Editor’s Note: The General Assembly is over halfway through the session, but the crazy keeps on coming with bills that create the most restrictive, ridiculous, unconstitutional laws in Maryland’s history.
HB1488 — Constitutional Language – Modernization
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would rewrite the Maryland Constitution to scrub it of any male nouns or
pronouns – even a reference to God as “Him.” It is a waste of time, energy, and money,
it reflects an obsession with woke ideology, and it disrespects the beauty and tradition
of the original language. We don’t need to cancel the original, traditional language of our
State Constitution – we’re all capable of understanding that the original use of traditional
language does not negate equal rights for all, and that the traditional reference to God
as “Him” does not deny anyone His love, mercy, or grace.
HB1382 — State Procurement – Prohibited Certifications – Boycotts of Foreign
Countries
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would repeal Governor Hogan’s Executive Order which prohibits the State from
entering into contracts with companies or organizations that boycott Israel. It reflects the
growing antisemitism in the state and national Democratic Party.
HB1184 — Civil Actions – Nonprofit Organizations – Unauthorized Support of
Israeli Settlement Activity (Not On Our Dime Act)
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill seeks to prevent charitable organizations from giving aid to Israel or Israeli
citizens, threatening huge, ruinous minimum fines and revocation of charitable status. It
nominally blocks charitable aid used to support Israeli “settlement activity,” but is written
so broadly, with no explicit exceptions or exemptions, that it’s clearly meant to prevent
any and all charitable spending for Israeli causes.
The bill is antisemitic, targeting ONLY Israel (the region’s only full democracy), despite
the existence of autocratic and terrorist states in the same region which are not targeted
in this (or any other) bill in any similar way. And this bill features intentionally broad language designed to allow nearly any charitable support to Israel to be categorized as illegal.
Finally, it is almost certainly unconstitutional, as it attempts to override the federal
government’s foreign policy prerogatives.
HB627 — Commission on History, Culture, and Civics in Education –
Establishment
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would create a woke, bureaucratic, intersectionality-obsessed commission to
“examine” and “make recommendations” regarding how to redirect the study of history
to focus solely on the contributions of minorities and various oppressed people groups
in educational materials. The bill specifically states that the Commission will examine
the “contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals.” This is,
of course, a long, detailed list of which oppressed and woke groups and special
interests must be represented by members of the commission. It’s another example of
the Annapolis Democrats’ obsession with woke identity politics.
HB835 — Criminal Procedure – No-Knock Search Warrants
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would ban No Knock search warrants, stripping officers of the element of
surprise, even when such surprise is needed to maximize safety or protect evidence
and the integrity of the crime scene. It denies the police an important tool in effective
and legitimate law enforcement, and aids criminals in their attempt to hide, destroy, or
dispose of evidence before a search can be conducted. It’s another attempt by
Annapolis Democrats to coddle criminals and hamper the efforts of law enforcement.
HB1589 — Birth Certificate Modernization Act
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would direct the Secretary of Health to issue new birth certificates — and place
original birth certificates under seal — for so-called transgender individuals.
Surgery and drugs do not convert men into women, nor vice versa, and the state of
Maryland should not be participating in the delusion that such conversion is possible or
desirable.
HB1163 — Howard County – Voting Age – Board of Education Elections Ho. Co.
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would lower the age of voting from 18 to 16 in Howard County for Board of
Education elections. This would surely lead in future legislative sessions to attempts at
similar voting age reductions for other elections in Howard County and beyond.
Updated From Previous Editions of the Bad Bill Tracker
Anti-Immigration-Enforcement Related:
SB245/HB0444 – Prohibition on Immigration Enforcement Agreements
Status: This bill unfortunately passed in both the House and the Senate, and was
subsequently signed by Governor Moore, making it law.
This law technically bans formal agreements (known as 287G agreements) between
local law enforcement agencies and ICE. 287G agreements allow and direct local police
to cooperate with ICE by informing them when illegal immigrants are being held in local
detention, so that ICE can come and take custody for purposes of immigration
enforcement. This law makes these agreements illegal in Maryland, which will result in
criminal illegal aliens – some of whom have committed violent crimes – being released
back into the local community. This will force ICE to arrest these people in homes,
businesses, and on the street, potentially inviting the same kind of chaos we’ve seen in
Minnesota.
The good news is, this law cannot stop and has not stopped local law enforcement from
picking up the phone and telling ICE when they have criminal illegal aliens in their
custody, and when they are set to be released.
