Appropriations Committee advances audits, student-data, scholarship and public-art bills; two withdrawn

The House Appropriations Committee approved four bills during a brief voting session and recorded the withdrawal of two others.

House Bill 251, a departmental measure on audits of local departments of social services, was amended to require a financial and compliance audit every four years unless the Inspector General determines an audit should occur every three years. A staff member presenting the bill said the change “would put the bill in the same posture as it is coming over in the senate.” Committee members adopted the amendment and approved the bill on a roll call.

House Bill 298 directs the Maryland Higher Education Commission to collect data from each public institution in the state on the parental status of enrolled students, and requires institutions to place the questions on one or more existing demographic forms. The presenter said institutions must make the collected data available to the commission. The bill passed on a roll call that included recorded “no” votes from several members.

House Bill 473 expands eligibility for the Maryland Community College Promise…