Legislative Hotline
2006 SESSION OF THE
MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Volume 14, Number 4����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� February 8, 2006
Here are some of the hot issues as the 2006
Legislative Session develops:
CLINICAL TRIALS LEGISLATION
DEFEATED
SPENDING AFFORDABILITY COMMITTEE
DR. CORNWELL HONORED
WITH THE SPEAKER’S MEDALLION
ENERGY ASSISTANCE FOR
LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
BILLS
INTRODUCED
STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION
�
Clinical Trials Legislation Defeated
Again this Session
legislation to impose state regulation of clinical trials was introduced.� At the hearing this week, Johns Hopkins
joined the
Spending Affordability Committee
This week legislators
reconvened to increase the state’s spending limits for the FY 2007 budget
from its previous recommendation of 8.9%.�
The recommendation, made annually by the Spending Affordability Committee
(SAC), is designed to establish how much the state can spend without causing
the budget to grow faster than
As previously reported,
Governor Ehrlich's budget exceeds the spending limit recommended by the General
Assembly by more than $200 million, according to the Department of Legislative
Services. The Governor’s budget calls for spending on state programs to
grow by 11.4%, while also dedicating $644 million to the state's rainy day
account and would set aside $670 million to help pay for fiscal 2008 expenses.�
The new SAC recommendation is to raise the
state spending limits to 9.6%.� This
action increases state spending by approximately $150 million over their
previous proposal.� Legislators have said
they will try to cut spending to bring it in line with the recommendation, requiring
$100 million in cuts to the Governor’s fiscal year 2007 proposal.
Dr. Cornwell Honored with the Speaker’s
Medallion
On February 1st, Dr.
Eddie Cornwell, Chief of Adult Trauma for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, was
honored by the Maryland House of Delegates with the Speakers Medallion.� The Speaker of the House of Delegates awards
the medallion annually to an individual chosen for his or her exemplary service
to the House and the State of
Energy
Assistance for Low Income Households
After treating too many
children who had been burned as a result of power being terminated to their
houses, Johns Hopkins has taken an active role in working with the Maryland
Energy Assistance Program, the Public Service Commission and utilities across
the State to ensure that such tragedies no longer occur.� While much has been accomplished, low income
households face a new challenge in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and
escalating fuel costs.�� The budget for
the Energy Assistance Program was set before the devastation of the hurricanes,
and even without the escalating costs, there was already concern that the fund
would be over expended for FY 2006.
To address this situation, Delegate Dereck Davis, Chairman of the Economic Matters Committee,
introduced a bill to increase the Electric Universal Service Program surcharge,
which funds the Energy Assistance Program, to provide the Program with a
permanent increase in funding.�� Shortly
before the hearing, the Governor’s office offered to provide the Program
with a one time $13 million deficiency appropriation in the budget for FY
2006.� While a permanent funding
allocation would be preferable it is critical that the Program receive some
sort of supplemental allocation this year.�
With the current projected deficit, [ Go to Top]
BILLS INTRODUCED
HB0428� Creation of a State Debt - St. Mary's Hospital of St.
Mary's County
This bond bill
authorizes a grant to St. Mary’s Hospital in the amount of $762,300 for
behavioral health and medical/surgical units.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
HB0433� Creation of a State Debt - Mt. Washington Pediatric
Hospital
This bond bill authorizes a grant in the amount of
$750,000 to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital for the Center for Neonatal
Transitional Care.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
SB0370� Creation of a State Debt - Maryland Consolidated
Capital Bond Loan of 2006 and the Maryland Consolidated Capital Bond Loans of
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
The bill authorizes
the state capital expense of $669,358,000 in FY2007.� Included in the bill are grants to state
agencies and to private higher education and health institutions as follows:
|
Johns
Hopkins Medicine – Cardiovascular and Critical Care Tower |
$7,500,000 |
|
Johns
Hopkins Medicine – Pediatric Trauma Center |
$5,000,000 |
|
The Johns
Hopkins University – School of Nursing Facility |
$2,666,000 |
Other
grants of interest include:
|
Kennedy Krieger Institute – National Center for
Advanced Research In Developmental Disabilities |
$1,000,000 |
|
College of Notre Dame/Loyola College – Library
Renovation/Expansion (MICUA) ������ |
$2,667,000 |
|
Washington College – Performing Arts Center (MICUA)�������������������������� |
$2,667,000 |
|
Sheppard Pratt Hospital – New Psychiatric Hospital����������������������������������������� |
$1,000,000 |
|
University of Maryland Medical System – New
Diagnostic & Treatment Center (This is the start of a $50 M commitment in
GO bonds over the next 5 years) ����� |
$2,500,000 |
|
University of Maryland Medical System – New
Ambulatory Care Ctr (This is the end of a $100 M commitment in GO bonds over
last 5 years) |
$2,500,000 |
|
Department of Health & Mental Hygiene – New
Public Health Lab (Start of $15 M project for replacement of severely
obsolete current lab) ������� ����� |