SB791/HB1575 — Correctional Services – Immigration Enforcement – Prohibitions
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would prevent cooperation between Maryland’s Correctional Services (i.e., the
prison system) and federal immigration enforcement. This would result in illegal
immigrants who have also been convicted of non-immigration crimes being sent back
into the community instead of being deported. This would force ICE to arrest these
people in homes, businesses, and on the street, inviting the same kind of chaos we’ve
seen in Minnesota.
SB1/HB0155 – Prohibition on Law Enforcement Officer Face Coverings
Status: Passed in Senate and will next be introduced in a House Committee; Still in
committee in the House
This bill targets ICE agents with a ban on face coverings (masks), which are often worn
by ICE agents to protect their anonymity in the face of threats to their lives and their
families by left-wing agitators. It is a naked attempt to make the lives of ICE agents
more difficult and dangerous in an attempt to scare them away from performing their
lawful duties in the state of Maryland, by facilitating threats of violence against them.
HB832 — ICE Breaker Act of 2026
Status: Still in committee in the House; Never filed in the Senate
The ICE Breaker Act of 2026 would make any ICE agent or officer hired under the
Trump administration ineligible to ever serve as a law enforcement officer for any
Maryland state agency or law enforcement department. This bill is vindictive,
discriminatory, unreasonable, and almost certainly unconstitutional.
HB1017 — Private Immigration Detention Facilities – Zoning Requirement
Status: Passed in the House and will next be introduced in a Senate Committee; Still in
committee in Senate
This bill would prevent private buildings from being used as immigration detention
facilities
HB1018 — Immigration Detention Facilities – Minimum Mandatory Standards
Status: Passed in the House and will next be introduced in a Senate Committee; Still in
committee in Senate
Seeks to establish onerous and impractical minimum standards for detention facilities
so as to make detention facilities impractical or impossible to operate and maintain
Anti-Law and Order Related:
HB409/SB323 — Youth Charging Reform :
Passed in Senate and will next be introduced in a House Committee; Still in
Committee in the House.
This bill seeks to reduce accountability of youth felons by returning jurisdiction to
juvenile court, thereby effectively making it impossible to charge them as adults, and
banning life-without-parole sentences for many very serious felonies, including rape and
some homicides, for teenagers aged 14-17. It further seeks to reduce the sentences of
felons currently serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed before
turning 18.
As reported by the Baltimore Sun – “Under current law, 14- and 15-year-olds are
automatically charged as adults in Maryland for any crime punishable by a life sentence
if committed by an adult. 16- and 17- year-olds are automatically charged as adults for
33 offenses. The Youth Charging Reform Act would eliminate automatic charging for
14- and 15-year-olds. If the bill passed, 16- and 17-year-olds would no longer be
automatically charged for abduction, kidnapping, robbery, attempted robbery, or third-
degree sex offenses, regulated firearm offenses, using a firearm in a drug crime, first-
degree assault and several offenses involving handguns and machine guns.”
Note that many crimes for which youth offenders could no longer be charged as adults
or be sentenced to life in prison are gun crimes – this from the same Democrats who
work tirelessly to make life difficult for lawful gun owners.
HB351 — Constitutional Rights – Violations and Digital Unmasking
Status: Passed in the House and will next be introduced in a Senate Committee; Still in
committee in Senate
This bill would expose federal law enforcement officers to lawsuits in State court
brought by individuals who believe their civil rights were violated during federal law
enforcement actions. It is really aimed at ICE and is simply another shameful attempt to
undermine the enforcement of immigration law and to harass ICE and its agents.
It also allows for the use of various digital technologies to identify and name federal
agents, exposing them to doxing dangers and threats to themselves and their families,
again in an attempt to intimidate and harass them.
We tried to amend this bill to make it a little less bad, but our amendments were voted
down by the Democrat supermajority.
HB0332/SB346 — No Kings Act
This is a thinly-veiled anti-ICE bill, and could also be categorized under “Immigration-
related bills.” It would expose federal law enforcement officers to lawsuits in liberal
Maryland state courts, weaponizing those courts against federal officers as part of the
Left’s political policy battles with the current (and any future) conservative presidential
administration, undermining federal supremacy, public safety, and effective law
enforcement.
