Priority Bills Emerge from Committees

Read Full Digest here: February 23, 2026 Digest

This past week, three (3) of our health and immigration priority bills were brought to a vote in House Committees and were voted out favorably.

HB 372 - Hospitals - Emergency Pregnancy-Related Medical Conditions – Procedures – received a Favorable Report (no amendments) from the Health Committee – SB 169, its companion bill, already passed the Senate last week 32-11.

HB 351 - Public Safety - Federal Agents - Digital Unmasking – received a Favorable with Amendments Report by the House Judiciary Committee 

HB 1018 - Correctional Services - Immigration Detention Facilities - Minimum Mandatory Standards – received a Favorable with Amendments Report by the Government, Labor, and Elections Committee

In addition, the Government, Labor, and Elections Committee approved a related immigration detention facility bill that UULM-MD did not focus on as a priority:

HB 1017 - Correctional Services - Private Immigration Detention Facilities - Zoning Requirement – Favorable with Amendments Report

Meanwhile, two priority criminal justice measures were withdrawn (other bills on the same subjects remain viable):

HB 224 / SB 97 – Reentry and Reintegration Support Program – Establishment (Introduced for the State Division of Corrections)

HB 876 - Criminal Procedure - Motion to Reduce Duration of Sentence - Repeal of Sentencing Date Limitation

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 Upcoming Hearings table with any new information.

Other Bills of Interest or Concern

These include:

Two measures that were proposed by UULM-MD members as priorities, but were not accepted for the 2026 session:

HB 525 / SB 928 - County Boards of Education - Student Electronic Communication Device Use Policy - Establishment (Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act) – a complete proposal was not submitted in time to be considered by UULM-MD, and our Education Issue Team is currently dormant.

HB 1455 - State Retirement and Pension System - Divestment From Israel – no bill was expected to be filed this year and UULM-MD does not yet have an active Issue Team working on such issues.

Measures of concern to nonprofits (including UULM-MD and congregations):

HB 15 - Public Information Act - Public Records - Nonprofit Organizations – this bill would include in the definition of “public record” the information developed by any nonprofit that receives at least $50,000 in state or local grants, making these records (including salary information) subject to public view.  Since the bill would not include any of the for-profit companies that receive grants or contracts from state or local governments, it appears to be part of a recent effort by some lawmakers to imply that charities waste or misuse tax dollars or abuse their tax-exempt status. 

HB 656 - Income, Sales and Use, and Property Taxes - Revocation of Exempt Status for Nonprofit Organizations for Supporting Terrorist Organizations – the bill would require the Comptroller and the Director of the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) to jointly determine, on a regular basis, if any nonprofit organization in the State has been found to be a terrorist-supporting organization. If the agencies determine that a nonprofit supported a terrorist organization, it must revoke the organization’s tax-exempt status, subject to appeal to the Maryland Tax Court. Allegations of such support have been made by some federal officials, and the definition of a terrorist organization is made at the Federal level, making this problematic for those who do not trust the Administration.

HB 1378 - Corporations and Associations - Limitations on Election and Ballot Issue Activities (Maryland Corporate Power Reset Act) – this legislation was first initiated in Montana to counter the US Supreme Court's ruling in "Citizens United." As introduced, the bill would prohibit any “artificial person” (corporation, partnership, LLC, etc.) from engaging in election activities or ballot issue activities. Such entities would be prohibited from paying, contributing, or expensing money or anything of value to support or oppose a candidate for office, a political party, political committee or a media owned by one of these. It would also prohibit them from supporting or opposing any ballot measure...

UULM-MD does not support this bill for one very good reason. As written, the bill applies to every type of business or corporation, which would include every nonprofit corporation, every UU congregation in the state as well as UULM-MD. 

While we support limiting the ability of for-profit corporations and other businesses to spend money on political candidates and ballot issues, 501(c)(3) nonprofits (like us) are already prohibited from supporting or opposing any candidate or party, although they can engage in voter registration, voter education on issues, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities. In addition, nonprofits are allowed to devote resources to ballot measures since we support or oppose policies, not candidates. We spend a great deal of time and effort staying within the law in order to protect our tax-exempt status.

UULM-MD was the lead faith group to support marriage equality, and we led the opposition to overturn its passage when it was petitioned to referendum in 2012. Passage of this bill would prohibit us from acting to support or oppose any future ballot measures, and it could also affect our ability to support democracy through voter registration, education and GOTV.

If the bill could be amended only to apply to for-profit entities, we could support it.  However, as presently written, we would urge opposition to it.

The Coming Week

Important hearings scheduled for this week include two we are opposing (civil rights and health care) and 8 climate change bills that we are watching. See the table and calendar on our Look Ahead page for details.

Now that many hearings have been held, committees are starting to vote on bills they have heard. As we learn of voting sessions (often with short notice), we will post them on the Look Ahead calendar.

Stay tuned for alerts from our Issue Teams on how you can contact your representatives on these committees and urge passage, or check out our Take Action Page. 

It was a busy, exhilarating, and important week. More to follow in the coming week