Sen. Mike McKay

Maddy summaryThis bill renames Maryland's Chesapeake Conservation Corps Program to honor former Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. It updates the program's official name throughout state law to "Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps Program" without changing the program's structure, funding, or operations. The renaming applies to all references in Maryland's Natural Resources and State Government codes, including funding provisions and program administration details. The program - administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust and focused on environmental conservation projects - remains unchanged in its purpose and implementation.

Maddy summarySB 618 (Eric's ID Law) requires Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration to allow applicants for driver's licenses, ID cards, or moped permits to voluntarily indicate a nonapparent disability (like developmental or intellectual disabilities) on their documents. If selected, the MVA must add a visible notation to the document, with no fee, and cannot require proof of the disability or deny an application based on it. The law also prohibits disclosing this information to insurance companies and mandates public outreach about the notation, plus police training on interacting with individuals who have it. This directly affects Maryland residents with nonapparent disabilities who choose to use this option on their identification.

Maddy summarySB 548 modifies Maryland's child custody laws to require courts to consider additional factors when determining custody arrangements. It expands the definition of abuse to include harm to other parents, spouses, or children in the household (Section 9-101.1), mandates denial of custody to parents convicted of murder (with supervised visitation as an exception, Section 9-101.2), and adds 16 specific factors courts must weigh - including child safety from conflict/violence, developmental needs, and parental communication (Section 9-201). The bill directly affects parents involved in custody disputes, particularly those with histories of abuse or criminal convictions. These changes aim to strengthen child safety protections and provide clearer guidelines for judicial decisions.

Maddy summarySB 326 establishes confidentiality rules for peer support programs in Maryland law enforcement agencies. It requires that communications between officers and peer support specialists (trained law enforcement staff or Fraternal Order of Police members) remain private, with limited exceptions for threats of suicide, imminent harm to others, child/vulnerable adult abuse, or criminal admissions. Before any session, specialists must provide written notice of these confidentiality rules to participants. The bill directly affects law enforcement agencies and officers using these peer support services, ensuring their counseling discussions are protected unless specific safety or legal thresholds are met.

Maddy summarySB 734 amends Maryland law to clarify that self-service storage facilities (such as businesses renting individual storage units to customers) are excluded from the legal definition of "storage warehouse." This change removes the requirement for these facilities to obtain a "storage warehouse license" under current licensing rules. The bill revises Sections 17-1201 and 17-1202 of the Annotated Code of Maryland to explicitly exclude self-service storage from the definition and takes effect October 1, 2025.

Maddy summarySB 280, the *Judicial and Public Safety for Service Members Act*, updates Maryland law to ensure legal protections apply consistently to all uniformed service members (not just veterans) in judicial, criminal, family, and public safety matters. It revises definitions in key laws to replace "veteran" with "uniformed services" and expands the application of court procedures, corrections policies, criminal laws, family law, and public safety regulations to cover active-duty and reserve service members. The bill adds new provisions (e.g., in family law and public safety sections) to address service-related circumstances, such as deployment impacts on custody or safety protocols. This directly affects service members navigating Maryland’s legal system during active duty or in related legal proceedings.

Maddy summarySB 597 expands Maryland's Graduate and Professional Scholarship Program to include The Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine as an eligible institution. This change allows students enrolled at The Meritus School to apply for the scholarship, which provides financial aid for graduate studies in fields like medicine, law, nursing, and pharmacy. The bill does not alter existing requirements (such as Maryland residency, financial need, or scholarship amounts of $1,000-$5,000 per year) but adds The Meritus School to the official list of qualifying institutions. The change takes effect July 1, 2025, and directly affects students at The Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Maddy summarySB 456 updates eligibility for Maryland's Dent-Care Program, requiring dentists and dental hygienists to treat at least 30% of patients as Maryland Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid) recipients annually while working in private practice or clinics. It allows part-time employment for program participants (previously required full-time) and establishes prorated grant amounts for part-time providers. The bill also mandates a study by Maryland Insurance Administration on whether dental insurance carriers use online credentialing systems, with findings due to legislative committees by December 2025. These changes directly affect dentists and dental hygienists seeking loan assistance under the program.

Maddy summarySB 274 modifies Maryland court procedures for child abuse cases by allowing a child victim to testify remotely via closed-circuit television outside the courtroom if a judge determines their presence with the defendant would cause serious emotional distress. It specifies that only certain attorneys (prosecution, defense, child's advocate), court staff, and therapeutic support personnel may be present with the child during remote testimony, while the defendant and judge remain in the courtroom. The bill explicitly prohibits two-way video that would let the child see or hear the defendant during testimony. This directly affects child victims, defendants, and their legal representatives in abuse cases covered under Maryland’s Family Law and Criminal Law Articles.

Maddy summarySB 421 updates Maryland's criminal law to better protect cemetery property. It extends the time limit for prosecuting crimes involving cemetery damage to three years after local authorities discovered the violation (previously based on when the offense occurred), and explicitly prohibits willfully destroying, damaging, or removing cemetery landscaping or grounds. The bill applies directly to anyone who harms funerary objects, structures, fences, or cemetery landscaping, including vandals or those improperly altering cemetery grounds. It clarifies that routine maintenance (like trimming trees or mowing grass) remains permitted, while adding landscaping to the list of protected elements under existing criminal penalties. The law takes effect October 1, 2025.