Attend An Event!
Attend an Annapolis General Assembly Hearing
Dear Democratic Blue Team Members:
As promised after the 2020 General Election cycle, the Baltimore County Democratic State Central Committee will attempt to keep Democratic voters informed about political issues of importance to the general public when they become available.
LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS
Over the next two weeks voters are encouraged to attend the virtual legislative hearings of several important bills that propose to make important change Maryland's Election, Health, Environmental, and Social and Criminal Justice Laws. One bill of particular interest HB848 (a.k.a. "The Debtor's Body Attachment Bill"), will prohibit an individual from being arrested or incarcerated for failure to respond to certain orders to appear in court relating to an examination in aid of enforcement of a money judgment entered in a small claim action in the District Court will be heard on 2/10/21 at 1:30 p.m. before the House Judiciary Committee.
All bill hearings will be held virtually via Zoom and also live streamed on YouTube. The link to daily Senate and House hearings are:
Senate daily hearing schedule:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Meetings/Day/senate (1) Copy and paste link at keyword. (2) Click and scroll to the Senate Committee name shaded in pink. (3) Next click on the little blue camera to start live streaming. If there no camera, there is no hearing )
House daily hearing schedule:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Meetings/Day/house (1) Copy and paste the link at keyword. 2) Click and scroll to the House Committee name shaded in blue. (3) Next click on the little blue camera to start live streaming. If there no camera, there is no hearing )
Below is an updated list of legislation scheduled to be heard over the next two weeks as part of the 2021 Maryland Legislation Session. The committees that will hear the legislation are also listed.
Attached to this email is a document titled "2021 Maryland General Assembly (Procedures for Attending and Testifying on Legislation)". It details instructions about how to register to testify before the Maryland General Assembly (MGA), which must be done during a 5 hour window of time two days in advanced of the scheduled hearing date, as well as, how to sign up for a Maryland Legislative Account. (All speakers are now asked to sign up for a Maryland Legislative Account prior to registering to speak on any piece of legislation.)
Written testimony can be submitted electronically to any Committee up to and including the day of a bill hearing.
Finally, please consider supporting any of the legislation you feel strongly about by signing up to testify, writing letters in support or opposition to, or just attending the hearings, or attend a state or local Board of Elections Meeting. Because all legislative hearings and board of elections meetings are currently being conducted virtually, there is greater opportunity than ever to learn more about how government works.
Sincerely,
Linda Dorsey-Walker, MBA BCDSCC Secretary /
Elected Member MD Legislative District 11
Baltimore County Democratic State Central Committee
HERE IS A LIST OF SOME UPCOMING HEARING DATES FROM FEBRUARY 8TH THROUGH FEBRUARY 18TH
Testimony (either oral signup or written upload) is due two days before the hearing date, unless the hearing is on Monday or Tuesday, in which case it is due the previous Friday. Complete instructions for signing up or uploading testimony can be found here (https://facebook.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e5ec9808ac6f70eb28601ae90&id=49f773de38&e=932b9ce7e7) .
Environment Bill Hearings
February 9th, 1:30 pm
HB0036 Environment - Packaging, Containers, and Paper Products - Producer Responsibility - Delegate Lierman - Environment and Transportation Committee
HB0280 Public-Private Partnerships - Process and Oversight - Delegate Solomon - Environment and Transportation Committee
February 10th, 1:00 pm
SB0417 Power Plant Research Program - Review of Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity - Alterations - Senator Pinsky - Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
SB0483 Solid Waste Management - Organics Recycling and Waste Diversion - Food Residuals - Senator Hettleman - Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
HB0636 School Buildings - Drinking Water Outlets - Elevated Levels of Lead (Safe School Drinking Water Act) - Delegate Solomon - Environment and Transportation Committee
February 11th, 1:30 pm
HB0583 Climate Solutions Now Act - Delegate Stein - Environment and Transportation Committee
HB0592 State Vehicle Fleet - Conversion to Zero-Emission Electric Vehicles - Delegate Frazer-Hidalgo - Environment and Transportation Committee
February 12th, 1:30 pm
HB0067 I-495 and I-270 Public-Private Partnership - Partnership Agreement - Requirements (Maryland Department of Transportation Promises Act of 2021) - Delegate Korman - Environment and Transportation Committee
HB0334 Maryland Transit Administration - Conversion to Zero-Emission Buses (Zero-Emission Transition Act) - Delegate Korman - Environment and Transportation Committee
February 16th, 1:00 pm
SB0462 Public Utilities – Low Income Housing – Energy Performance Targets – Senator Feldman – Finance Committee
February 17th, 1:00 pm
SB0361 Public-Private Partnerships – Process and Oversight – Senator West – Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee
February 17th, 1:30 pm
HB0069 Environment – Single-Use Plastics – Restrictions – Delegate Love – Economic Matters
HB0542 Emergency Management – Chief Resilience Officer – Appointment and Duties – Delegate Watson – Health and Government Operations Committee
February 18th, 1:30 pm
HB0033 Climate Crisis and Education Act – Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo – Economic Matters Committee
