youth aged 16-22 access childcare subsidies. It directly affects youth who were in state foster care at age 18 or older, removing specific barriers like proof of employment, parental information, or parental authorization from the application process. The program, running from 2026-2028, requires the Department to track subsidy usage monthly and report annually to the legislature on progress. It aims to simplify access to childcare support during critical transitions to adulthood. The bill does not change subsidy amounts but streamlines eligibility for this specific group.

Maddy summaryHB 32 establishes a Forensic Review Board within the Maryland Department of Health to review eligibility for release for people found not criminally responsible (NCR) at state facilities. The bill requires each facility to create a board of licensed healthcare providers that must annually assess NCR individuals and recommend to courts whether they should be discharged or released conditionally. It also creates a Community Forensic Aftercare Program to monitor people on conditional release. These changes replace current procedures under Maryland’s Criminal Procedure and Health laws, adding specific annual review requirements and written record-keeping for release decisions. The bill directly affects NCR patients in state facilities and their release pathways.