Legislation

What follows are some of my key legislative efforts (and of which I’m the lead sponsor) for the 2011 Legislative Session. If you have questions about the status of any of the legislation, just contact my office.
To view my legislative efforts from past years, please click the following: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

SB 30, Vehicle Laws – Use of Work Zone Speed Control Systems – Presence of Workers Required
Altering the definition of “work zone” as it relates to work zone speed control systems; and providing that a work zone speed control system may be used only when a worker is present on the roadway, median divider, or shoulder within or adjacent to the work zone.
This bill allows the use of a work zone speed control system only when at least one worker is present on the roadway, median divider, or shoulder within or adjacent to a work zone. The bill also alters the definition of a “work zone” by repealing “regardless of whether workers are present” in reference to the defined area.

Listen to the Senate Committee Hearings on 2/04/10:

SB 50, Criminal Procedure – Victim’s Compensation – Temporary Lodging for Domestic Violence Victims
Would provide eligible victims of domestic violence an award from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund for temporary lodging up to 14 days.
There are times when immediate assistance is not available or the victims are not aware of existing resources. In such cases, the decision to escape the abuse results in the safety and comfort of their homes, even if it means motel/hotel for a few days. Victims who have filed a police report within 48 hours, extended with good cause, of the incident would be able to recoup the costs of temporary lodging. This assistance will help eligible victims of domestic violence recover.

Listen to the Senate Committee Hearings on 1/27/11:

SB 51, Criminal Procedure – Criminal Injuries Compensation Board – Claimant Confidentiality and Eligibility
Would prohibit an individual who has been convicted of certain criminal offenses from receiving a monetary award from the criminal injuries compensation fund.
The criminal injuries compensation fund consists of revenue from court fees paid by offenders, $3 surcharges on traffic tickets, as well as some federal aid. The funds awarded to the victims after a crime cover financial burdens such as hospital bills, lost wages, and unanticipated funeral costs. It is illogical that felons who are paying into this fund for their court fees can be approved to receive this money back again as a victim. In allowing this practice, we are fostering a cycle of crime and violence in which offenders become victims, and are given the funds to recuperate, and are able to return to our streets committing the same crimes. The fund was created to help innocent victims whose lives have been altered by heinous crimes; not to help the offenders.

Listen to the Senate Committee Hearings on 1/27/11:

SB 111, Environment – Recycling – Apartment Buildings and Condominiums
Would require owners of apartment buildings and condominiums with ten or more units to provide recycling receptacles at the building or complex in accordance with county recycling plans.
Under current law, high-occupancy buildings are not required to provide for recycling. This bill would provide for our citizens proper vessels to separate their reusable materials, and the owner of the building would then be responsible, in agreement with the counties, for the removal of the materials. Recycling is not only environmentally friendly, but it is economically conscious. Baltimore County realized a net profit of 1.6 million dollars in FY09 from recycling and saved nearly 1.5 million in disposal costs. For all of Maryland, recycling is a key component in our modern waste management policies.

SB 193, Family Law – Divorce – Required Mediation
Would require a circuit court, in divorce actions involving disputes over child custody or visitation, spousal or child support, or property disposition, to issue an order requiring the parties to participate in mediation.
This bill requires that in any divorce action filed in circuit court involving a dispute between the parties relating to child custody or visitation, spousal or child support, or property disposition the circuit court must issue an order requiring the parties to participate in mediation. The court may not order mediation, however, if a party or child represents to the court that there is a genuine issue of physical or sexual abuse of the party or child. Unless the parties agree on a mediator, the court must select an individual who is designated as a mediator under the Maryland Rules. Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, the costs of mediation must be divided equally between the parties. The bill also authorizes the Court of Appeals to adopt rules to implement the bill.

SB 229, Education – General Assembly Scholarships – Modification of Programs
Would alter the Senatorial and Delegate Scholarship Programs to require that the money appropriated under the programs be awarded by the Office of Student Financial Assistance in the Maryland Higher Education Commission
The bill requires OSFA to award senatorial and delegate scholarships for each legislative district. OSFA must ensure that awards are distributed among full-time students, part-time students, community college and proprietary school students, four-year college undergraduate students, and graduate students. In addition to the existing eligibility criteria for senatorial and delegate scholarships, OSFA must adopt guidelines to identify and assist students who do not satisfy the criteria but merit consideration for awards because of special, unforeseen, or changing individual or family circumstances. Scholarship funding for a legislative district that is not used by the end of a fiscal year is retained by MHEC for use in the legislative district in future years.

SB 424, Motor Vehicles – Use of Text Messaging Device While Driving – Prohibited Acts
Would prohibit a person from using a text messaging device to read a text message while operating a motor vehicle; clarifying that a specified prohibition against a person using a text messaging device to write, send, or read a text message while operating a motor vehicle includes a prohibition against writing, sending, or reading an electronic message.
This bill expands the prohibition on text messaging by prohibiting a driver from using a text messaging device to read a text or electronic message while operating a motor vehicle in the travel portion of the roadway. The bill also applies the prohibition against writing or sending to electronic messages; repeals the application of the prohibition to when the motor vehicle is in motion; and, instead, specifies that the text messaging prohibition applies to motor vehicles in the travel portion of the roadway. A violator is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a maximum fine of $500.

SB 447, Evidence – Separate Act of Sexual Misconduct Involving a Minor – Admissibility
Would authorize a court to admit evidence of a defendant’s commission of a separate act of sexual misconduct involving a minor in a prosecution for specified sexual offenses involving a minor under specified circumstances.
This bill allows evidence of prior acts of sexual misconduct involving a minor to be admitted into evidence in the trial of a defendant charged with an act of sexual misconduct involving a minor if the court finds, or if a reasonable jury could find by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed the separate act, the probative value of the evidence is not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice against the defendant, and certain other conditions are met.

SB 141, Baltimore County – Hybrid School Board – Election and Appointment of Members
Would establish a procedure for the election of specified members of the Baltimore County Board of Education and specifying that they reside in and be elected from specified districts; establishing a term of office for the elected members; altering provisions relating to the appointed members of the county board.
This bill restructures the Baltimore County Board of Education from an appointed board to a hybrid board consisting of four members appointed from the county at large, seven nonpartisan elected members, and one appointed student member, beginning with the term that commences following the 2014 general election.