My Bills

Push for PFAS Protections. Last Wednesday, the Health and Government Relations Committee heard my Bill  HB 275 to regulate the use of PFAS (toxic, "forever" chemicals) in firefighting foam, food packaging, and rugs & carpets. This bill is named after veteran firefighter George "Walter" Taylor, who died from PFAS-related cancer, after 31 years of exposure to fire fighting foam with PFAS. I had the honor of testifying alongside Ms. Christine Taylor, Walter Taylor's widow; Jeffrey Buddle, President of the Professional Firefighters of Maryland; Dr. Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist expert in this area; Emily Scarr from Maryland PIRG; and Brent Walls, Upper Potomac Waterkeeper. 

You can see our press conference here, an article about the bill that appeared in Maryland Matters here, and the bill hearing here.

I am working hard to protect all Marylanders from PFAS.


Setting Guardrails for Biometric Identifiers. Along with Senator Brian Feldman, I continue the fight to set up guardrails around companies' collection of our biometric identifiers - unique biological data including fingerprints, face prints, and voiceprints. Not only is this a privacy issue, but also one of equity, since facial recognition misidentifies people of color more frequently than those who are white. The Baltimore Sun ran an OpEd by Senator Feldman and me on our bill, which was heard in the House on Feb. 2 and the Senate last week. You can read more about these bills here: HB 259/SB 335.

My Bills Being Heard Next Week:

  • Wednesday, Feb. 16, 1:00pm - Hearing on HB 653, the Comprehensive Conservation Financing Act.
  • Friday, Feb. 18, 11:00am - Hearing on HB 700, Truth-in-Labeling.


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.

While we heard many interesting bills this week, I highlight only a few here:

HB 361 - Requiring the Department of the Environment, in consultation with the Maryland Department of Health, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of General Services, to adopt certain regulations establishing uniform standards for mold assessment and remediation and giving tenants certain ways to help ensure landlords remediate mold problems.

HB 367 - recognizing the continued hardship on many tenants, this bill would landlords to follow certain procedures regarding rent relief assistance prior to filing for eviction.

HB 231 - enabling Montgomery County to move its automated traffic enforcement from a local law enforcement agency to the Department of Transportation. Since MCDOT is responsible for implementing Vision Zero, it makes sense for it to also oversee the camera program as part of their wholistic plan to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities.