Senate Finance Committee hears testimony on firefighter cancer screenings, FGMC update, youth psychiatric beds and hospital transparency

The Senate Finance Committee heard multi-hour testimony March 10 on a broad set of bills touching public health, worker protections and health system transparency.

Sen. J.B. Jennings opened the session with Senate Bill 579, which would extend the Jimmy Malone Act of 2025 to require counties to provide no-cost preventive cancer screenings to volunteer firefighters. “There is no difference between a career or volunteer firefighter with what they face out in doing their job,” Jennings said, arguing volunteers use the same equipment and face the same carcinogenic exposures. Dale Bowen of the Maryland State Firefighters Association and career firefighter Matt Fox testified in support, noting delays and administrative barriers in Maryland’s current grant-driven screening program.

The committee also heard emotionally charged testimony on SB907, an update to Maryland’s female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) law. Sponsor Sen. Sarah Love said the bill would define FGMC consistent with World Health Organization standards, ban “vacation cutting,” strengthen penalties and mandate education; survivors and clinicians described long-term physical and psychological harms and urged the committee to move the bill forward.

On behavioral health, Sen. Lonzo Washington presented SB870, which would require the Maryland Department of Health to ensure at least 24 licensed adolescent inpatient psychiatric beds in Prince George’s County by Dec. 31, 2028. Multiple witnesses described long emergency-department boarding times and children requiring out‑of‑area hospitalization, and local officials and NAMI Maryland urged passage.

Several workers’ compensation bills drew extended debate. Panels testified on bills that would change disability presumptions for first responders with hypertension or heart disease (SB90 and SB449), and a proposed expansion allowing licensed clinical social workers limited authority to perform compensability evaluations (SB522) prompted opposition from insurers citing the AMA guides and appellate admissibility concerns.

On health system policy, SB832 would tighten reporting and accountability for nonprofit hospital community benefits relative to the value of tax exemptions; advocates urged measurable thresholds and stronger CHNA follow-through while hospital representatives said Maryland already requires extensive reporting and warned of implementation complexity. SB839, a separate measure, would require MDH to run a pharmacy dispensing-cost survey every three years and implement fee adjustments within six months; independent pharmacists and associations asked the committee to update the Medicaid fee-for-service dispensing rate to reflect post‑2018 cost increases.

Other items included SB898, asking for an extension of the window for Registered Behavior Technician certification (from 90 to 150 days) to reduce staff turnover that disrupts autism therapy; SB792, which would require hospitals to adopt written, employee‑training policies on interaction with federal immigration officials (the sponsor emphasized the bill does not obstruct lawful enforcement); and SB798, which would require Maryland Medical Assistance to cover all FDA‑approved tobacco cessation medications and recommended counseling without prior authorization — clinicians and public health groups said low-barrier coverage would improve quit rates and likely reduce long‑term Medicaid costs.

No roll-call votes or final outcomes were recorded in the transcript. Sponsors and agency representatives generally signaled willingness to work on technical amendments; MDH noted some alignment and implementation questions for the public‑health restructuring and workforce items. Committee members asked about fiscal notes and operational details, particularly for measures that would change Medicaid-covered benefits or require new regulatory steps.

What’s next: several bills were presented with sponsor amendments or with agency amendments under discussion; the transcript ends after the final panel testimony and does not show committee action. The committee may consider amendments and take up bills for committee votes in follow-up meetings.