The Arc Maryland's Weekly Legislative Update
Week of Session: February 21 to 25, 2022
Stay up to date on legislation through our Bill Tracker! View position statements, access bill text, and check hearing times and dates.
LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND EVENTS
Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature is Tomorrow!
February 22nd - 8:15 to 10:30 AM
The largest statewide advocacy event of the year for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is tomorrow, February 22nd! Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature will take place on zoom and Facebook Live from 8:15 to 10:30 AM! Please log on early so you can be admitted on time. We have over 900 people registered to attend however are still a few spots left if you forgot to sign up. Check out the fact sheets on key legislation we will cover and print them for your follow-up meetings with legislators.
DDA Budget Hearings Coming Up Next Week
Mark your calendars! The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) budget hearings take place next week.

House Hearing: 3/2 at 1 PM in the APP Health and Social Services Subcommittee
Testimony due 2/28 between 8 AM and 3 PM on the MGA portal

Senate Hearing: 3/3 at 1 PM in the B&T Health and Human Services Subcommittee
Testimony due between 3/2 at 4 PM and 3/3 at 10 AM on the MGA portal

Be sure to tune into these hearings live through the MGA calendar to hear the latest on the DDA budget and its ramifications for Marylanders with IDD, their families, and professional supports. We will provide further information on the budget during DD Day and following the hearings next week.
LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS
SB0559 / HB0529 - Estates and Trusts - Supported Decision Making
Position: Support

Current Status:
SB0559 - Senate Hearing was 2/17, JPR

HB0529 - In House, Hearing 3/9 at 1 PM, JUD

Efforts to improve state guardianship systems and to develop alternatives to guardianship continue to expand at both the state and national levels. As of today, 20 jurisdictions in the United States have passed laws formally recognizing Supported Decision Making (SDM) as a legal option.

The Arc Maryland testified on this bill in front of the Senate JPR committee with members of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition, Brain Injury Association, and the Estates and Trusts Section of the Bar. Additionally, many families mobilized on our call to action and submitted written testimony expressing their support of the bill. Thank you to those of you who shared your stories! Keep going!
SB0577 - Public Schools – Self-Contained Special Education Classroom – Use of Video Recording Devices
Position: Support

Current Status: House Hearing was 2/16, EHEA

This bill requires each county board of education, beginning next school year, to install a video recording device in each self-contained special education classroom; provide for the installation, operation, notification, and use of a video recording device and the viewing, use, and confidentiality of system recordings; requires the school administration to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency on receipt of a complaint of alleged neglect or abuse of a student under certain circumstances.

Several witnesses submitted written and provided powerful oral testimony. Parents who testified included Lori Scott, mother and Board Member of The Arc Maryland, who came to Annapolis with her daughter and several other advocates to support the legislation.
HB0008 - Labor and Employment – Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program – Establishment (Time to Care Act of 2022)
AND
HB0496 - Labor and Employment - Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program - Establishment
Position: Support with Significant Amendments

Current Status: House Hearing was 2/15, EMC

These bills would establish a Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program in the Maryland Department of Labor to provide certain benefits to individuals who take leave from employment for certain purposes.
 
While the creation of the insurance program would provide paid leave for families and people with IDD who need to take leave for health reasons, the bill is written too broadly and does not align with FMLA, thus creating two standards by which employers and employees must operate. The definitions of periods of work before eligibility, intermittent leave, employer, and others would create significant hardships for our systems of DD provider support and people who self-direct as they are also employers.
 
See below for The Arc Maryland's testimony. Please contact your representatives and let them know how you feel about the Time to Care Act, including any concerns you have with certain provisions of the Act that would create unintended consequences for people who Self-Direct their services (and are "employers" under the definitions of these Acts) and providers of DD Community Services.

There is a Time To Care event on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis today for those interested.
HB0136 - Education - Public and Nonpublic Schools - Seizure Action Plans (Brynleigh's Act)
Position: Support

Current Status: Under Debate in Senate EHEA Committee

The House Ways & Means Committee voted unanimously in favor of Bryleigh’s Act (HB0136) as amended. At the vote, nine additional sponsors signed on to the bill during the vote tonight including Delegates Griffith, Lisanti, Ebersole, Rose, Charles, Long, Hartman, Boteler, and Buckel!

Thank you to these legislative champions who are helping to move this important legislation forward for Marylanders with seizure conditions!

This bill requires a county board of education and authorizing a nonpublic school, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, requires certain school personnel at the school to be trained in certain seizure recognition and response methods; requires a public school, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, to provide training every 2 years to school personnel with direct contact and supervision of students on certain seizure recognition and response methods; provide immunity from civil liability under certain circumstances; etc.

