Commissioners weigh 2026 legislative requests; approve roadside solicitation ban and MetCom technical fixes, take no action on several others

The St. Mary's County commissioners reviewed potential items for the county's 2026 legislative package on Sept. 23 and took action on several measures after staff briefings and discussions.

County attorney staff presented six proposals submitted by departments, agencies and members of the public. Commissioners approved two items for formal request to the county's delegation: an amendment to Maryland Transportation Article 21-507 to add St. Mary—ounty to the list of counties prohibiting roadside solicitation in roadway medians, and technical updates requested by the St. Mary's County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom) to modernize chapter 113 of county code. Both were approved and staff were authorized to send letters of support to the delegation and relevant committees.

The roadside solicitation request would add St. Mary's County to a statutory list of counties where solicitation from roadway medians is prohibited. Commissioners said the intent is to reduce dangerous median activities that involve aggressive approaches to stopped motorists; they noted such statutes already exist in a small number of other counties and that a statewide bill may be introduced this year.

MetCom's requested changes were described as primarily technical and included increasing bond amounts for treasurer surety and narrowing requirements for public hearings and plan preparation to facilities in areas not planned for service. Commissioners voted to request the MetCom bill(s) and to support them with letters to the delegation.

On other proposals, commissioners decided to take no action at this time. Commissioner Hewitt's proposal to create a public-purpose exemption from MetCom capital contribution charges for county-funded facilities raised questions about how MetCom would replace that revenue; MetCom officials and county staff explained that capital contribution charges finance MetCom debt service and that there is no ready substitute revenue source. Commissioners also elected not to advance a Farm Bureau proposal to amend the county building excise tax to create a specific solar impact or preservation fund, citing current county excise tax coverage for ground-mounted solar and the legal limits on mandating earmarks of general-fund revenue. A separate request to exempt certain family-oriented amusement venues from the county admissions and amusement tax also received no action because county revenue reports show limited existing revenue in the affected categories.

County staff said they will bring the approved legislative requests to the county's joint meeting with the delegation on Oct. 7 and will prepare letters of support for the approved items.

Votes at a glance

- Roadside solicitation: Motion to request legislation amending Transportation Article 21-507 to include St. Mary's County in the list of counties that prohibit roadside solicitations in roadway medians — outcome: approved; commissioners authorized signed letters of support.

- MetCom technical bill: Motion to request MetCom's technical chapter 113 revisions (bonding and procedural updates) — outcome: approved; commissioners authorized signed letters of support.

- MetCom exemption for county projects from capital contribution charges: outcome: no action taken; commissioners requested more analysis and noted potential revenue impacts for MetCom customers.

- Firefighting revolving loan borrowing limit increase (from $5 million to $7 million): outcome: no action taken at this meeting.

- Farm Bureau solar excise/impact fee to fund land preservation: outcome: no action taken; staff noted the county's excise tax already applies to ground-mounted solar and that mandatory earmarks would require additional legislation.

- Admissions and amusement tax exemption for family-oriented recreation: outcome: no action taken; county finance reports show little existing admissions revenue in those categories.