Committee approves package of concurrence and non-concurrence motions across education, environment and civic bills

The Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee considered a wide range of bills in a single session and took a series of concurrence and non-concurrence votes.

Items that passed or on which the committee concurred included HB 326 (anonymous school-safety reporting system), SB 242 (licensing for service members relocating to Maryland), SB 625 (carbon dioxide capture regulations, with an agriculture consultation provision), SB 719 (PFAS restrictions on sewage sludge land application, with co-mingled testing language), SB 829 (residential and commercial zoning study), SB 189 (open drainage inlet inventory and an annual $250,000 matching-grant allocation for fiscal 2029–2031), SB 879 (reduced archery safety zone for Baltimore City), SB 810 (cross-file concurrence), SB 720 (AI professional development collaborative), SB 35 (commemorative designations), and SB 204 (Civic Excellence Program). The committee also approved HB 1311 (student financial assistance for incarcerated individuals) but recorded Senators Gallion, Corrado and Simonair as voting no.

The committee voted not to concur on SB 255 (a county and municipal Voting Rights Act that would authorize courts to order voting methods without local consent) and SB 141 (election misinformation/deepfakes enforcement changes). It also voted not to concur on SB 904 (education professional development) and sent HB 14 (bullying/harassment reporting) to a conference committee.

Many of the items were carried by voice vote without detailed roll-call tallies noted in the committee record. Committee members said several items would proceed to the floor and other negotiations where necessary.