General Assembly Opens

Read Full Newsletter Here: January 19, 2026 Digest

On Wednesday, January 14, the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates convened for their 90-day session with a few new lawmakers who were sworn in to serve the remainder of terms for those who left for other positions.  Bill Ferguson (D-46) was unanimously re-elected Senate President and Jocelyn Peña-Melnyk (D-21) was unanimously re-elected Speaker of the House of Delegates.  

This year, a total 233 bills and resolutions were “pre-filed” and introduced in the House and Senate on the first day of the session. By Friday, the total was 588 for the short, three-day week. We have been reviewing them and identifying those of interest to UULM-MD. While we now have 102 on our tracking list, only a few have been identified by our issue leads as priority bills that we plan to support or oppose this session. 

For the current list of bills that have been introduced so far that are of interest to UULM-MD, see our table entitled Current Status of Priority Legislation.  Once the UULM-MD Issue Teams select the specific priority bills, we will mark them as such and filter out the others. This list will be updated frequently (at least daily) throughout the session, so keep checking back as needed.

Outlook as the Session Opens

A year ago, we worried about what the newly-reelected autocratic President would do, but we had no idea of the magnitude of the impacts on our democratic institutions, our nonpartisan professional workforce, our immigrant neighbors, our social safety net, and the wholesale destruction of our institutions. It has taken time to figure out how best to respond to these challenges, how to best protect the most vulnerable, how to protest federal abuses, how to find our voices, and then organize them into nationwide protests.

In addition to what we have seen around the nation, federal actions have also impacted our State, its programs, and its people.  By law, the Governor and Legislature must adopt a budget that is balanced, but last year they had to resolve a huge budget shortfall to do so. With the Federal Government further reducing funds to states for health and other programs, Maryland will have another deficit to close. And since this is election year for all Legislative and Executive officials, no one wants to increase taxes, putting even more pressure to reduce spending.  We will have to be realistic about preserving funding for essential state programs, and if any of our priority bills are expected to have a significant cost, it may not pass.

Another federal action of consequence is the reduction of the federal workforce. Recent data shows that Maryland lost more federal jobs than any other state, over 25,000 this past year.  Efforts to find state jobs for professional federal employees cannot keep up with the volume. And now that the subsidies have been eliminated for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), health insurance costs have increased dramatically, making it unaffordable for many Maryland residents.  Furthermore, the reduction in SNAP benefits has put a strain on food banks and state programs to keep people fed. These factors and many others will require creative but realistic solutions, and we will work to support these efforts.

The Coming Week

While the first days of the session are generally filled with briefings by various agencies, work groups and commissions, some committees have already scheduled their first bill hearings. In the coming week, we will be watching as a few bills of interest will be heard. See the list on the Look Ahead page of our website for specifics.  For information on specific bills filed, see the Maryland General Assembly website and enter the bill number in the search space.