January 23, 2021
Dear Friends -
The 2022 General Assembly has already kicked into high gear. We had a full week of bill hearings, including hearings on two of my bills (see below for more details). In the Environment & Transportation Committee we heard bills related to housing, the environment, natural resources, transportation and motor vehicles. Below I highlight some bills we heard, Covid resources, Delegation work, and upcoming events.
My office is always here to help you. If we can ever be of any assistance, do not hesitate to reach out: (410) 841-3453 or Sara.Love@house.state.md.us.
Take care,
Sara
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Committee Hearings
Hearings in the Environment & Transportation Committee generally follow a pattern: Tuesdays we hear bills on housing and real property; Wednesdays we hear bills on the environment, natural resources, agriculture and land use; and Thursdays we hear bills on transportation and motor vehicles. You can see all the hearings (both live-streamed and on YouTube) here.
As a quick reminder, every bill filed in Maryland gets a hearing (but not necessarily a vote). I'll highlight only a couple of bills we heard this week (the ones that have generated the most constituent interest):
HB 22 - This bill would ban the practice of what is called "declawing," which is akin to cutting off the end of a cat's finger and can result in a lifetime of pain for the animal.
HB 131 - Championed by D16's Diana Conway, this bill would establish chain of custody rules for synthetic turf. The turf is toxic, causes injuries, and has limited life. When that life is over, there are no rules regarding what happens to the turf.
HB 10 - This bill by D16's Del. Korman revises the Zero-Emission Bus Transition Act to provide safety and workplace training as we transition the MTA fleet to zero-emission buses.
My bill hearings
HB 52 - This bill would prohibit the sale of any part or product made from 11 imperiled species, including elephant, giraffe, gorilla, rhinoceros, sea turtle, and cheetah. While many states and the federal government have laws addressing wildlife trafficking, Maryland does not, making us an attractive market for it. We need to ban this practice because it contributes to the killing (mostly illegal) of these animals thus endangering them, and because the money is used in international terrorism.
HB 116 - HB 116 would establish the right to equine activities, similar to the right to hunt and fish that the General Assembly passed last year. Maryland has a long tradition of equine activities, from recreational riding to racing to therapeutic riding. The horse industry provides close to 30,000 jobs and brings in over $78 million in tax revenue. HB 116 would recognize the importance of horses and equine activities to our State.
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COVID-19 Information & Resources |
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Montgomery County's Covid Dashboard is still up and running, providing the latest news and statistics regarding Covid and resources. I recently went on and looked at the DHHS Pulse Report. This report has a wealth of information on: rental relief and evictions; 311 calls; unemployment rates; as well as case numbers, testing, hospitalizations, and vaccinations.
FREE MASKS
The County will be distributing limited numbers of N95 masks at public libraries. You can find the full schedule here. D16 libraries include:
Mon - Sat, 12:00 - 2:00pm: Little Falls Library, Potomac Library
Mon - Thurs, 5:00 - 7:00pm & Fri - Sat, 3:00 - 5:00pm: Connie Morella Library (Bethesda)
FREE TESTS
The federal government is shipping up to 4 antigen tests FREE to every household. You can order them here.
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Delegation Meetings
As we do throughout most of session, the Montgomery County House Delegation met on Friday. This week we heard from Senator Van Hollen. He discussed the successes at the federal level: the American Rescue Plan, which has sent federal monies to the states for earning loss, housing, child care and education; and the Infrastructure Modernization Act, which will send $7 billion to Maryland over the next 5 years for roads, bridges, broadband and tunnels. He talked about the work that still needs to be done on parts of the Build Back Better Plan for decreasing the cost of prescription drugs, addressing climate change, decreasing the cost of child care and addressing early childhood education. And he talked about the voting rights bills that the Democrats have been pushing in Congress, which unfortunately isn't moving.
Last but not least, Senator Van Hollen announced that his longtime State Director, Joan Kleinman, will be retiring soon. Joan is a D16 resident, a mentor to me (and many others!), and will be sorely missed in that post. Thank you for your many years of service Joan!!
PSA: help the environment with your license plate!
Did you know you could purchase specialty plates, thus funding environmental or agricultural projects in our state? Funds have gone to several projects in D16, including
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Bethesda Green: for the Bethesda Green Environmental Leaders Program, which draws students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman, and Walter Johnson high schools and focuses on environmental stewardship via impactful projects and community engagement.
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The Nature Conservancy: for a study of pyrogenic carbon in soils at the Nassawango Creek Preserve.
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C&O Canal Trust: for the expansion of the 'Canal for All' program to reach a more diverse group of youth.
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Bannockburn Community Club: to implement conservation landscaping, dry wells and rain gardens.
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Friends of Cabin John Creek (and) Watershed: for community‐based public engagement, watershed stewardship, and stormwater management installations including residential rain planters.
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Montgomery County Public Schools: for 10th grade teacher professional development "Citizen Science: Chemistry of Nitrogen Cycling."
See here for more information.
Your D16 Delegates are keeping in touch!
Delegate Marc Korman sends his newsletter on Wednesdays. His newsletter keeps us informed on all things transportation and budget-related.
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Calendar
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 7.30 - 9:00am - Bethesda Chevy-Case Breakfast Club will hear from County Executive Elrich and Councilmember Tom Hucker in the race for County Executive. Email for the link.
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 1:00pm - Hearing on HB 223, my bill to close a loophole in the definition of "person in authority" and protect 16 & 17 year olds from sexual predators. I have cross-filed this bill with Senator Chris West, whose SB 49 had a hearing last week. You can watch that hearing here.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1:00pm - hearings on three of my bills: HB 135, to reduce our reliance on single use plastics; HB 217, to update the Maryland Recycling Act; and HB 259, to protect our biometric identifiers.
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