Del. Lauren Arikan

Maddy summaryHB 63, the "Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act," requires Maryland public and certain nonpublic high schools to designate interscholastic and intramural junior varsity and varsity athletic teams, and associated locker rooms, strictly based on biological sex. It mandates that teams and locker rooms designated for "students of the female sex" (biological female) cannot include students of the male sex, while allowing coeducational options. The bill prohibits governmental entities, accrediting bodies, or athletic associations from penalizing schools for maintaining these sex-based designations and permits students or schools to sue if harmed by violations. It explicitly defines key terms like "biological sex" and establishes a two-year window for filing civil actions to recover damages or legal fees.

Maddy summaryHB 137 establishes specific qualifications for individuals appointed by Maryland courts to conduct child custody evaluations. It directly affects courts and professionals serving as custody evaluators, requiring them to meet strict licensing, training, and experience standards. Key provisions mandate that evaluators must hold valid licenses in certain fields (like psychiatry, psychology, or clinical social work), complete court-approved training, maintain continuing education, and demonstrate expertise in areas including domestic violence, child abuse, trauma, and family dynamics. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, with limited waivers allowed for court employees with 14+ years of prior experience.

Maddy summaryHB 201 exempts tips and gratuities from Maryland state income tax for workers in specific service industries. It directly affects employees in food service, hotels, limousine services, passenger-for-hire transportation, and taxicab services. The bill modifies Maryland tax law to exclude tips received in these roles from taxable income calculations. This change takes effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Maddy summaryHB 675 modifies Maryland's Rape Kit Testing Grant Fund to specifically fund testing of untested sexual assault evidence kits collected before October 1, 2020, and support related services. The bill directs the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention to distribute funds annually to law enforcement agencies for testing, while prohibiting the fund from supporting the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Tracking System (Section 31-33). It also allocates funding to the State Sexual Assault Coalition for a victim notification hotline providing advocacy, information on untested kits, and guidance navigating the tracking system (Section 9-19). The Executive Director must ensure all pre-2020 kits are tested or determined non-testable by fiscal year end, with funds maintained at prior-year levels unless reduced (Section 5-6). This directly affects law enforcement agencies, victims of sexual assault, and the State Sexual Assault Coalition.

Maddy summaryHB 894 creates a new permit process for incidental bat take in Maryland, replacing the existing Delmarva fox squirrel provision. It requires applicants (like developers or landowners) to submit a detailed conservation plan showing how they’ll minimize harm to bats, secure funding, and justify why alternatives weren’t used. The Secretary of Natural Resources must then verify the plan won’t harm bat recovery, impacts will be minimized, and funding is secured before issuing a permit. This directly affects projects in areas with bat habitats where accidental harm might occur during construction or land development.

Maddy summaryHB 236 allows individuals to seek a peace order against someone who conducts intentional visual surveillance (like hidden cameras) in areas of their residence where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as yards or outbuildings. It expands existing peace order protections by adding this specific behavior as a grounds for a petition and requires courts to order the respondent to remove or reposition surveillance devices within 15 days and stop further surveillance. The bill directly affects residents experiencing unauthorized visual monitoring of private property areas, offering a legal remedy through the court system. It amends Maryland’s peace order law to include these specific provisions without changing criminal penalties for the underlying surveillance acts.

Maddy summaryHB 893 changes Maryland's oyster fishing regulations by replacing license revocation with license suspension for certain violations. It requires the Department of Natural Resources to suspend (not revoke) oyster licenses for up to 2 years for first offenses or up to 10 years for repeat offenses involving violations like harvesting near closed areas, using prohibited gear, or harvesting outside time restrictions. The bill also creates a reinstatement process: individuals whose licenses were revoked before July 1, 2025, can regain their license after 2 years for a first violation or 10 years for a repeat violation. The bill takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies directly to oyster harvesters in Maryland.

Maddy summaryHB 674 prohibits individuals from intentionally concealing a death by failing to notify emergency services or law enforcement, dismembering or destroying human remains, or burying a dead body. It also bans aiding or abetting these acts. Violating this law is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, with sentences served consecutively to other related convictions. The bill directly affects anyone who attempts to hide a death through these specific actions, targeting concealment of death rather than the underlying crime.

Maddy summaryHB 857 allows licensed Maryland deer hunters who wound a deer during legal hunting hours to pursue and kill it after hours, provided they use only the same hunting method authorized for their season (e.g., archery or firearms). The bill amends Maryland’s natural resources law (Section 10-428 of the Annotated Code) to create this exception to standard hunting hour restrictions. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources must adopt regulations to implement the new rule, which takes effect July 1, 2025. This directly affects licensed deer hunters who wound deer during legal hours but cannot complete the harvest before closing.

Maddy summaryHB 786 authorizes Maryland's Appellate Court to hold sessions at any secondary (e.g., high schools) or postsecondary (e.g., colleges) educational institution in the state, not just the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus and University of Baltimore as previously allowed. This change requires the Chief Judge to coordinate with school administrators to designate specific institutions for sessions. The bill modifies existing law to expand where the court can operate while maintaining the requirement that sessions must be held for at least ten months annually in Annapolis unless designated otherwise. It does not alter court procedures or affect the public directly, only changing the court's scheduling flexibility.