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Montgomery County Council introduces bills on childcare credit, leaf‑blower exemptions, forest protections and other measures
Summary
The council introduced a slate of bills scheduled for public hearings in July, including expansion of a childcare property tax credit, a seasonal exemption for gas-powered leaf blowers for landscapers, and a repeal of the county's transportation demand management law for committee review.
Montgomery County Council members used the June 17 meeting to introduce a broad package of legislation that will be considered in coming weeks.
Council President Kate Stewart read the list of bills and scheduled public hearings. Among them: expedited Bill 16-25 (personnel/employee retirement system membership adjustments), Bill 17-25 (exempting Internet access service from certain procurement rules), Bill 18-25 (forest conservation/trees aligning local code with state law), and expedited Bill 19-25, a proposal to create a seasonal exemption for commercial gas-powered leaf‑removal equipment. The lead sponsor of the leaf‑blower bill (introduced as Council Member Albanese) said the exemption would allow landscaping professionals to use gas-powered equipment from October through January, with a three‑year sunset, to help businesses afford transitions to electric equipment.
On early-childhood and childcare policy, the council introduced Bill 21-25 to expand a property tax credit for child-care providers—raising the maximum credit from $3,000 to $10,000 and expanding eligibility to large family child-care homes—citing a reported 15.5% decline in licensed providers and local capacity concerns. Council members also introduced Bill 23-25 to clarify roles for an early care and education coordinating entity and Bill 20-25 to adjust MCEDC strategic-plan deadlines amid leadership changes.
Transportation and land-use bills included Bill 24-25, introduced by the Transportation and Environment Committee lead (introduced as Council Member Balcom), which would repeal the county's Transportation Demand Management law after committee review; sponsors cited low compliance and an Inspector General report that questioned implementation. The council also introduced bills dealing with payments-in-lieu-of-taxes for public housing authorities (Bill 25-25) and the Native Plant Protection Act (Bill 26-25), the latter proposing to ban the sale of invasive bamboo and require native plants in new construction.
Council members said most introduced measures will return for public hearings in July; staff and committee offices were listed as contacts for technical questions. No final actions were taken at introduction beyond scheduling public hearings.
