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Votes at a glance: Economic Matters Committee advances multiple bills (HB898, HB892, HB893, HB1120, HB405, HB895, HB952 and others)
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Summary
The Economic Matters Committee completed its voting list and reported favorable actions on a range of bills covering economic development, cemetery law, licensing for foreign service members, EV charging in condos/HOAs, limits on algorithmic grocery pricing, chatbot protections for children, family child care homes and consumer notice rules.
The Economic Matters Committee completed its voting list for the day and moved a series of bills favorable as amended. The committee recorded passage on the following bills in the order they were considered in the transcript:
- House Bill 898 (DECADE Act): Passed (chair announced "passes 18"). Changes to economic development program reporting, MDAF request-signature requirements and small-business finance contracting authority were summarized by counsel. - House Bill 892 (cemetery definition/alternate use): Passed (18). Expanded cemetery definition to include structures used for cemetery-related business operations; subcommittee action was unanimous with amendment. - House Bill 893 (abandoned cemetery acquisition/disposition): Passed (18). Allows government agencies to acquire property with abandoned cemeteries in certain circumstances; amendment added veterans' organizations as eligible recipients. - House Bill 1120 (occupational licenses for foreign service members/spouses): Passed (18). Aligns house and senate language to let qualifying foreign service members and spouses use out-of-state professional licenses in certain situations. - House Bill 405 (condominium/HOA EV recharging equipment): Passed (16). Prohibits governing documents from unreasonably restricting EV recharging equipment in common areas; amendment clarified budget-process application. - House Bill 895 (dynamic pricing limits for groceries and food apps): Passed (12). Bars the use of personal data to set individualized prices over 24 hours for groceries/food apps, allows loyalty/group discounts and adds disclosure requirements for algorithm-set prices. - House Bill 952 (chatbot protections for children): Passed (18). Adds protections and enforcement by the Attorney General for chatbots targeted at minors; amendments incorporated technical fixes and elements from a broader bill and won support from the Maryland Psychiatric Association. - House Bill 1259 (family child care homes): Passed (11). Prohibits local jurisdictions from denying or restricting certain family child care homes meeting MSDE licensing requirements. - House Bill 502 (training for condominium/HOA board members): Passed (12). Requires certain board members/officers to complete a training curriculum; clarifies developer exclusions and delivery methods. - House Bill 929 (Carroll County commercial permits and unpaid taxes): Passed (17). Prevents issuance/renewal of commercial permits/licenses if applicant owes personal property taxes except under specified circumstances. - House Bill 1029 (contingency clauses and trust distributions in residential real estate): Passed (17). Alters contingency definitions and distribution timing for trust funds in residential real estate contracts. - House Bill 1132 (retail-contract notice deadlines and disclosure changes): Passed (17). Changes deadlines and disclosure obligations in certain retail contracts; amendment set a 15‑day deadline for condos/HOAs.
The chair closed the session and adjourned; the transcript records a note that the committee will likely continue voting the following day (possibly Saturday). The transcript contains no fiscal notes or detailed bill text; vote tallies listed above are those announced by the chair during roll call.
