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House Ways and Means Committee advances broad slate of education, gaming and library bills
Summary
The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Janelle Wilkins, moved a series of bills forward on March 17, including measures on income‑eligibility and dual enrollment (HB29), omnibus education funding and CTE changes (HB490), problem‑gambling rules (HB518), and multiple library and childcare items; most passed with amendments and a few drew fiscal questions or recorded opposition.
The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Janelle Wilkins, advanced a package of bills during its March 17 voting session, moving measures on K‑12 education, gambling regulation, libraries and childcare forward, most with amendments.
Delegate Ebersol described House Bill 29 as a measure that "allows county boards of education to develop income eligibility guidelines above specified household income thresholds for students who have achieved college and career readiness" and said sponsor amendments added dual‑enrollment and CTE changes and extended the state board’s authority on dual‑enrollment limits through fiscal 2030. The amendments were adopted and the bill moved favorable with amendments.
An omnibus education measure, House Bill 490, was amended to extend hold‑harmless compensatory education enrollment counts through fiscal 2029, add an out‑of‑state teacher licensure pathway, pause the expert review team program for a year and require AIB and MSDE to study methods for counting low‑income students for funding formulas. Delegate Buckle raised a fiscal concern: "I'm a little concerned about that aspect of the bill from a funding perspective and a fiscal perspective," noting uncertainty whether the hold‑harmless is new mandated spending. Supporters said the uncodified language charges agencies to produce a clear system for counting compensatory students; HB490 passed favorable with amendments with several members recorded as opposed.
On gaming policy, Delegate Patterson said House Bill 518 directs the Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to adopt regulations to mitigate problem gambling, share contact information for voluntarily excluded individuals with the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling (unless declined), prohibit player‑specific proposition bets on collegiate sports and bar credit‑card use for sports wagering; sponsor amendments removed a proposed ban on under‑21 fantasy participation. The bill passed favorable with amendments.
Other bills that moved forward included: HB546 (professional‑development course on well‑being for school staff, sunset after five years, passed with amendments); HB586 (authorizing county library boards to appoint student members, including home‑instructed juniors and seniors, passed with amendments); HB610 (require permits for certain gaming devices in St. Mary's County, passed with amendments); HB635 (centralized criminal‑history processing for childcare workers and MSDE reporting, passed with amendments); HB660 (increasing per‑capita funding for the State Library Resource Center beginning FY2028, passed, with recorded opposition); HB742 (requires continued appropriation for the Growing Family Child Care Opportunities program for FY2028–2030—DLS clarified a $450,000 fiscal figure is treated as continuing funding and not newly mandated spending); HB1182 (guidance and limits for voluntary use of locative devices for students with wandering histories, passed with amendments); HB1274 (expanded honorary diploma provisions and wide co‑sponsorship added, passed); HB1279 (directs Housing and Community Development to emphasize workforce housing in tax‑credit regulations, passed with amendments); HB1305 (MSDE reporting on foster‑youth graduation outcomes, passed with amendments); and HB1310 (traumatic‑loss notation on transcripts expanded to include siblings and semester/year details, passed with amendments).
Votes and roll‑call details were not uniformly recorded in the transcript for every measure; when members registered opposition by name, those names were recorded in the official segment discussion. Where fiscal questions were raised—most notably about hold‑harmless counts in HB490 and the fiscal note language around HB742—DLS and sponsors provided clarifying remarks on how amounts are treated in future fiscal forecasts. The committee closed its desk work and returned to the floor at 5:00 p.m.
Votes at a glance HB29 — Favorable with amendments (amendments adopted). Sponsor: Delegate Ebersol. HB195 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Patterson. HB490 — Favorable with amendments; named opposition recorded (see timeline). Sponsor: Delegate Ebersol. HB518 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Patterson. HB546 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Ebersol. HB586 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Young. HB610 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Patterson. HB635 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Mariku North. HB660 — Favorable. Sponsor: Delegate Young; some members recorded opposition. HB742 — Favorable. Sponsor: Delegate Mariku North; DLS clarified fiscal treatment of $450,000. HB1052 — Favorable. Sponsor: Delegate Young. HB1182 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Young. HB1274 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Miller. HB1279 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Palakovich Carr. HB1305 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Eversol. HB1310 — Favorable with amendments. Sponsor: Delegate Eversol.
What happens next: Most measures passed by the committee will go to the floor for further action. The committee reconvened on the floor at 5:00 p.m. and several subcommittees met during the interim.
