The 2018 General Assembly session came to a close Monday evening, April 9 at midnight with final action being taken on a number of bills and a few others left outstanding. In all, a total of 3,127 bills and joint resolutions were introduced, of which 890 passed.
Bills That Passed This Session
During a scheduled bill signing yesterday at the State House, 114 of these bills were signed into law. Of significance was SB 1265, Maryland Safe to Learn Act of 2018, which puts a number of measures in place to keep schools safe, including having a school resource officer in each school or a plan in place to provide adequate law enforcement coverage. Legislation was also signed, HB 1782 / SB 387 to shore up the state’s individual health insurance market, which was destabilized by changes Congress made in its effort to dismantle the federal Affordable Care Act.
Bills Signed by the Governor on April 10
While this session set a record for the number of bills introduced, it also set a record for the number that failed. A few bills of significance that failed on Sine Die are listed below.
- Legislation to put sport gambling on the November ballot passed the House, but died in a Senate Committee.
- Legislation dealing with internet privacy and net neutrality passed the House, but didn’t make it out of the Senate Rules Committee.
- Legislation to establish a Drug Pricing Commission passed the House and was voted favorable with amendments in a Senate Committee, but did not make it to Senate floor.
