by Jane Seigler, MHC Government Relations Committee Co-Chair (first published in the April 2025 Equiery)

March 17 is a day when people celebrate the man who drove the snakes out of Ireland. While there are still a few snakes on the United States’ political scene, March 17 is a special date this year for the Maryland General Assembly. That is the date, called “Crossover Day,” by which bills must be passed out of their chamber of origin and “cross over” to the opposite chamber. Bills that fail to cross over by Crossover Day technically can still be enacted, but additional procedural hurdles and the relentless running of the clock before the session adjourns at midnight on April 7, make that a very long shot. There are some exceptions, though. The budget bills were still being negotiated on Crossover Day, but they will move forward because the General Assembly is required to pass a budget. In addition, three bills supported by legislative leadership that deal with the state’s critical energy issues will also likely eventually advance regardless of timing, because they are high priorities.

A looming budget deficit, exacerbated by uncertainty surrounding the availability of federal funds for a vast array of programs administered by the State, has affected the entire legislative session, and the State’s budget is still unset as of this writing. On the potential chopping block are preservation and conservation programs such as Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF), Maryland Environmental Trust (MET), some cost-share programs, and rural and legacy open space programs, as well as cuts to the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission.

Here is the status as of Crossover Day of bills we were active on or monitored so far this Session. Tune in next month to learn which ones made it over the final finish line!

Bills That Have Crossed Over

Equine related

  • SB 240/HB 262 changes the designated seat on the MD Agricultural Commission from “a representative of the horse–breeding industry” to “a representative of the equine industry.” Both cross-files have crossed over and are now in the opposite chambers.
  • SB 321/HB 352 although still under negotiation as of this writing, the provisions of the omnibus state budget bill that impose late fees and reinstatement fees on expired stable licenses are moving forward. The budget proposal would also move $3,000,000 from the interest on Pimlico renovation funds to the State’s General Fund. There are deep cuts proposed to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) and the Rural Legacy program; smaller cuts to Program Open Space. The proposed 2.5% business-to-business service tax was changed to a 3% tax on data and IT services that would be paid by all users, not just businesses. There are no proposed increases in sales tax on goods, or on property or real estate taxes. The proposal would repeal the exemption for sales of photographic and artistic material used in advertising. As of this writing, the budget is not yet final, so things may change!
  • SB 968 authorized the Department of Natural Resources to enter into use agreements with volunteers to facilitate the use of motor vehicles and motorized equipment for the purpose of maintaining existing paths within the Patuxent River Wildland to ensure clear and safe access for first responders. The bill was amended in Committee to delete the requirement for use agreements with volunteers.

Animal Welfare

  • SB 152/HB 89 is a bill that would impose stricter sentencing procedures for crimes of animal cruelty. Both cross-files have crossed over and are now in the opposite chambers.
  • SB 80 raises penalties of imprisonment for up to three years and a fine not to exceed $5,000 or both for the abuse or neglect of an animal if the abuse or neglect results in the death or euthanasia of the animal; and authorizing the court, as a condition of sentencing a certain defendant, to prohibit the defendant from owning, possessing, or residing with an animal for a period of time determined by the court.
  • HB 643/SB 318 expands an existing educational loan repayment assistance program to apply to vets and vet techs who have either been an employee in the state for five years or volunteered for at least 100 hours a year for at least three years at an animal shelter. Both cross files have crossed over and are now in the opposite chamber.

Racing Related

  • SB 595/HB 337 provides supplemental local impact aid to Anne Arundel County, Howard County, and the City of Laurel for health and mental health services and other services for backstretch workers at Laurel Park while the track remains open. The House version has crossed over to the Senate.

Nonprofits & Business

  • SB 105/HB 145 establishes a Green and Renewable Energy for Nonprofit Organizations Loan Program to provide financial assistance in the form of no-interest loans to small nonprofit organizations for the planning, purchase, and installation of qualifying energy systems. The Senate version has crossed over to the House.
  • SB 365/HB 541 establishes a nonprofit organization navigator within the Department of Commerce to work with nonprofits and units of State government to resolve complexities and delays in State grant-making processes and to represent nonprofit interests and concerns as a member of the Maryland Efficient Grant Application Council. The Senate version has crossed over to the House.
  • SB 184/HB 239 authorizes the Secretary of State to suspend payment of certain late fees assessed to certain charitable organizations that fail to file an annual report under certain circumstances; and authorizes the Secretary of State to cancel a charitable organization’s registration or reinstate a charitable organization’s canceled registration under certain circumstances. Both cross-files have crossed over and are now in the opposite chambers.
  • SB 49/HB 107 requires a person who makes an automatic renewal offer to consumers to allow a consumer to cancel the automatic renewal in a certain manner; and requires automatic renewal offers to be displayed in a certain manner and contain certain information.
    Hunting
  • SB 100/HB 857 authorizes hunters who wound a deer during legal hunting hours to pursue and kill the deer after legal hunting hours. House version has crossed over to the Senate.

