The Press Association advocates for its members and the industry in Maryland, Delaware and DC. For 2024, our bill tracking includes: 

• HB0243 Property Tax – Tax Sales – Revisions

  Requiring that certain property be withheld from tax sale; authorizing a county or a municipal corporation to withhold from tax sale certain property designated for redevelopment purposes; altering certain provisions of law concerning abandoned property that is sold for less than the lien amount; altering certain requirements concerning the rate of redemption for properties sold at tax sale; etc.

• HB0247 Real Property – Residential Foreclosures – Procedures

  Repealing the use of a preliminary loss mitigation affidavit in an order to docket or complaint to foreclose a mortgage or deed of trust on residential property; altering certain requirements for the filing of an action to foreclose a mortgage or deed of trust on residential property and altering certain requirements for an order to docket or a complaint to foreclose a mortgage or deed of trust; establishing that a copy of a notice of intent to foreclose is not a public record and is not subject to the Public Information Act; etc.

• HB0268 Criminal Procedure – Expungement of Records – Definitions

  Altering certain definitions of “expunge” and “expungement”.

• HB0291 / SB0170 County Boards of Education – Bid Advertisement Threshold and Electronic Posting of Hearing Notices and Bid Advertisements

  Authorizing county boards of education to post on the websites of certain local school systems hearing notices related to preliminary approval of a school site and advertisements for bids for school buildings, improvements, supplies, or equipment that exceed $100,000; increasing, from $25,000 to $100,000, the threshold amount of costs of school buildings, improvements, supplies, or equipment that trigger the requirement for county boards to advertise for bids; etc.

• HB0330 / SB0568 Courts – Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

  Altering the conditions under which a lawsuit is considered a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP suit); altering the conditions under which a defendant in a SLAPP suit is not civilly liable for certain communications; establishing certain standards and requirements relating to a motion to dismiss an alleged SLAPP suit; and applying the Act prospectively.

• HB0333 Election Law – Election Disinformation on Large Social Media Platforms and Influence Related to Voting

  Requiring each large social media platform of more than 1,000,000 monthly active users in the United States to make reasonable efforts to prevent, detect, and remove accounts and posts that communicate election disinformation in the State; requiring a large social media platform to report election disinformation by providing certain information to the State Board of Elections within 48 hours after the large social media platform becomes aware of an account or a post that communicates election disinformation; etc.

• HB0350 / SB0360 Budget Bill (Fiscal Year 2025)

  Making the proposed appropriations contained in the State Budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, in accordance with Article III, Section 52 of the Maryland Constitution; etc

• HB0352 / SB0362 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2024

  Altering or repealing certain required appropriations; authorizing the use of certain funds for certain purposes; altering the funding formula for community colleges and the State aid program for private nonprofit institutions of higher education; authorizing or altering the distribution of certain revenue; requiring interest earnings for certain special funds to accrue to the General Fund of the State for fiscal years 2024 through 2028; authorizing the transfer of certain funds; etc.

• HB0387 Public Information Act – Surveillance Images – Illegal Dumping in Baltimore City

  Repealing a certain provision of law requiring a custodian to deny inspection of certain surveillance images of illegal dumping in Baltimore City except under certain circumstances.

• HB0523 Criminal Procedure – Expungement of Records – Good Cause

  Authorizing a court to grant a petition for expungement of records relating to a certain conviction at any time on a showing of good cause.

• HB0550 Criminal Procedure – Partial Expungement

  Authorizing a person to file a petition for partial expungement for a certain eligible offense even if another charge or conviction arising out of the same incident, transaction, or set of facts is not eligible for expungement; requiring a court to order partial expungement in certain circumstances; and repealing a provision of law prohibiting partial expungement.

• HB0555 Criminal Law – Unauthorized Dissemination of Personal Identifying Information – Prohibition

  Prohibiting the unauthorized dissemination of certain personal identifying information without permission, with the intent to threaten, intimidate, abuse, harass or frighten a person, or place the person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury or intend the information to be used in such a way; establishing a cause of action for a person injured by the intentional dissemination of certain personal identifying information; establishing certain penalties; etc.

• HB0567 / SB0541 Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024

  Establishing generally the manner in which a controller or a processor may process a consumer’s personal data; authorizing a consumer to exercise certain rights in regards to the consumer’s personal data; requiring a controller of personal data to establish a method for a consumer to exercise certain rights in regards to the consumer’s personal data; etc.