HB0066 Electric Generation – Transition from Fossil Fuels (Coal Transition) – Delegate Brooks – Economic Matters Committee
HB0768 Montgomery County – Community Choice Energy – Pilot Program MC 17-21 – Montgomery Co. – Economic Matters Committee
HB0777 Power Plant Research Program – Review of Application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity – Delegate Brooks – Economic Matters Committee
HB0832 Public Utilities – Electric School Bus Pilot Program – Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo – Economic Matters Committee
HB0875 Electricity – Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard – Qualifying Biomass – Delegate Davis, D. – Economic Matters Committee
Elections Bill Hearings
February 16th, 1:30 pm
HB0745 Election Law – Early Voting Centers – Number Required – Delegate Luedtke – Ways and Means Committee
HB0759 Election Law – Postelection Tabulation Audits – Risk-Limiting Factors – Delegate Kaiser – Ways and Means Committee
HB0760 Election Law – Time for Processing Absentee Ballots – Delegate Kaiser – Ways and Means Committee
HB0761 Election Law – Contested Elections – Delegate Kaiser – Ways and Means Committee
HB0767 Montgomery County – Voting Methods MC 22-21 (Ranked Choice Voting) – Montgomery County – Ways and Means Committee
February 18th, 11:00 am
SB0415 Public Financing Act – Matching Fund Revisions (Maryland Fair Elections Act) – Senator Pinsky – Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee
SB0416 Public Financing Act – State Senate and House of Delegates Candidates and Matching Fund Revisions – Senator Pinsky – Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee
Health Care Bill Hearings
February 16th, 1:30 pm
HB0565 Health Facilities – Hospitals – Medical Debt Protection – Delegate Charkoudian – Health and Government Operations Committee
February 17th, 1:00 pm
SB0522 Public Health – Commission on Universal Health Care – Senator Pinsky – Finance Committee
Social and Criminal Justice Bill Hearings
February 9th, 1:00 pm
SB0085 Creating Governor's Office of Immigrant Affairs - Senator Rosapepe - Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
February 9th, 1:30 pm
HB0120 Public Information Act - Personnel Records - Investigations of Law Enforcement Officers (Anton's Law) - Delegate Acevero - Judiciary Committee
HB0139 Law Enforcement Officers - Use of Force - Delegate Davis, D. - Judiciary Committee
HB0151 Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights - Repeal - Delegate Acevero - Judiciary Committee
HB0152 Law Enforcement - Department of State Police - Body-Worn Cameras - Delegate Crosby - Judiciary Committee
HB0187 Public Safety - Law Enforcement - Body-Worn Cameras - Delegate Ivey - Judiciary Committee
February 10th, 1:00 pm
SB0478 Correctional Services - Immigration Detention - Prohibition (Dignity Not Detention Act) - Senator Smith - Judicial Proceedings Committee
February 11th, 11:00 am
SB0420 Criminal Law - Drug Paraphernalia for Administration - Decriminalization - Senator Carter - Judicial Proceedings Committee
February 11th, 1:00 pm
SB0486 Labor and Employment - Employment Standards During an Emergency (Maryland Essential Workers' Protection Act) - Senator Augustine - Finance Committee
February 12th, 1:30 pm
HB0365 Criminal Procedure - Office of the Attorney General - Prosecution of Police Officer - Delegate Fisher - Judiciary Committee
February 15th, 1:30 pm
HB0956 Criminal Procedure – Law Enforcement Procedures – Use of Force – Delegate Washington – Judiciary Committee
February 16th, 1:30 pm
HB0032 Cannabis – Legalization and Regulation (Inclusion, Restoration, and Rehabilitation Act) – Delegate Lewis, J. – Judiciary Committee
February 16th, 1:30 pm
HB0785 Landlord and Tenant – Commencement of Action to Repossess for Failure to Pay Rent – Required Notice and Grace Period – Delegate Terrasa – Environment and Transportation
HB0852 Property Tax – Tax Sales – Homeowner Protection Program – Delegate Kaiser – Ways and Means Committee
February 17th, 1:00 pm
SB0552 Motor Vehicle Insurance Use of Credit History Rating Policy – Senator Young – Finance Committee
SB0588 Law Enforcement Officers – Creditability of Witnesses and Misconduct Database (Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021) – Senator Sydnor – Judicial Proceedings Committee
SB0589 Criminal Procedure – Police Officers – Stop Procedures (Know Your Rights Act) – Senator Sydnor – Judicial Proceedings Comm.
SB0624 Public Safety – Untraceable and Undetectable Firearms –Senator Lee - Judicial Proceedings Committee
February 17th, 1:30 pm
HB0018 Landlord and Tenant – Eviction Action – Right to Counsel - Delegate Fisher, W., - Judiciary Committee
HB0052 Real Property – Alterations in Actions for Repossession and Establishment of Eviction Diversion Program– Del. Wells – Judiciary
February 18th, 11:00 am
SB0581 Action for Change of Name – Waiver of Publication Requirement – Senator Hettleman – Judicial Proceedings Committee
SB0587 Facial Recognition Privacy Protection Act – Senator Sydnor – Judicial Proceedings Committee
UPCOMING LOCAL BOARD AND STATE BOARD OF ELECTION MEETINGS:
Baltimore County Board of Elections Mtg.: Feb. 24, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (4th Wed. of the month - 8:30 am)
Maryland State Board of Elections Mtg.: Feb. 11, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. and Mar. 25, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.
2021 Presidential Inaugural Celebration
Baltimore County Legislative Town Hall
You are cordially invited to join members of the Baltimore County House and Senate Delegations for a Virtual Town Hall on Thursday, December 17, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.
If you missed the Town Hall, the entire event was recorded and can be viewed at the below link.
If you missed the Town Hall, the entire event was recorded and can be viewed at the below link.
