General Assembly 2021 Session Wrap-up
Peter Heck • April 27, 2021
The 2021 session of the Maryland General Assembly is in the books. It was a unique session in large degree because of the measures taken to protect legislators and staff from the covid-19 pandemic. No lobbyists or members of the general public were allowed into the State House, and even the press was present in smaller than usual numbers. But with social distancing enforced in both houses of the Assembly, the state Senators and Delegates nonetheless produced a significant amount of legislation. This article will take a look at some of what took place during the session, with a focus on bills that would particularly affect the Eastern Shore.
There were a number of environmental measures related to the Chesapeake Bay, which is a major economic resource for Shore counties. The Clean Water Commerce Act of 2021 would provide $21 million annually from the Bay Restoration Fund — often referred to as the “flush tax” — to fund reduction of nutrient and sediment pollution. The law earmarks 35 percent of the funding for agricultural practices, which ShoreRivers designated “the dominant source of pollution impacting Eastern Shore waterways.”
The Assembly also passed a bill restricting Homeowner Associations from imposing unreasonable limitations on rain gardens, pollinator gardens, and other landscaping features that work to reduce storm water runoff and to sequester carbon and air pollution.
Another environmentally-oriented bill requires the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to develop a mobile application to display the location on the waterways of regulatory areas including oyster leases and sanctuaries, clamming areas, and submerged aquatic vegetation protective zones. This app would enable fishermen and boaters to avoid activities that would pose a risk to those areas. The bill will take effect after Oct. 31.
A less obvious environmental measure was a bill prohibiting the release of lighter-than-air balloons. Not only are such balloons likely to become litter on someone else’s property, they can cause harm to animals both on land and in the waterways, as well as to the environment generally.
Affecting the Shore more broadly is a bill to assist in the development of more affordable broadband internet. Especially since the covid-19 pandemic, access to reliable broadband has become a necessity for online schooling, working from home, telemedicine, and, for many of us, social life in general. The need for broadband is particularly acute in rural areas, where the “last mile” problem can add significantly to the cost of an installation. The program will be supported by some $300 million in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress.
Several measures were passed in response to widespread calls for greater accountability on the part of law enforcement agencies. “Anton’s Law,” requiring that records of misconduct by police officers be made public knowledge, arises from the death at police hands of Anton Black, a young resident of Greensboro, in Caroline County. Also passed this session was a repeal of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, which in many ways shields police personnel from prosecution for acts committed while on duty. The Assembly also passed bills changing the standards of when and how police can use force and limiting the issuance of “no-knock” warrants. An increase in the use of body cameras was also written into law by the Assembly. Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, vetoed several of the measures, but the vetoes were overridden by the Assembly, which has a majority of Democrats in both houses.
The Assembly also overrode a Hogan veto of legislation passed in the 2020 session, enacting the Kirwan Commission’s educational reforms. The Kirwan plan, which will take effect over a span from 2022 to 2030, mandates an annual expenditure of some $4 billion for such reforms as increasing teacher pay, dedicating resources to districts with high levels of poverty, and establishing programs designed to prepare students for careers. The programs would be funded by increased taxes on tobacco, digital products, and a new tax on digital advertising, which has already been met with a court challenge. Again, many of the districts that would benefit most from the Kirwan plan are located in rural counties on the Shore.
Another bill provides additional funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The bill, which will take effect in fiscal year 2023, allots $577 million for the state’s four HBCUs over the next decade. Hogan vetoed a similar bill last year, but signed the 2021 version.
The Assembly also passed several measures to ensure access to voting for Marylanders, a significant step in light of the restrictions on voting proposed in many states. Measures included an increase in the number of early voting sites statewide and the creation of a permanent absentee ballot list. Groups that often face challenges in voting, such as students, members of the military, and senior communities, were given support in still another bill.
Finally, in a long-anticipated move, the Assembly voted to remove “Maryland, My Maryland” as the state song. Complaints argue that the song’s lyrics, written on the eve of the Civil War in an effort to persuade the state to secede, are an attack on Abraham Lincoln and the Union and are not appropriate to the modern era. So far, we haven’t heard anything about a possible substitute.
Peter Heck is a Chestertown-based writer and editor, who spent 10 years at the Kent County News and three more with the Chestertown Spy. He is the author of 10 novels and co-author of four plays, a book reviewer for Asimov’s and Kirkus Reviews, and an incorrigible guitarist.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
