Committee Vote Tracking

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[photo, Michael E. Busch, House Speaker]

A question sometimes asked of us is, “Do you track committee votes?”  The answer is no and here’s why.

Committee votes are on the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) website in .pdf form.  A scan of the hand written vote sheet is with each bill that gets a vote.

There are two parts to a vote sheet.  At the top is how the chair calls the vote (favorable/unfavorable/etc.):

snip_20160318172051

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following is the vote by the committee (only the chair vote shown).  In this example, the, “Yea” is a vote against this bill.

voting committee

 

 

 

While floor votes are available in a format able to be gathered by our process, these handwritten tally sheets must be collected manually.

This vote is for a bill we covered.

While the Maryland General Assembly website has some good features, it is appalling in vote transparency.  Hence, the votes section of the website.

Update - Withdrawn! 2016 MD HB 1178/SB 868 propose mandatory HPV vaccine for 9th graders

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Delegate Angela Angel

2016 HB 1178/SB 868 propose that all public school students, entering ninth grade, receive a vaccine for Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

(IV) REQUIRE THAT BEFORE A CHILD ENTERS NINTH GRADE, THE CHILD HAS RECEIVED THREE DOSES OF THE HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS VACCINE.

Per the Center for Disease Control:  “Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States.”

 

In the House, the Sponsor withdrew the bill from the Ways and Means committee.  Here’s the vote.

In the Senate, the bill was, “Unfavorable/Withdrawn”.  Here’s the vote.

 

2016 MD SB 333 Proposes to Limit Children’s Menu Drink Selections in Restaurants

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Senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam

2016 SB 333 proposes to require restaurants serve only certain beverages to children via a restaurant’s children’s menu.

(A) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SUBSECTION (B) OF THIS SECTION, A RESTAURANT THAT OFFERS A CHILDREN’S MENU OF MEAL OPTIONS OR OFFERS A MEAL THAT IS REPRESENTED AS A CHILD’S MEAL MAY INCLUDE ONLY BOTTLED WATER, LOW–FAT MILK, OR 100% FRUIT JUICE AS A BEVERAGE IN THE PRICE OF THE MENU OPTION OR MEAL.

(B) A RESTAURANT MAY OFFER ANY LAWFUL NONALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE TO A MINOR FOR A CHARGE.

The fiscal and policy note for this bill is not yet posted.  However, since this bill is a repeat from 2015, the fiscal note is de facto available.  In part, it says,

A food establishment licensee that violates any law or regulation relating to food establishments is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or up to 90 days imprisonment for a first violation. For a second violation, the
maximum penalty is a $2,500 fine and/or one year imprisonment. In addition, a violator is subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000, to be collected by the District Court for any county, and may be enjoined from continuing the violation. Each day is a separate violation.

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm

 

2016 MD SB 3 Proposes 450% Raise for AA Liquor Bd. Attorney

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Senator John C. Astle

2016 SB 3, sponsored by Senator Astle, proposes to raise the salary of the liquor board attorney from $20,000 to $90,000. Proposed repeals are in brackets [ ], CAPS and bold are proposed changes.

[(iii)] 3. A. Shall employ an attorney at an annual salary of [$20,000] $90,000;

This legislation also allows the attorney to employ a contractual attorney at up to $10,000 per year should the Board attorney have a conflict of interest.

B. MAY HIRE AN ATTORNEY ON A CONTRACTUAL BASIS TO PERFORM WORK THAT THE ATTORNEY EMPLOYED BY THE BOARD IS UNABLE TO PERFORM BECAUSE OF A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

 

2016 SB 17 Lengthens Open Meetings’ Record Retention

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2016 SB 17, “Opreillyen Meetings Act – Retention of Minutes and Tape Recordings – Revision”, increases the length of time that a public body is required to retain minutes and tape recordings under the Open Meetings Act.

(e) A public body shall keep a copy of the written minutes of each session and any tape recording made under subsection (b)(2)(i) or (c)(3)(i) of this section for at least [1 year] 5 YEARS after the date of the session.

While this is a small gesture of government to allow the People longer access to meeting information, it is a good bill.

Hearing 1/21 at 1:00 p.m.

Send email to the Email Edit Icon 7575Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee

(Click the send email icon now to pre-populate all the committee members’ email addresses in your default email client.)

Welcome!

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Welcome!

“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones” - Calvin Coolidge

All bills on this site are from prior sessions - do not contact legislators on the status of this legislation as none of it is any longer under consideration.  Bills either passed and are part of Maryland code or died.

 

 

Do You Have a Copy of the MD Constitution?

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Do You Have a Copy of the MD Constitution?

The Maryland Constitution is a long document - much longer than the United States Constitution.  While a pocket US Constitution is easy to carry around, the Maryland Constitution is more suitable for a book bag or briefcase.  However, the most important part, the Declaration of Rights, can be printed and fit in any pocket.

All Marylanders may contact the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) and request two copies of the Maryland Constitution be sent to their homes.

Telephone:

410-946-5400 or 301-970-5400

TTY:    410-946-5401 or 301-970-5401

You may email the DLS.

In person:

Legislative Services Building

90 State Circle

Annapolis, MD 21401