Ways and Means Committee advances wide range of bills during March 13 voting session

The Ways and Means Committee on March 13 held a voting session in which committee members favorably reported a large group of bills spanning property tax credits, school calendar and student-member compensation changes, youth and childcare programs, public-safety studies, and multiple lottery- and gaming-related measures.

The committee advanced measures that would authorize local property tax credits (including for Habitat for Humanity and for former tobacco barns), expand or clarify eligibility for local tax credits and exemptions, require or authorize education-related practices (school holiday designations, student-member compensation, special education reporting, and a youth transition pilot), direct a study or evaluation on detection of deadly weapons in certain schools, and modify aspects of lottery and gaming regulation. Most bills were moved and passed by voice vote; the transcript records that they “pass[ed] favorably” but does not include roll-call tallies for the majority of items.

Votes at a glance: Below are the bills the committee considered in the March 13 voting session with the motion summary, the primary mover recorded in the transcript, and the formal outcome as stated on the record.

- House Bill 447 (HB447): Authorizes the county to grant a property tax credit to Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 562 (HB562): Alters number of county party central committee members elected per legislative district; amendments moved by Delegate Griffith and adopted. Outcome: Passed favorably as amended.

- House Bill 570 (HB570): Alters timing for hotel penalty for unpaid hotel rental tax in Talbot County. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 598 (HB598): Authorizes county/municipality to grant a personal property tax credit to a supermarket completing eligible construction in a food desert. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 702 (HB702): Requires local boards of education to publish on their websites special education service delivery models available to parentally placed private school students. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 750 (HB750): Alters eligibility requirements for an existing property tax credit for economic development projects in the county. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 771 (HB771) / House Bill 771 as amended (HB771): Establishes a student dental health program via the Maryland Department of Health with State Department of Education support for local publication; amendments adopted. Outcome: Passed favorably as amended.

- House Bill 791 (HB791): Authorizes county to impose an emergency services tax to fund fire, rescue and emergency medical services. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome: Passed favorably.

- House Bill 910 (HB910): Increases property tax exemption for an owner-occupied dwelling of a blind individual from $15,000 to $40,000. Mover: Delegate Wells. Outcome:…