Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Roundup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ways and Means advances a package of bills, many with amendments
Summary
The House Ways and Means Committee on March 18 moved a long list of bills favorable (many with amendments), including measures on civic education, tax credits, property tax credits, and student civic-engagement absences. Several items drew substantive debate; a handful recorded named opposition.
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced a broad slate of bills during an extended voting session March 18, carrying many measures forward favorable with amendments before adjourning for crossover-week floor activity.
Bills the committee moved forward included House Bill 57 (a statewide Maryland Civic Excellence program and student "seal of excellence"), HB 89 (state inspector general for education pursuing a memorandum of understanding with the Baltimore County inspector general), HB 139 (a Veterans Day sales-tax holiday for veterans on purchases of $250 or less), HB 211 (a Baltimore County property tax credit delegation bill), HB 295 (prohibiting certain interactive games and directing fines to the problem-gambling fund), HB 898 (a broad package of tax credit and program changes known as the Decade Act), HB 320 (Anne Arundel rural-legacy property tax credit), HB 352 (repeal of a sunset on concentration-of-poverty grant uses), HB 531 (MSDE study of extracurricular STEM and robotics), HB 547 (agriculture equipment reporting changes), HB 569 (Queen Anne's County delegation bill on impact fees for school capital), HB 575 (attendance excusals for student civic engagement), HB 590 (Howard County transfer tax for agriculture programs), HB 606 (Anne Arundel eligibility expansion for a property tax referral program), and HB 734 (agrivoltaics property-tax assessment changes).
Most bills were moved and seconded without extended debate; several carried committee amendments before a voice or recorded vote. Where members raised concerns — notably on HB 295, HB 575 and HB 734 — those issues are recorded in the committee's discussion and reflected in the committee record. A subset of measures recorded named opposition during voice/roll call votes (for example, HB 295 showed several members opposed on the record). The committee paused before completing its full list and adjourned for the floor.
The committee's action sends the advanced bills to the next procedural step on the House calendar; the chair said members may reconvene to complete the remaining list after floor business.
