Here are the new laws that went into effect in Maryland today

County and municipal taxes and fees could rise as a ripple effect of a new law that takes effect Wednesday.

The law creates a task force that will look at potential changes to the revenue those local governments bring in to fund operations. It is one of hundreds of laws the Maryland legislature passed earlier this year. 

“Maryland’s municipalities need a 21st-century funding model, said Theresa Kuhns, chief executive officer of the Maryland Municipal League. “Local governments are closest to the people, yet our revenue system hasn’t kept pace with the demands placed on our communities.”

The task force comes at a time when county governments are struggling to keep up with rising inflation and the costs of the expensive Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education formula.

Those governments are also squeezed by state budget decisions that forced more costs on local governments over the last two years.

Local governments are limited in how they can generate revenue, which has not changed since 1966.

Kevin Kinnally, legislative director for the Maryland Association of Counties said county leaders don’t want to have “to go to the property tax every time there’s a need to raise revenue. We just want to have some more options on the table to have those conversations with our communities about, hey, what do you want us to do? Because right now it’s just property tax, and that’s it.”

Diversifying those options and having state authorization to do so is a perennial item on legislative agendas for the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Municipal League.

Kinnally said county governments are hoping to have a discussion about what local governments in other states are doing. The end result could be legislation that allows individual counties to implement some of those options.

“This has been an ongoing conversation,” Kinnally said. “We don’t have any endgame for this. There’s no specific tax or fee we’re looking at.”

Maryland’s largest political subdivisions — 23 counties and Baltimore City — and its 157 incorporated small cities, towns and villages combined to spend $45 billion in services in fiscal 2024, according to the Department of Legislative Services.

State aid represents the largest source of revenue for most counties, which also collect property and local income taxes.

Smaller cities, towns and villages generate revenue from sewer and water service charges as well as local property taxes.

Local government officials are bracing for additional cuts to state aid as the state faces a multibillion-dollar projected structural budget gap driven by mandated education spending.

We’re expecting them to continue to dig at our revenues and cut state aid to deal with their own issues,” Kinnally said. “If there are ways that we can try and diversify and give us the authority without any mandates … we’d like to do that.”

The panel is expected to submit its report and possible recommendations by Dec. 1. 

Here are some of other laws that go into effect on Wednesday, July 1.

The Vax Act

Maryland’s health secretary Meena Seshamani will gain new authority to make official vaccine recommendations and ensure that health insurance plans cover those shots, in response to messaging from the Trump administration that casts doubt on the effectiveness and safety of vaccines.

House Bill 637 and Senate Bill 385 usher in what’s called The Vax Act and is the latest step in “decoupling” vaccine recommendations from the Trump administration that began last year, when the Maryland General Assembly created a law to lock state vaccine guidance to federal guidance issued under the Biden Administration. 

The Vax Act allows the health secretary to issue recommendations independent of federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Vax Act puts greater emphasis on guidance issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The secretary may still use guidance from federal groups to inform her recommendations. 

The secretary’s recommendations would be open for a 30-day public comment period and published on the Maryland Health Department website.

Other health related laws:

• Senate Bill 890 requires state insurance officials to study the use of “captive insurance” companies based in the Cayman Islands after a whistleblower drew attention to the millions of dollars hospitals have stowed away for what hospital representatives say are self-insurance measures. The whistleblower claims the hospitals are using offshore captive insurance to avoid paying taxes on out-of-state insurance premiums. The Maryland Insurance Administration is already looking into the issue, but the law now mandates that the agency report its findings and issue recommendations on the matter to the General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2027.
• Retailers who sell unauthorized or unregulated consumable products like kratom and tianeptine (known as “gas station heroin”) can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $5,000.

Deer hunting

Baltimore City joins a list of political subdivisions that have reduced archery hunting safety zones. The new law shrinks the safety zone around homes and other inhabited structures from 150 yards to 50 yards.

Del. Sandy Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City), during testimony earlier this year said he introduced House Bill 1324 — the first hunting related bill he could remember sponsoring — at the request of W. Michel Pierson, constituent who is also a circuit court judge. Pierson complained about damage to his Mt. Washington property from deer that come from an adjacent wooded area.

The city — like other jurisdictions — already uses sharpshooters to help control deer over population.

Utility bill relief

Much of the state legislature’s sweeping bill aiming to provide relief on utility costs was enacted on an emergency basis — immediately after Gov. Wes Moore signed the bill in May. But a few bits and pieces don’t take effect until Wednesday.

That includes the establishment of a $5 million no-interest loan program for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency upgrades at nonprofit organizations. It also includes a grant program for low to moderate income households to install solar panels, among other law changes.

Early childhood education

Several new laws aim to increase the state’s investment in early childhood education. The state’s popular childcare scholarship will get a $20 million boost to help cut the current waiting list of more than 5,000 families.

House Bill 849 codifies the state Department of Education’s current scholarship exceptions based on certain income guidelines and other eligibility requirements, such as families receiving temporary cash assistance, Supplemental Security Income or having a sibling already enrolled in the program. It also adds eligibility for “a child who is homeless.” A companion bill, HB 1321 implements a partial scholarship system and sets a sliding fee scale for families based on income. Total payments would be capped at 7% of household income.

Early childhood workers who want to be teaching assistants will now have three months from the time they were hired to get the needed credentials as long as they work at private providers that are part of the publicly funded pre-kindergarten program.

Other education-related laws include:

• Nontenured faculty at Maryland’s institutions of higher education will be able to collectively bargain under Senate Bill 6, allowing teachers, researchers, department heads and those similar positions to establish a separate collective bargaining unit.
• School boards are under a deadline to come up with policies that restrict student access to cellphones during the school day with few exceptions. The law also prohibits students from using social media during the school day.
• County library boards must establish a process for choosing a high school junior or senior to serve a one-year term with voting rights.
• Testifying at a public meeting, legislative hearing or other similar civic engagement will be considered an excused absence for students under HB 575. 

Alcohol sales

There are a slew of new laws dealing with local alcohol sales, including in Wicomico County, where golf courses may start selling alcoholic beverages beginning at 7 a.m. rather than 10 a.m. Monday through Sunday. In Howard County, businesses that sell and deliver flowers and gift baskets of food may now deliver a gift basket with beer, wine or liquor. And in Prince George’s County, there is no longer a cap on how many wine festival licenses can be handed out annually.

Transportation

The Maryland Transportation Authority is getting a bump in the limit of debt it can issue.

The General Assembly passed legislation that will increase the amount the authority can borrow from $4 billion to $5 billion. The authority, which oversees toll roads, bridges and tunnels, said the increase was needed to help cover the cost of capital projects in addition to the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The authority told lawmakers this year that without a bump in the debt limit, it might have to raise tolls to cover those costs.

This is the second time since 2024 that the legislature has approved an increase in the amount the authority can borrow. In 2024, the General Assembly approved increasing the debt limit from $3 billion to $4 billion following Key Bridge collapse.

The federal government is expected to pay 100% of the costs of replacing the bridge. The state, however, is forward funding the project and seeking reimbursement.

The authority told lawmakers earlier this year there is “significant uncertainty in the timing of federal reimbursements for costs associated with the reconstruction of the bridge.”