• HB0594 Legal Advertisement or Legal Notice – Publication in Newspaper or Newspaper in General Circulation – Digital Newspapers

  Altering the meaning of “newspaper” or “newspaper in general circulation” when referring to the publication of a certain legal advertisement or legal notice to include certain publications that are offered in a print format or a digital format under certain circumstances.

• HB0596 Dorchester County – County Property Leases – Notice Exemptions

  Exempting a lease of county property for a term of 5 years or less made by Dorchester County from certain notice requirements.

• HB0603 / SB0571 Consumer Protection – Online Products and Services – Data of Children (Maryland Kids Code)

  Requiring a certain entity that offers an online product reasonably likely to be accessed by children to complete a certain data protection impact assessment under certain circumstances; requiring certain privacy protections for certain online products; prohibiting certain data collection and sharing practices; etc.

• HB0721  / SB0519 Baltimore City – Tax Sales – Owner-Occupied Residential Property

  Authorizing the collector of taxes in Baltimore City to withhold any owner-occupied residential property from tax sale.

• SB0011 Criminal Procedure – Partial Expungement

  Authorizing a person to file a petition for partial expungement for a certain eligible offense even if another charge arising out of the same incident, transaction, or set of facts is not eligible for expungement; requiring a court to make a certain order where partial expungement is impracticable; and repealing a provision of law prohibiting partial expungement.

• SB0078 / HB0495 Education – Baltimore County School Board Nominating Commission – Records and Meetings Requirements

  Establishing that certain records requested by and submitted to the Baltimore County School Board Nominating Commission are not confidential and are subject to certain disclosure requirements; and requiring a meeting of the Commission to be open to the public if it involves an interview of, deliberation about, or action on a candidate for appointment to the county board.

• SB0111 / HB0458 Criminal Procedure – Protection of Identity of Minor Victim<

  Requiring, with a certain exception, a party or nonparty making a certain filing in a criminal or juvenile delinquency case to redact certain identifying information relating to a minor victim that appears in the filing; and authorizing the Supreme Court of Maryland to adopt rules to require or authorize a person making a redacted filing under the Act to also file an unredacted copy under seal.

• SB0170 / HB0291 County Boards of Education – Bid Advertisement Threshold and Electronic Posting of Hearing Notices and Bid Advertisements

  Requiring county boards of education to post certain hearing notices and bid advertisements on the websites of certain local school systems; increasing the threshold amount of costs of school buildings, improvements, supplies, and equipment that require county boards to advertise for bids from $25,000 to $100,000; and updating the reference to the State’s centralized procurement platform on which county boards may advertise for bids for school buildings, improvements, supplies, or equipment.

• SB0312 Public Information Act – Personnel Records of Elected Officials and Joint Ethics Committee Records

  Establishing that certain records of elected officials are not personnel records for the purposes of inspection under the Public Information Act; and establishing that certain records of the State Ethics Commission and Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics are available for public inspection under certain circumstances.

• SB0399 Cannabis – Advertising – Prohibited Locations

  Altering a certain prohibition on advertising for cannabis licensees, products, or services by repealing a prohibition on certain outdoor advertising and instead prohibiting advertising within 500 feet of a substance use treatment facility, certain schools, child care facilities, or other locations; authorizing a cannabis licensee to request and requiring the Maryland Cannabis Administration to provide, within 30 days of receiving the advertisement, an opinion as to whether a cannabis advertisement meets certain requirements; etc.

• SB0437 / HB0839 Carroll County – Contracts and Purchasing

  Increasing from $25,000 to $50,000 the cost of a public work or improvement or the purchase price of supplies or equipment for which the County Commissioners of Carroll County may enter into a contract; and requiring that when the cost of a public work or improvement or the purchase price of supplies or equipment in Carroll County exceeds $50,000 under certain conditions, the Chief of the Bureau of Purchasing for the County Commissioner shall advertise for bids for at least 1 week in a media accessible to the general public.

• SB0454 / HB0073 Criminal Procedure – Expungement – Completion of Sentence

  Altering certain provisions of law relating to waiting periods for the filing of certain petitions for expungement to authorize the filing of a petition a certain amount of time after the completion of the sentence.

• SB0519 / HB0721 Baltimore City – Tax Sales – Owner-Occupied Residential Property

  Authorizing the collector of taxes in Baltimore City to withhold any owner-occupied residential property from tax sale.

• SB0541 / HB0567 Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024

  Establishing generally the manner in which a controller or a processor may process a consumer’s personal data; authorizing a consumer to exercise certain rights in regards to the consumer’s personal data; requiring a controller of personal data to establish a method for a consumer to exercise certain rights in regards to the consumer’s personal data; etc.