Seizures rank in the top 3 of school emergencies impacting student health. Students with disabilities represent 1 in 5 of those who have seizure conditions.

Please contact members of the House W&M Committee to thank them for this bill, and contact members of the Senate EHEA Committee and tell them why you support Brynleigh's Act and want them to move it out of committee favorable!
Federal Hearing on Keeping All Students Safe Act
Guy Stephens from Maryland Called To Testify
Guy Stephens, a father, Executive Director of The Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, and Board Member of The Arc Maryland, testified in the Federal Education and Labor, Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee hearing last week about the need for the Keeping All Students Safe Act. This Act would end seclusion and restrict restraint in school to only situations in which the student or others faced imminent risk or harm. Way to go, Guy!

Proposed legislation in Maryland (SB0705 / HB1255 - Education- Physical Restraint and Seclusion- Limitations, Reporting, and Training) would end the use of seclusion in all public schools and significantly reduce the use of seclusion in non-public schools. This legislation would be tremendous progress towards reducing and eliminating restraint and seclusion in Maryland schools.
TOP BILLS OF THE WEEK
HB0698 - Labor and Employment - State Minimum Wage Rate - Increase
Position: Support with Amendments

Current Status: In House, Hearing 2/22 at 1 PM, EMC

This legislation would increase the state minimum wage rates in effect for certain periods of time and repeal the authority of the Board of Public Works to temporarily suspend an increase to the State minimum wage rate.

The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition has taken the position of Support with Amendment on this bill. While we support that people need to make a wage they can live on, this bill does not include any funding mandate for Medicaid providers of services and supports for people with IDD. Previous minimum wage bills in the state (2014 and 2019) contained funding mandates for providers to support the proposed escalations of the minimum wage.

The bill would escalate the current schedule for minimum wage increases, requiring that the minimum wage be $15 per hour by July 1, 2022, without requiring additional funding for DD Community Providers or increasing the budgets of people who self-direct their services.
HB0737- Alternative Education Options - Right to Learn and Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today Programs (Right to Learn Act of 2022)
Position: Oppose

Current Status: In House, Hearing 2/24 at 1 PM, W&M

This bill would create what it describes as “scholarships” for students who attend “failing schools” and who choose to pursue an alternative education option. Although the bill frames the portability of education funds as a scholarship program, HB0737 is actually a voucher program that would enable students to use public funds to attend private schools.

The legislation requires participating schools to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title 20 of the State Government Article, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sexual orientation. However, it does not include a requirement that participating schools comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. This omission could result in public funding in the form of “scholarships” going to private schools that refuse to enroll, accommodate, or otherwise serve students with disabilities. We believe this would be harmful to students with disabilities.
HB0660 - Commission to Study the Division of Rehabilitative Services (Student Job Training Reformation Act)
Position: Support with Amendment

Current Status: In House, Hearing 2/24 at 1 PM, W&M

This legislation would establish the Commission to Study the Division of Rehabilitative Services (DORS) to evaluate and make recommendations on improving various aspects of the DORS's programs and services; and require the Commission to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 15, 2022.

DORS is Maryland's vocational rehabilitation program, which plays a critical role for people with disabilities who want to get or keep a job. Many Marylanders with disabilities cannot access these services due to barriers. A thorough review of DORS is needed.

We would like to see the Maryland Department of Disabilities added to the commission membership list and would like to see a requirement that the commission review and provide recommendations on the condition of the workforce of people with IDD.

In Amendments to the legislation, we would like to add that the Commission shall evaluate and make recommendations on "ways to serve more people, including a thorough review of the Workforce Technology Center, and ways to provide more inclusive work-based experiences."
COMING UP SOON
SB0705 / HB1255 - Education- Physical Restraint and Seclusion- Limitations, Reporting, and Training
Position: Support

