Democrats In Annapolis Amp Up With More Destruction By Legislation
The Maryland General Assembly just finished Week 6 of this year’s 90 Day Session, and it seems as though Democrats are outdoing themselves with destructive, ridiculous bills.
(For more on any bill, go to mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite)
THIS WEEK’S ADDITIONS:
CREATING A SANCTUARY STATE LIKE MINNESOTA:
HB1017 — Private Immigration Detention Facilities – Zoning Requirement
Status: Passed out of the House committee; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would prevent private buildings from being used as immigration detention
facilities.
HB1018 — Immigration Detention Facilities – Minimum Mandatory Standards
Status: Passed out of the House committee; Not yet filed 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
ABOLISHING PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS:
SB267 — Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act
Status: Still in committee in Senate; Not yet filed in 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.
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WORKING AGAINST AFFORDABLE LAWN CARE IN MARYLAND – SAME FAILED 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.
PROMOTING UNFAIR ELECTION PRACTICES
HB580 — Montgomery County – Voting Methods MC 1-26
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
Authorizes Montgomery County to use a ranked-choice voting method for local
elections.
Rank choice voting gets rid of clear winners in elections and potentially promotes second and third place vote getters into office.
HB641 — Election Law – Curbside Voting – Pilot Program
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in 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. What could possibly go wrong? (Sarcasm)
GUN BUYBACKS:
SB775 — Gun Buyback Program – Destruction of Firearms
Status: Still in committee in Senate; Not yet filed in House
This bill would require all guns purchased in a gun buy-back program to be completely
destroyed.
DENIAL OF REALITY IN SUPPORT OF THE GENDER IDEOLOGY CULT:
HB487 — Provision of Menstrual Hygiene Products – Requirement
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in Senate
This bill would require the provision of free feminine hygiene products into all restrooms
on Maryland college campuses. The bill’s wording specifically says “all” restrooms, not
“all women’s restrooms.”
Dems just can’t admit that there are two genders, male and female. This ridiculous law protects the illusion that men can be women and vice versa.
Updates from Previous Weeks’ Reports
PROTECTING CRIMINALS
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.
Because who wouldn’t want criminals to vote, right?
MAKING MARYLAND A SANCTUARY STATE LIKE MINNESOTA:
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 actually stop 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.
JUVENILE VIOLENT CRIME WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES:
HB409 /SB323 — Youth Charging Reform Act
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill seeks to reduce accountability of youth felons by returning jurisdiction to
juvenile court, thereby effectively banning life-without-parole sentences for many very
serious felonies including rape and some homicides for youth offenders. 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. Automatic
charging would remain for 16- and 17-year-olds charged with first- and second-degree
murder and attempt; first- and second-degree rape and attempt; voluntary
manslaughter, carjacking, armed carjacking, and using a handgun during a crime of
violence.
FROM PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE BAD BILL TRACKER
CHIPPING AWAY AT GUN RIGHTS
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.
STATE OVERREACH INTO LOCAL ELECTIONS:
HB350 /SB255 — Voting Rights Act of 2026 – Counties and Municipal
Corporations
Status: Passed the Senate; 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.
TAKING AWAY COUNTY AND MUNICIPALITY RIGHTS TO ENACT/ENFORCE ZONING RESTRICTIONS ON HOUSE SIZE AND TYPE
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.
HANDCUFFING LAW ENFORCEMENT- AGAIN!
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.
DENYING MEDICAL FREEDOM AND RIGHT TO LIFE
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.
HB1131 — Pregnancy Outcome Protection Act
Status: Still in committee in House; Not yet filed in 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.
ENSURING ONE PARTY RULE
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.
Maryland currently has eight US Congressional districts, with seven leaning Democrat
and one leaning Republican. If this bill becomes law, the count will be 8-0, silencing the
state’s only Republican voice in the US Capitol. Our hope of killing this bill is in the
Senate, where Senate President Ferguson — a Democrat! — has indicated his
opposition.
UNDERMINING THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE
HB0332/SB346 — No Kings Act
Status: Still in committee in both chambers
This bill 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.
By the way, couldn’t Maryland Democrats find a more original name?
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.
SOFT ON CRIME AND CRIMINALS
SB?/HB824 — Expungement for Convictions of Distribution of Controlled
Dangerous Substance
Status: Still in committee the House; Not yet filed in 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.
VIOLATING DUE PROCESS FOR CITIZENS WHO OWN GUNS
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.
PUTTING LAW ENFORCEMENT IN HARM’S WAY
SB1/HB0155 – Prohibition on Law Enforcement Officer Face Coverings
Status: Passed in Senate; 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.
CHIPPING AWAY AT CONSTITUTIONAL GUN RIGHTS
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; Not yet filed in 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.
DISCRIMINATION TOWARDS FORMER ICE AGENTS
HB832 — ICE Breaker Act of 2026
Status: Still in committee in the House; Not yet 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.
HURTING JOB CREATORS LARGE AND SMALL
HB1479 – Maryland Raise the Wage Act
Status: Still in committee in the House; Not yet filed in the Senate
This bill would raise the state minimum wage to $18/hour, then index it to the Consumer
Price Index so that it would continue to go up, year after year, without ever needing to
be reconsidered by the Maryland legislature.
Maryland’s onerous business regulations are already driving up the cost of doing
business in Maryland and driving job creators – large and small – out of the state. It’s
important to remember that the real minimum wage is always zero, because employers
will lay off employees that they can’t afford, and may even close shop. Let’s keep entry
level jobs accessible to young employees and affordable to employers, and kill this bill.
SOFT ON CRIME AND CRIMINALS
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.
As the 90-day session continues, citizens can see the dangers of a super majority by one party in the state. Citizens should act now to contact their state representatives and give input on these bills.
Find info here:
Members – Find My Representatives
How to Testify:
The post More Bad Bills In Maryland General Assembly appeared first on The Easton Gazette.