The bill violates the Supremacy Clause’s bar on state interference with lawful federal
authority. Maryland would be effectively asserting its own oversight regime over federal
operations inside the state. Such oversight belongs to Congress and the federal courts,
not to Maryland state trial judges.
The Act would likely turn Maryland courts into venues for national political
fights—immigration raids, environmental enforcement, firearm rules—encouraging
activists to sue federal officers whenever they dislike a federal policy and exposing
officers to personal liability every time they make a close call on the street. That threat
would deter proactive policing, encourage hesitation in dangerous situations, and make
Maryland less safe.
HB432/SB463 — Municipalities – Vagrancy – Repeal of Authority to Prohibit
Status: Passed in the House and will next be introduced in a Senate Committee;
Passed out of committee in Senate
Would strip cities and towns of their authority to deal with public homelessness, such as
sleeping on the streets.
Allowing vagrancy and all its attendant problems is not kindness or compassion – it is
unsafe, disorderly, and lawless. It strips law abiding citizens of the safe, pleasant, and
lawful enjoyment of the public spaces THEIR tax dollars support and maintain.
SB55/HB81 — Motor Vehicles – Police Stops – Secondary Enforcement and
Excludable Evidence
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would reduce eight minor motor vehicle offenses (mostly tag/registration or
headlight/brake light/signal light related) to secondary offenses, meaning that officers
could not stop a vehicle for any of these offenses alone, but could still charge the
offense if the traffic stop was for some other (primary offense) reason. Officers would have to document all reasons for the initial stop, to verify compliance, under penalty of
evidence exclusion at trial.
This bill represents an unnecessary burden on police, and strips them of a legitimate
and important tool in keeping our communities safe. Supporters justify the bill on
equity/DEI grounds, complaining that the racial makeup of violators is not to their liking,
and therefore they wish to handcuff police efforts to enforce these laws.
HB360/SB483 — Clean Slate Act of 2026
Status: In committee in both chambers
Would hide criminal records for many convicted criminals; Would impede
employer/landlord access to information on criminal records, and thus impede
assessments of risk when considering applications; This bill would force an automatic,
system-driven, bulk approach to expungement (erasure and hiding) of criminal records
HB169/SB525 — Expungement of Records – Good Cause
Status: In committee in both chambers
Allows expungement (requested by petition) of misdemeanor and felony records; This
bill takes a more targeted, one-at-a-time approach to expungement, by petition of the
convicted criminal. But it would still hide key criminal history information from people
who need it and undermine incentives to avoid criminality.
HB824 — Expungement for Convictions of Distribution of Controlled Dangerous
Substance
Status: Still in committee the House; Never filed in the Senate
This bill would facilitate the expungement (erasure) of drug dealing convictions from the
records of convicted felons, thereby hiding those convictions from people, companies,
and organizations that have a need to know.
We need to get tougher, not softer, on crime and criminals. The expungement of
dangerous felonies like drug distribution from the records of criminals sends the wrong
message about Maryland’s commitment to public safety and the rule of law.
HB1073/SB937 — Maryland Fair Chance Housing Act
Status: House/Senate version differ slightly; Each is still in committee
Another expungement bill. This one would hide criminal records from landlords, and
prohibit landlords from even inquiring about criminal histories.
HB1489/SB679 — The Vincent Anthony Fisher III Act
Status: In committee in both the House and the Senate
This bill is yet another push by Annapolis Democrats to reduce or commute the prison
sentences of many convicted felons serving lengthy terms for serious crimes, thereby
undermining accountability, upsetting and frightening victims, and reducing the
deterrence power of incarceration, while putting dangerous criminals back on the street
to offend again.
We need to be tougher on crime, not softer. We should be focused more on protecting
and helping victims, and less on returning dangerous felons to the street.
HB52/SB89 — Voting Rights for All Act (Also listed in Voting-Related section of
this list)
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would allow convicted felons to vote while still serving their sentences in prison.
Education Related:
HB930 — Income Tax – Decoupling From Federal Changes – Education Expenses
Status: Still in committee in House; Never filed in the Senate
This bill seeks to punish hard working Maryland families who wish to use their 529
education savings accounts to pay for private K-12 education — as those accounts are
now allowed by federal law to be used – by leveraging the Maryland tax code to restrict
and disincentivize such use through punitive taxation. The bill also would strip
Marylanders of much of the advantage of the new Trump Accounts (530A accounts) by
making the employer contributions taxable to the employee (which the federal
government and other states do not).
