Yesterday was crossover, the day by which bills need to pass one chamber to guarantee consideration by the other chamber. Crossover is an intense day as we try to get as many bills across the line as we can. We had two long floor sessions and one short one in the evening. In between floor sessions, I stopped by the World Down Syndrome Day and a Climate Solutions Rally.
I had three bills pass the House by crossover:
- HB141 The Transportation Equity Act of 2022 passed the House yesterday! The Senate version, SB23, passed the Finance committee today, so we’re on the way!
- HB772/SB494 Maryland Energy Administration – Energy and Water Efficiency Standards – Alterations, which establishes water and energy efficiency standards for a list of consumer and commercial appliances, has passed both chambers!
- HB84/SB119, which removes the ability to charge students with a criminal charge for “disrupting school activities,” has passed both the House and the Senate, but in different forms, so the two versions will now need to be reconciled. The law this bill modifies is vague, unnecessary, and disproportionately used to charge students of color and students with disabilities. School discipline issues should be handled with internal school processes, not the criminal justice system, and anything that rises to the level of criminal activity will still be able to be charged under the many criminal code provisions.
