More Priority Bills Passing

Read Full Digest Here: March 9th, Digest

This week, the Senate passed a major Criminal Justice bill:  SB 323 - Juvenile Court - Jurisdiction (Youth Charging Reform Act) - passed 32-12 and was sent to the House for consideration.  See last week’s Digest for a description of the bill.

Also, two bills on our “watch” list were reported out of committee:

Climate Change: HB 437 - Transportation - Major Highway Capacity Expansion Projects and Impact Assessments (Transportation and Climate Alignment Act of 2026) – requires the Department of Transportation, as part of the planning and implementation of certain major highway expansion projects, to perform an impact assessment of the project, and develop and implement a corresponding multimodal transportation program. It also requires the Department to evaluate major capital projects for their impact on greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled. Favorable  with Amendments Report by both the Appropriations and Environment & Transportation Committees and is headed to the House floor for consideration.

Gun Violence: SB 775 - Public Safety - Gun Buyback Programs - Destruction of Firearms  - Requires a federal firearms licensee or law enforcement agency operating a gun buyback program to destroy each firearm (and all its component parts) that is traded in as part of a gun buyback program (after determining first if the firearm is a crime firearm or has been reported lost or stolen before destroying the weapon). Favorable with Amendments Report by Judicial Proceedings, to be on 2nd reading in the Senate in the coming week.

Focus Remains on Committee Voting Sessions

The next significant legislative date is March 17, the Committee Reporting Courtesy Date. This is the day by which each chamber’s committees are expected to report favorably any bills they hope to have passed this year. Committees usually hold off on voting on any bills that have already made it over from the opposite chamber unless they have a pending companion bill also awaiting action. 

Some of our priority bills have appeared on voting session lists, indicating that committee action will be taken soon.

These include:

SB 626 - Certificates of Birth, Licenses, and Identification Cards - Sex Designation (Birth Certificate Modernization Act) – was considered by Finance Committee on March 5 but a vote was postponed. 

SB 334 - Criminal Law - Firearm Crimes - Machine Gun Convertible Pistols – on the voting list in Judicial Proceedings on Monday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m.

Remaining Priority Bills To Be Heard

We are entering week five of the session and what is left of our remaining UULM-MD priority bills will be heard in committee. At this point, we will be directing our efforts to urging committees to bring important bills to a vote and advance them to the floor of their respective chambers. Some of these bills have appeared on committee work sessions or voting lists (without a vote), indicating that some action is expected. However, no further priority bills came out of committee last week, and we need to press lawmakers to vote them to the floor of the House or Senate. So now is the time to speak out for policies you support.

Committee voting sessions are usually scheduled as the Committee Chair deems them ready, and little public notice is provided.  We are constantly scanning the official meeting schedules for voting sessions and monitoring House and Senate sessions for any verbal announcements.  While we cannot guarantee advance notice to our readers, we are constantly updating our Current Status of Priority Legislation table with any new information.

Nonprofit Community Rallies around SB 4 / HB 514

This week, the Maryland Association of Nonprofits sent out a message to its members (including UULM-MD) seeking our assistance in passing the Keeping Charities Nonpartisan Act of 2026, a measure designed to preserve a clear boundary for 501(c)(3) organizations by reinforcing that nonprofits may advocate on issues, educate the public, and engage in civic life, while remaining separate from candidate campaign activity. Many nonprofits view this as a safeguard for charitable integrity, mission clarity, and public trust.

For the nonprofit sector, this is an important measure. The provisions of the bill will only be triggered if there is action by any branch of the Federal Government to undermine the current rules for nonprofits that allow these nonprofits to continue their important actions in the public square. This will protect the rights of faith groups and other charities to advocate in the public interest as long as they are nonpolitical. We view this as a positive bill to support UULM-MD’s nonprofit advocacy separate from candidate campaign activity.

While we do not have an Issue Team for election issues, the UULM-MD Leadership Team believes that this is important enough for us to support it. In this time of uncertainty, it is important to reinforce the existing legal distinctions drawn by the Johnson Amendment allowing (limited) advocacy by true nonprofits.

SB 4 was voted favorably, 6 to 4 by the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee on March 5, 2026, and it now moves to the Senate floor for consideration. Floor action may be as soon as Monday night March 9. Its companion bill, HB 514, is awaiting action in the House Economic Matters Committee. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee with no votes to spare, and it’s headed to the full Senate, where debate will be spirited. However, we lost votes from Senators who hadn’t heard from ANY nonprofits in their districts!

Below is a note from the Senate lead sponsor, Senator Cheryl Kagan (District 17):

The opponents to a bill are ALWAYS louder. They’re always organized. It’s time for our nonprofit leaders in every nook and cranny of our wonderful State to get active! SB 4 will make sure that our charitable organizations continue to stay out of partisan politics. The Johnson Amendment has protected us for the past 72 years. There is a court ruling that could come down any time now. In addition, there is a possibility that the White House or Congress could seek to eliminate that protection.

PLEASE contact your Senator and ask for a favorable vote in support of SB 4.

Check out our Take Action Page for all of our links.