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Prince George's County committee advances several bills to Annapolis, adopts amendments and issues letter of information
Summary
The General Assembly Committee approved amendments and moved multiple County-priority and state bills forward, held HB363 for follow-up, approved a withdrawal letter on PG40526, and asked staff to prepare testimony and letters for Annapolis.
Prince George's County's General Assembly Committee moved a package of local and state bills forward during its first 2026 meeting, adopting council amendments to a beer-and-wine license bill, voting favorable positions on several enabling and public-safety bills, holding one bill for more information, and approving a withdrawal letter on a school-and-behavioral-health surcharge measure.
The committee adopted four Council-proposed amendments to PG30426 (a beer-and-wine retail license bill) that address licensing class labels, floor-area and food-sales thresholds, and removal of a sunset provision. Jabari Cooper summarized the changes as responsive to House delegation feedback: "These amendments that we are proposing are in direct response to feedback received during the house delegation public hearing on December 1," Cooper said. Councilmember Harrison moved to support the package and the motion carried on roll call; the committee then voted to send PG30426 to the House as amended.
On state bills the committee recorded favorable motions on several items that the county is tracking. Notable outcomes included:
- SB288 (highway-user revenues): The committee voted to move favorable on SB288. Staff and presenters said this bill could materially increase highway-user revenue for the county compared with the governor's submission and estimated a multi‑million dollar benefit for Prince George's County.
- SB224 / HB90 (authority to establish property subclasses/special rates): The committee took a favorable position on legislation that would enable counties to set special rates for commercial and industrial property; discussion focused on potential effects on development and how districts would use any new revenue streams.
- SB353 / HB525 (real property residential foreclosure commencement restrictions): The committee endorsed a bill that would create a 10-year deadline to file foreclosure actions on residential properties; sponsors and county counsel discussed related concerns including deficiency judgments.
- SB349 (vehicle eluding police penalties, sometimes called "Zoey's Law"): The committee moved favorable and assigned Chair Crystal Oriotta to testify on behalf of the committee.
The committee held HB363 (income-tax authorization for a local child tax credit) for additional information after members requested clarification about interaction with federal tax credits and potential county budget impacts. Teresa Hessler (government relations) confirmed the bill only authorizes—not requires—counties to adopt a local credit and that any local adoption would require county legislation and a fiscal analysis.
The committee also approved a letter to withdraw PG40526 (school facilities and behavioral-health surcharge deferral) after further discussions with OMB about fiscal impacts.
Committee procedures were largely unanimous on recorded votes; a transcript anomaly during the SB349 roll call was noted by staff (see audit). The committee asked staff to forward testimony, letters of information, and follow-up fiscal analyses to support positions as bills progress in Annapolis.