Current Status: In Senate, Hearing 3/02 at 1 PM, EHEA

Proposed legislation in Maryland (2022 legislative session) would end the use of seclusion in all public schools and significantly reduce the use of seclusion in non-public schools. This legislation would be tremendous progress towards reducing and eliminating restraint and seclusion in Maryland schools. See article above featuring Guy Stephens on this important issue.
HEARING AND BRIEFING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, February 22nd at 1:00 PM In House, APP
  • HB0662: Advisory Stakeholder Group on Autism-Related Needs, Interagency Disabilities Board, and the State Coordinator for Autism Strategy - Membership, Staffing, and Appointment
Tuesday, February 22nd at 1:00 PM In House, EMC
  • HB0698: Labor and Employment - State Minimum Wage Rate - Increase
Wednesday, February 23rd at 1:00 PM In Senate, FIN
  • SB0637: Health and Health Insurance - Behavioral Health Services - Expansion (Behavioral Health System Modernization Act)
Thursday, February 24th at 1:00 PM In House, W&M
  • HB0547: Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)
  • HB0737: Alternative Education Options - Right to Learn and Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today Programs (Right to Learn Act of 2022)
  • HB0660: Commission to Study the Division of Rehabilitative Services (Student Job Training Reformation Act)
  • HB0664: Child Care Programs – Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program – Information and Assistance
  • HB0725: Children - Therapeutic Child Care Program - Funding
  • HB0750: Education – Jobs That Require Driving – Requirements (Drivers Education for Good Jobs Act of 2022)
  • HB0766: Children – Residential Treatment Centers – Education Funding
  • HB0792: Workgroup to Establish a Career Credential Jump Start Pilot Program
  • HB0657: Public Schools - Standardized Behavioral Health Screenings for Students - Development and Implementation
Thursday, February 24th at 1:00 PM In Senate, FIN
  • SB0518: Career Pathways for Health Care Workers Program
Thursday, February 24th at 1:00 PM In Senate, JPR
  • SB0694: Estates and Trusts - Guardianship of the Property of Disabled Persons - Court-Appointed Attorneys
Friday, February 25th at 12:00 PM In House, W&M
  • HB0989: Public School Students - Daily Physical Activity (Student Health and Fitness Act)
Tuesday, March 1st at 1:00 PM In House, E&T
  • HB0878: Howard County - Department of Housing and Community Development - Housing Opportunities Trust Fund Ho. Co. 05-22
Tuesday, March 1st at 1:00 PM In Senate, EHEA
  • SB0680: State and Local Parks – Playground Accessibility – Communication Boards
Wednesday, March 2nd at 1:00 PM In House, APP Health and Social Services Subcommittee
  • HB0300: Budget Bill (Fiscal Year 2023) - DDA Budget
Wednesday, March 2nd at 1:00 PM In Senate, B&T
  • SB0636: Maryland Department of Health - Waiver Programs - Waitlist Reduction (End the Wait Act)
  • SB0623: Income Tax - Subtraction Modification - Essential Health Care Workers
  • SB0706: Nonpublic Educational Programs - Children With Disabilities - Costs of Teacher Salaries
  • SB0506: Children - Therapeutic Child Care Program - Funding
Wednesday, March 2nd at 1:00 PM In Senate, EHEA
  • SB0705: Education – Physical Restraint and Seclusion – Limitations, Reporting, and Training
Thursday, March 3rd at 1:00 PM In Senate, B&T Health and Human Services Subcommittee
  • SB0290: Budget Bill (Fiscal Year 2023) - DDA Budget
Thursday, March 3rd at 1:00 PM In House, E&T
  • HB1121: Driver’s Licenses, Identification Cards, and Registration Plates – Notation for Autism Spectrum
Thursday, March 3rd at 1:00 PM In House, W&M
  • HB0850: Schools, Prekindergarten Programs, and County Boards of Education – Discrimination
  • HB0652: More Opportunities for Career-Focused Students Act of 2022
Thursday, March 3rd at 1:30 PM In House, HGO
  • HB1130: Health Occupations - Prohibition on Expiration of Licenses, Certificates, Permits, and Registrations
  • HB1351: Health Facilities - Delegation of Inspection Authority - Related Institutions and Nursing Homes
Friday, March 4th at 12:00 PM In House, W&M
  • HB0933: Child Care Scholarship Program - Alterations (Maryland Child Care Working Families Act)
  • HB0993: Child Care Capital Support Revolving Loan Fund - Established
  • HB0995: Early Childhood Development - Child Care Scholarship Program - Alterations
  • HB1100: Child Care Providers and Employees - Bonuses
Please note that the following abbreviations identify the Legislative Committees in the Assembly:
House of Delegates:
APP - Appropriations
EMC - Economic Matters
E&T - Environment and Transportation
HGO - Health and Government Operations
HRU - Rules and Executive Nominations
JUD - Judiciary
W&M - Ways and Means
Senate:
B&T - Budget and Taxation
EHEA - Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs
EXN - Executive Nominations
FIN - Finance
JPR - Judicial Proceedings
SRU - Rules
R&R - Reapportionment and Redistricting
JOIN THE ARC
Interested in joining one of the most dynamic and effective grassroots networks in Maryland? Contact your local chapter of The Arc and ask about joining their Governmental Affairs/Public Policy Committee. Visit our website here to locate your nearest chapter and learn more. Achieve with us!