This bill is yet another example of Annapolis Democrats being so blinded by
derangement and hatred of Donald Trump that they will strip away from Marylanders
any advantage they might have received from any policy enacted by the Trump administration, even policies designed to help pay for education or to build generational
wealth in ALL families. It is a shocking display of prioritizing political hatred ahead of
Marylanders’ well-being.
Election Related:
HB0488 — Election Districts – General Assembly and Representatives in Congress
(i.e. Redistricting)
Status: HB0488 unfortunately passed in the House and is now under consideration in
the Senate. However, the Senate President has made it clear he has no intention of
moving this bill forward in the Senate.
This bill would gerrymander Maryland’s US Congressional district map to eliminate the
state’s only red-leaning, Republican-majority district, removing all Republican
representation from the state to the US Congress.
So far, Senate President Ferguson — a Democrat! — has is holding firm in his opposition
to this terrible gerrymandering bill. Now that the deadline for candidate filing has
passed, it becomes significantly less likely that this bill will move forward.
HB350 /SB255 — Voting Rights Act of 2026 – Counties and Municipal
Corporations
Status: Passed the Senate and will next be introduced in Committee in the House; Still
in committee in the House
This bill would facilitate frivolous and financially ruinous lawsuits against local
municipalities and counties for vague and arbitrary charges of “diluting” the votes of a
“protected class.” It would effectively strip local jurisdictions from running their own
elections and subject them to the punitive whims of Annapolis.
Of course, there are no Voter ID requirements in this so-called “Voting Rights Act,”
despite the fact that an illegally cast vote indeed dilutes the votes of ALL valid and legal
voters.
HB52/SB89 — Voting Rights for All Act
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would allow convicted felons to vote while still serving their sentences in prison.
HB641 — Election Law – Curbside Voting – Pilot Program
Status: Still in committee in House; never filed in the Senate
This bill would establish the Curbside Voting Pilot Program to test the viability of
curbside voting in the State. For those of us concerned about election integrity, this bill
takes us in the opposite direction.
HB580 — Montgomery County – Voting Methods MC 1-26
Status: Still in committee in House; never filed in the Senate
Authorizes Montgomery County to use a ranked-choice voting method for local
elections.
Dems Hate Trump and Republicans Related:
SB962 – Jan 6 — Prohibition on Service in Certain Government Roles
Status: Still in committee in Senate; never filed in the House
This bill would bar anyone convicted on any Jan 6-related charge – apparently even a
simple trespassing misdemeanor, as there is no exception listed to the “convicted of a
crime” language in the bill — from serving in state government, or on any board,
committee, task force, workgroup, etc. created by state law. This stands in stark
contrast to many other bills proposed by the Democrat supermajority in Annapolis this
year which seek to expunge the records of violent criminals and wipe their records
clean, with the usual justification that “no one should be defined by their worst day.”
While I don’t condone the worst actions of January 6, this bill is way over the top, casts
much too wide a net, and is yet another example of how the Democrats’ white-hot
hatred for Donald Trump and anyone who voted for him blinds them to their own
hypocrisy and derangement.
Abortion Related:
HB1131 — Pregnancy Outcome Protection Act
Status: Still in committee in House; never filed in the Senate
This bill would shield from investigation or prosecution those who caused the death of
their own fetus through such actions as a self-inflicted abortion. The bill has been
watered down from its original pre-bill form, and the full text of the new bill is not readily
available as of Feb 11.
Maryland’s General Assembly has regrettably already enshrined the sad and ghoulish
act of abortion in the state’s Constitution, offering it the highest level of advocacy and
protection possible, but that hasn’t quenched its thirst for an ever-more-radical stance
on the practice, as evidenced by this bill.
Related To The Second Amendment
SB118/HB0197 – Excise Tax on Firearms and Ammunition
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill is an attempt to abridge Second Amendment freedoms through the back door,
by increasing the cost of firearms and ammunition in an attempt to artificially make their
purchase more difficult. Revenues from this new tax are tentatively targeted for a bunch
of Democrat-favored charities and NGO’s, mostly with anti-gun agendas.
The Second Amendment says that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be
abridged,” thus prohibiting any curtailment, lessening, or infringement of the right. It
does not say “shall not be denied,” which would only prohibit a complete ban. This bill
clearly represents an abridgement, as it intentionally makes firearms more difficult and
less practical to purchase, thus “abridging” 2A rights.
