3.21-22 – ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WBAL & AP)
Major legislation addressing crime, climate change and tax relief, for example, are still up in the air as the General Assembly reached Crossover Day.
Legislation sent to the opposite chamber by midnight Monday is more likely to be finished in time to land on the governor’s desk. There are three weeks left in Session 2022.Advertisement
Multiple sessions were being held Monday in both the House and Senate with a long to-do list that is shrinking fast. Income tax relief for retirees is among the major pieces of unfinished business.
“There are lots of different ideas on how to best to do it, and we want to be thoughtful in the approach, where it is real relief, but where it is also not overly burdensome to create a fiscal cliff in a few years,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said.
The House and Senate have yet to agree on legislation to provide workers with up to 12 weeks of paid leave to address family health issues.
“We want to make sure we are not rushing this out because, at the end of the day, this is going to be a mandatory participation. So, our employees and employers deserve to know exactly what they are getting into,” said the bill’s sponsor, Charles County Delegate C.T. Wilson, D-District 28.
The Senate Climate Solutions Act is now in the House, but it’s seeing little movement.
“I’m optimistic. They want to pass a bill. I think that we are close on the concept, content and substance. I’m hopeful in conversation later this week to see where there are differences,” said the bill’s sponsor, Prince George’s County Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-District 22.
There are also conflicting bills that would ban untraceable firearms known as ghost guns.
“I think that we will be able to work out differences beforehand. I am not sure that we are that far apart on the differences related to ghost guns,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke Clippinger, D-District 46, who represents a portion of Baltimore City.
Unfinished business also includes work on the state budget, legalizing cannabis and competing bills regarding abortion.
Lawmakers are also working on juvenile justice reform legislation. The Senate passed a bill Monday, sending it to the House, that generally says a child younger than 13 will not be subject to the jurisdiction of juvenile court for delinquency proceedings and may not be charged with a crime. But juvenile courts would have jurisdiction over a child who is at least 10 and has committed the most serious crimes, like murder and other crimes of violence.
The Senate also approved a separate bill last week that would prohibit a law enforcement officer from conducting custodial interrogation of a child, unless the child has consulted with an attorney.
A separate bill that would end the policy of automatically charging some children as young as 14 as adults for more than 30 different crimes has remained stuck in a legislative committee.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.