General Agriculture Related

  • SB 203/HB 225 requires people driving “all types of farm vehicles . . . exempt from the periodic inspection requirements“ for exceptional hauling permits to have “a valid North American Standard Driver/Vehicle Level 1 OR LEVEL 5” inspection report issued within the preceding 364 days that shows no out–of–service violations, defects or critical items. Both cross-files have crossed over and are now in the opposite chambers.
  • SB 428/HB 506 establishes the Maryland Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming (LEEF) Program Fund to support and provide incentives for agricultural and conservation best practices. MDA has been holding focus sessions with farmers as it designs this program, and MHC has been invited to, and participated in, each of those sessions. House version has crossed over to the Senate.

Public Utility Siting

  • HB 829 requires that applicants for certificates of public convenience and necessity to construct an overhead transmission line must submit to the Public Service Commission, and that PSC must consider, evidence that the applicant considered any local, state or federal, or PJM planning processes, including alternative technologies, routings, distribution systems, costs to ratepayers, impact on the environment, plus an analysis of cost estimates, construction schedule, acquisition of land, the applicant’s experience working with communities and stakeholders. Also requires regular reports from operators of overhead transmission lines about transmission congestion.

Bills That Did Not Cross Over

Business Related

  • SB 642 would have amended last year’s controversial bill making written waivers of ordinary negligence unenforceable in lawsuits. The bill would restrict the law’s application to just indoor trampoline parks. At the hearing, members of the Judicial Proceedings Committee seemed very receptive to amending the law to exempt equestrian facilities.
  • SB 658/HB 1288 permits noncompete clauses that apply while employment is ongoing, i.e., “moonlighting.”
  • SB 584/HB 113 repeals the cap on noneconomic (commonly referred to as “pain and suffering”) damages in civil actions for personal injury or wrongful death. These damages are currently capped at $950,000 in Maryland. Repealing the cap could result in higher liability insurance premiums.
  • SB 938/HB 1096 prohibits a person from knowingly making or using, or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement resulting in underpayments of unemployment insurance contributions or payment of unemployment insurance benefits of more than a certain amount; and alters the enforcement mechanisms of the Maryland Wage and Hour Law, the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law, workplace fraud laws, living wage laws, and prevailing wage laws
  • SB 1045/ HB 1554 imposes a 2.5% tax on certain labors and services if both the provider of the service and the buyer are business entities.

Racing Related

  • SB 982/HB 1048 authorizes Historical Horse Racing at certain racetracks and other facilities.
  • HB 856 provides a funding mechanism for the race courses at Fair Hill by redirecting, if and when Rosecroft Raceway closes, funds in the Racetrack Facility Renewal Account allocated to Rosecroft, to Fair Hill instead.

Hunting

  • SB 417/HB 832 authorizes year round Sunday hunting in Carroll County.
  • SB 272/HB 882 authorizes all day Sunday hunting in the archery season, and reduces safety zone from 150 yards to 50 yards from certain buildings in Prince Georges County.
  • HB 654 rolls back the 10:30 am time restriction on Sunday hunting in Wicomico County.
  • SB 796 rolls back the 10:30 am time restriction on Sunday hunting in Dorchester County.
  • SB 634/HB741 would require fox chasers to purchase full hunting licenses, but would exempt fox chasers from the requirement to take hunter safety courses. This bill was amended in Committee to delete the requirement to license fox chasers.

General Agriculture Related

  • SB 990/ HB 1345 requires, to make a claim under a warranty for certain agricultural equipment, a consumer to provide written notice to report a nonconformity, defect, or condition occurring in certain agricultural equipment; requires certain parties to correct the nonconformity, defect, or condition in a certain manner; requires certain parties to provide a consumer with the opportunity to replace agricultural equipment or receive a refund under certain circumstances.
  • SB 736/HB 1511 establishes the Wildlife Damage Prevention and Reimbursement Fund to reimburse a person for damage caused by deer, geese, and other wildlife to crops and other agricultural products.
  • SB 958/HB 1024 authorizes the Department of Agriculture to take extraordinary measures to control local deer populations and prevent future crop loss if the Department determines that deer have caused catastrophic damage to a field; and defines “catastrophic damage” as the loss of 50% or more of crops from a single field.
  • HB 907 imposes notice requirements for jurisdictions removing a property tax credit on urban agricultural properties, defined to include properties where “raising livestock” is conducted and that engage in “agricultural education and agritourism activities.”
  • HB 766 requires that the DNR Wildlife Advisory Commission member appointed to represent the farming community be selected from a list of candidates provided by the Maryland Farm Bureau. We discussed with the Farm Bureau the idea that at least one of those names come from the equestrian community.