SB181 – Phase-Out (toward an eventual ban) of Lead Ammunition for Hunting
Status: Still in committee in the Senate; never filed in the House
This bill is an attempt to abridge Second Amendment freedoms through the back door,
in this case by increasing the cost of ammunition by phasing out the most affordable
type, making ammunition purchases artificially more difficult than they otherwise would
be.
SB0020/HB83 — Family and Law Enforcement Protection Act
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would dramatically expand mandatory firearm surrender/confiscation tied to civil
protective orders without appropriate due process protections.
It would make gun and license surrender automatic at the interim and temporary
protective‑order stages, often based only on one‑sided “reasonable grounds” findings
before any full hearing. It would remove existing language that ties firearm seizure to
actual threats or use of a gun, replacing it with blanket disarmament for a wide range of
“abuse” allegations having nothing at all to do with any firearm.
If this onerous bill becomes law, respondents would have only 24 hours to surrender all
targeted firearms and credentials, with no appeal or due process. It would even push
law enforcement to verify “compliance” for every case and move toward search
warrants and home seizures of firearms rooted in mere civil proceedings.
SB775 — Gun Buyback Program – Destruction of Firearms
Status: Passed in Senate and will next be introduced in a House Committee; Never filed
in the House
This bill would require all guns purchased in a gun buy-back program to be completely
destroyed.
HB577 /SB334 — Criminal Law – Firearm Crimes – Machine Gun Convertible
Pistols
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would criminalize pistols that are readily convertible into so-called “machine
guns,” by which they mean a gun with some type of rapid-fire mechanism, even if such
conversion is not done or planned.
This is yet another attempt by the Democratic supermajority in Annapolis to effectively
abridge our Second Amendment rights by continuously chipping at the edges of this
foundational constitutional right to gun ownership.
Related To Housing And Development:
SB267 — Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act
Status: Still in committee in Senate; Never filed in the House
This bill would throw red tape at landowners in an attempt to restrict their private
property rights and force the development of so-called “affordable housing” on the land.
HB239/SB36 — Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would strip counties and municipalities of their rightful ability to enact and
enforce zoning restrictions on house size and type, and lot size and usage. The
Democratic supermajority in Annapolis believes every county and municipality should
be forced against its will to allow dense developments with lower-priced homes, like you
might expect to see in inner city urban neighborhoods. Once again, Annapolis thinks it
knows best and believes that it can and should bully every town, neighborhood, and
citizen into doing its radical bidding and pursuing its progressive utopia.
LGBTQ+ Related
(Note: These two bills are categorized under Trans/LGBTQ because of the ridiculous
requirement that their provisions apply to men’s as well as women’s restrooms, which is
clearly an outgrowth of woke trans ideology.)
HB457 — Provision of Menstrual Hygiene Products – Requirement
Status: Passed in House and will next be presented in Committee in the Senate
This bill would require the provision of free feminine hygiene products into ALL
restrooms (not just women’s restrooms) on Maryland college campuses.
HB941 — Public Health – Public Buildings – Hygiene Products
Status: Still in committee in House; Never filed in the Senate
restrooms (not just women’s restrooms) in non-school public buildings in Maryland.
(HB457 would extend this requirement to all Maryland colleges.)
Related to Affordability:
HB1229/SB886 — Food Service Facilities and Minimum Wage
Status: In committee in both chambers
Would raise the minimum wage to $25/hr PLUS eliminate employers’ ability to count tips
toward that minimum wage; Also places the enforcement burden and expense on local
jurisdictions. This would make life miserable for restaurants, many of which are already
struggling. It would also be frustrating to restaurant customers, who would see prices rise quickly, and to restaurant workers, who would probably see restaurants discourage
tipping in favor of service fees added automatically to checks. This would be perhaps
the most aggressive minimum wage law in the country.
Medical Decisions:
SB385/HB637 — Vax Act of 2026
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill would require the Secretary of Health to issue recommendations for certain
immunizations, screenings, and preventive services; would alter the authority of
pharmacists to administer certain vaccinations; and would alter the health insurance
coverage requirements for certain immunizations, screenings, and preventive services.
This is an unnecessary, performative bill aimed at throwing shade on changes in
vaccination recommendations made by the federal Department of Health under the
Trump administration.
Green Agenda:
HB167 — Gasoline-Powered Leaf Blowers – Prohibitions
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would effectively ban gas powered leaf blowers for general use in Maryland.
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