Lawmakers hear bills to fund, inventory and better protect abandoned and historic cemeteries

Summary

Delegates heard four related cemetery bills — to create an income tax checkoff and fund for abandoned and neglected cemeteries, a statewide inventory work group, a commission, and a study of death‑care and crematory practices — as advocates and preservation groups urged new funding and tools to identify, document and maintain burial sites across

Annapolis — Advocacy groups, genealogists and local preservationists urged the House Health and Government Operations Committee to move a package of bills aimed at documenting, funding and protecting abandoned and historic cemeteries across Maryland.

Delegate Gary Simmons, sponsor of several related measures, told the committee that constituents from Anne Arundel and other counties brought the issue forward as a priority. “This is something that came out of my community, bringing to my concern about abandoned and neglected cemeteries, not only throughout Anne Arundel County, but throughout the state of Maryland,” he said.

Four measures drew testimony: House Bill 535 would create an abandoned and neglected cemetery fund funded by an optional income‑tax checkoff; House Bill 509 would create a Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites work group to design a unified state database; House Bill 711 would…

Lawmakers hear bills to fund, inventory and better protect abandoned and historic cemeteries

Summary

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