Today is Crossover Day! The Maryland General Assembly only meets for 90 days each year. With just 21 days left in this year’s session, we have reached “Crossover Day.” Today any bill currently being considered must be passed by either the House or Senate and “crossed over” to the other chamber to be guaranteed a chance to be heard in the other chamber. Some bills can pass one chamber after crossover and still make it out, but it’s much more challenging.
Here’s a quick round-up of this past week’s biggest issues:
Utilities Hearing
Why are ratepayers' bills for gas and electricity going up? To believe representatives from our utility providers like PEPCO and BGE, who testified at a joint hearing last Wednesday, it’s because we had a cold winter. I have spent many years working on energy issues and my research shows otherwise. During the hearing, I called attention to how investor-owned utilities are maximizing profits and advocating for policies that are not in the best interest of our ratepayers.
Utilities operate as regulated monopolies. I take my oversight of those companies very seriously and will continue to lead the charge to protect ratepayers and our planet. Watch some of the reporting on the hearing here.
Federal Worker Protections
The House passed the “Protect Our Federal Workers Act” (HB 1424) to expand Maryland’s Attorney General Anthony Brown's ability to fight the Trump administration in court. As the lead attorney in a lawsuit with 20 other state attorney generals, he has already successfully argued for the reinstatement of federal workers who were illegally fired.
Abortion Access
The House also passed, along party lines, the Public Health Abortion Grant Program (HB 930). The bill gives the state Department of Health access to funds paid by insurers who participate in the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace to cover abortion services for their policyholders. The grant program would help providers cover abortion costs for uninsured and underinsured individuals. You can read more about the debate and bill passage here.
Immigrant Protections
Some pieces of the package of bills to protect immigrants here in Maryland, which I wrote about in more detail in my last newsletter, continue to make their way through both chambers. We are working, however, to ensure the complete package passes.
My Bills That Have Passed in the House (so far):
HB 9 Food System Resiliency Council
HB 32 Mental Health Quality in Hospital and Community
HB 56 Farm-to-School Procurement
HB 61 Solar-Ready School Parking Lots
HB 121 Utility Transparency and Accountability
HB 268 Patients’ Hospital Debt Assistance
HB 296 Fair Assessments for Counties
HB 527 Purple Line Free Rides and Ads
HB 1032 Stop Sign Monitoring in MC School Zones
HB 1207 Full-time MC Board of Education
Unemployment Insurance Follow-up
I recently held a webinar to help federal workers who need to apply for unemployment insurance (UI). A link to that webinar—along with other resources—can be found on my website. If you need help receiving your benefits, call or email my office. We have helped hundreds of constituents navigate the UI system.
Keep Resisting!
I always encourage people to stand up and speak out for things they care about deeply. Here are just some of the many groups listing ways you can do exactly that:
• Indivisible (national)
Need help with a state issue?
Please contact my office at lorig.charkoudian@house.state.md.us or leave us a message at (410)-841-3423.
Onward,
Lorig
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