Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Service Animals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves Maryland Disability Service Animal Program with staffing condition and $25,000 appropriation
Summary
The Health and Government Operations Committee advanced House Bill 384 (cross-file Senate Bill 157) to establish a Maryland Disability Service Animal Program but made the law contingent on the Department of Disabilities certifying it has sufficient staff by Oct. 1, 2026; the amendment also directs a $25,000 annual appropriation.
The Health and Government Operations Committee voted to approve House Bill 384, establishing the Maryland Disability Service Animal Program, but amended the bill to make its effective date contingent on the Maryland Department of Disabilities certifying it has sufficient staff to administer the program.
The committee adopted amendments that require the program to serve Maryland residents, remove specific referral and management mandates previously written into the bill, and require the governor to include an annual $25,000 appropriation in the budget. The act will take effect only after the Department of Disabilities notifies the Department of Legislative Services that it has certified sufficient staffing; if DLS receives notice by Oct. 1, 2026, the act will take effect on the date of that notice, and if DLS receives notice that the department lacks sufficient staff on or before that date, the act will not take effect.
The amendments were presented to address the bill's fiscal note. A sponsor moved the amendments and the committee adopted them without extended debate. During discussion of the amended bill, Delegate Shaliga said she opposes the measure on budgetary grounds, noting the state’s larger fiscal picture: "Well, I think disability service animals are wonderful. I think we have a $3,000,000,000 budget and we should not be putting new programs in…So I will be voting no." The chair responded that the fiscal note for the program was $25,000 and acknowledged the delegate's concern.
After additional procedural votes and a roll-call-style indication of opposition, the committee passed the bill as amended. Committee members recorded in opposition to the bill included Delegate Shaliga and Delegate Morgan; several members agreed to cosponsor the house bill.
The amendment package also stated the program would no longer be required to be promoted or directly managed by MDOD as initially drafted, and struck earlier language requiring MDOD to refer eligible individuals to specified training entities. The bill as amended remains a cross-file to Senate Bill 157 and will proceed to the next legislative steps with the certification and appropriation conditions in place.
The committee did not provide a full numeric roll call on the record in the transcript; opposition members were named by the chair during the vote call.