Other Bills

  • HB 1393 would put new requirements on “youth sports programs” below the high school level of play (including riding programs), covering things like background checks for personnel, whether paid or volunteer, and removal and return to play policies after injuries. This could apply to pony clubs.
  • HB 549 authorizes an individual to bring a nuisance action for damages caused by rodent harborage on certain real property against a property owner, owner’s agent, or property manager; authorizes a landlord to bring a breach of lease action against a tenant for behavior that causes or contributes to rodent harborage; and provides that a nuisance action may not be brought under the Act if the rodent harborage occurs on property that is zoned for agricultural use and is actually and primarily used as agricultural property.

Bills Related to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project Proposed Transmission Line and Utility Siting Generally

  • SB 189/HB 631 prohibits the State or a political subdivision from taking property by eminent domain that is subject to a “perpetual agricultural or conservation easement.”
  • SB 661/HB 81 requires that the fair market value of property actively used for farm or agricultural purposes in a condemnation proceeding be 350% of the highest appraisal value of the property, and that the requirement be retroactive.
  • HB 645 requires each county and Baltimore City to update its comprehensive plan to include an electric system planning element for purposes of minimizing the impact of future transmission line development in the State; requires each electric company serving a county or Baltimore City to report to that county or the City regarding the electric company’s compliance with certain provisions of the county’s or City’s electric system planning element; and requires each electric company to submit a report on electricity demand each year.
  • HB 1337 provides that the owner of a business or farming operation on certain property that is taken through eminent domain is entitled to damages for the loss of profits under certain circumstances.
  • SB 657/HB 1362 establishes that damages to be awarded for the taking of land in a condemnation proceeding include, in addition to the fair market value of the land taken, any legal, expert, or other fees or costs of the action incurred by a defendant.
  • SB 737/HB 1396 prohibits certain persons from exercising a right of condemnation to acquire property for the purpose of constructing a power line or a generating station that produces electricity from wind energy or solar energy; and prohibits the State or any of its instrumentalities or political subdivisions from acquiring by condemnation property that is encumbered by conservation easements that will be used for the construction of a power line or a certain generating station.
  • SB 931/HB1036 alters the factors the Public Service Commission must consider before taking final action on a certificate of public convenience and necessity; establishes certain requirements for the construction of a solar energy generating station or energy storage device; requires the Commission to conduct a study to establish a process by which the Commission may establish partnerships between electric companies and electricity suppliers for electricity generation projects.
  • SB 478/HB 739 prohibits the Public Service Commission from approving a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a solar energy generating station unless the Commission receives written approval for the construction of the generating station from each county or municipal corporation where the generating station is proposed to be located.
  • SB 483/HB 657 requires the Public Service Commission to examine alternatives to the construction of a new transmission line if the use of an alternative will best maintain historical, environmental, or agricultural preservation areas, or will avoid any overlap with certain lots, parcels, or tracts of land.
  • SB 640/HB 742 prohibits a person constructing a solar energy generating station from exercising a right of condemnation in connection with that construction.
  • SB 853 prohibits the Public Service Commission from authorizing, and a person from undertaking, the construction of an overhead transmission line outside of an existing transmission line right-of-way unless the applicant adequately demonstrates to the Commission that existing transmission line rights-of-way are not sufficient for the proposed overhead transmission line.
  • SB 952/HB 1397 adds grid enhancing technologies to the list of requirements the Public Service Commission must consider before taking final action on an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of an overhead transmission line.
  • SB 953/HB 1218 establishes a Task Force to Develop a Realistic Electricity Plan for Maryland to study and make recommendations on the State’s current and future electricity needs under various scenarios: prohibits the Public Service Commission from approving the construction or expansion of transmission lines in the State from July 1, 2025, through May 1, 2026; and requires the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 31, 2025
  • SB 955 prohibits a person constructing an overhead transmission line from exercising a right of condemnation to acquire property encumbered by a conservation easement; authorizes a property owner to bring an action for damages incurred as a result of a condemnation proceeding; and requires that reasonable counsel fees be awarded to counsel for the defendant in a condemnation proceeding and that certain court costs be charged against the plaintiff under certain circumstances.

Bills That Were Withdrawn Prior to a Vote

  • SB 380/HB 162 would require licensing of breeders (except for “horse racing and standardbred stables or farms using horses for working or cultivating the soil or herding or cutting livestock”) by the Maryland Horse Industry Board. MHIB currently licenses boarding, lesson, and rental stables, and rescues and sanctuaries. The issue has been the subject of discussions with MDA and MHIB for about a year. After the bills were introduced, and after further discussions with MHIB and the bills’ sponsors about definitions and other details, the bills were withdrawn in favor of a working group to study the issue further over the summer.
  • SB 778 prohibits the Department of the Environment from requiring an owner, lessor, lessee, or operator of an agricultural building to apply to the Department for an exemption from certain building energy performance standards.