State of the Bay
On Wednesday the Environment & Transportation Committee heard from several organizations and agencies about the state of the Chesapeake Bay. As a quick refresher, the Bay watershed covers 6 states (DE, MD, NY, PA, VA, WVA) and DC, 41 million square miles, 18.2 million people, and 1,850 local governments. The Bay is vital to our environment, our economy, and our culture. But the Bay is impaired. Too much nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment threaten the quality of the water and the life it supports.

Much of my work in the General Assembly has been on Bay restoration, through my work on the Chesapeake Bay Commission, as well as my legislation. This week Senator Sarah Elfreth (another CBC member) and I filed a bill to update our Forest Conservation Act. Trees are vital to the Bay restoration, and is a top priority for CBC as well as our conservation partners. More on this legislation in the weeks to come.
You can watch the briefing here, and see the documents here (under Feb. 1), and read about it here.

My Legislation
This session, I am sponsoring legislation to reduce plastic waste, improve recycling, and save our waters (plus make it affordable for all!), protect privacy, conserve our forests, and defend wildlife. You can see a list of my bills here. 

I have two bill hearings this coming week. Both bills are re-introductions of legislation I sponsored before:

HB 26 Person in a Position of Authority - Sexual Offenses With a Minor This bill will be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on 2/7 at 1:30pm. (You can watch it here.) Its Senate cross-file was heard in the Senate Judicial Procedures Committee on 2/1. This legislation would close a loophole in our law to protect minors. Currently our law prohibits a person in authority - a family member or an employee of a school - from engaging in sexual acts with a minor. My bill would expand this definition to include others who are in a position of authority with our children, such as private tutors, music teachers, and sports coaches. These people, just like school teachers, should not use their position of authority to exploit minors.

HB 230 Zero–Emission Truck Act of 2023 will be heard in the House Environment and Transportation Committee on 2/8 at 1:30pm. (You can watch it here.) Its Senate cross-file will be heard in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee on 2/9. This bill requires MDE to adopt regulations establishing requirements for the sale of new zero-emission medium and heavy duty vehicles in our state. The bill, modeled after similar 2020 legislation passed in California, encourages manufacturers and purchasers of medium and heavy-duty trucks to transition faster to zero-emission vehicles. By reducing harmful emissions, this legislation will improve human health and our environment.