$9,424,000 |
|
Towson University – New College of Liberal Arts
Complex������������� |
$40,935,000 |
|
Salisbury University – New Teacher Education &
Technology Complex�� |
$49,589,000 |
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
Budget - Operating
HB0137� Higher Education - Teacher Education Reading Programs
- Alignment with Federal Law
House Bill 137 requires public institutions of higher
education that have teacher education programs to provide teacher education
reading curricula that are aligned with the federal No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB). Public institutions of higher education must revise their teacher
education courses to place strong emphasis on phonemic awareness, phonics,
vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension. In order to receive State
funding under the Sellinger formula, private institutions of higher education that
have teacher education programs must comply with the same requirements.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
SB0355� Creation of a State Debt - Northwest Hospital Center
This bond bill authorizes a grant in the amount of
$400,000 to Northwest Hospital Center for the Center for Breast Care and Bone
Health.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
SB0356� Community Colleges - Funding Formulas - Adjustment
Senate Bill 356 alters the Senator John A. Cade
Funding Formula for the computation of State aid to community colleges and the
funding formula for the Baltimore City Community College beginning in fiscal
year 2008.� The bill increases the
funding for community colleges by taking the formula by Fiscal 2010 to 30% of
the state's general fund appropriation for full-time equivalent student to the
four year public institutions of higher education in the state.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
Business Operations
sb0357� Community Colleges - State Funding - Size Factor
Component
Senate Bill 357 alters the Senator John A. Cade Funding
Formula for community colleges in order to allow colleges that are no longer
eligible for funding under the size factor component to receive a percentage of
funding for four additional years downsizing the aid to zero funding in the
fourth year.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
Environmental Health
SB0268� Mandatory Participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative
Currently there is a seven-state coalition, called the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which includes Delaware, New Jersey,
New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.� This coalition was created to discuss the
design of a regional cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases from power plants in the region.�
The RGGI has established goals to cap carbon dioxide pollution from
power plants between 2009 and 2015, followed by further reductions between 2015
and 2018.� The RGGI has established
internal procedures to determine if and how observer states, such as Maryland,
may become member states.� In 2003, the
Governor declined to include the State of Maryland as a participating member in
the RGGI.� The bill requires the Governor
to include the State as a participating member in the RGGI.� If the Governor has not negotiated the
State's entrance into RGGI by September 30, 2006, the Governor shall report to
the General Assembly no later than October 7, 2006 regarding: (1) why
negotiations to include the State in RGGI failed and (2) a plan, independent of
RGGI, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the State 10%
below current levels by 2018.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Heather
Barthel
Financial Aid
HB0003� Veterans Advocacy and Education Act of 2006
The bill establishes
the Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts Scholarship Program.
Veterans of the conflicts and members of the reserve or Maryland National Guard
who were activated as a result of the conflicts are eligible for the
scholarship, as are their children and spouses. To qualify, an applicant must
also be a Maryland resident and be accepted for admission or enrolled in a
regular undergraduate program at a Maryland institution of higher education or
a two-year terminal certificate program in which the course work is eligible
for transfer into a baccalaureate program at a Maryland institution of higher
education.
The bill
also establishes an outreach and advocacy program within the Maryland Veterans
Administration to ensure that veterans are informed of available federal and
State services, benefits, and assistance as well as to bring issues related to
veterans’ needs to the attention of the Governor and the General
Assembly. The program must help veterans and their dependents access benefits.
A director for the program must be appointed by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to administer and coordinate the program.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2006
For more information,
please contact:� Bret Schreiber
General Business
SB0193� Pilot Program for the Long-Term Employment of
Qualified Ex-Felons
The bill requires DLLR
to reestablish and administer the pilot program for the long-term employment of
ex-offenders in consultation with the Governor’s Workforce Investment
Board. The pilot program is intended to provide incentives for the hiring of up
to 150 qualified ex-felons each year through existing one-stop employment and
training centers in at least two of the State’s Workforce Investment
Areas. The one-stop centers will work with community organizations and any
State or local government entities that provide services to ex-felons and will
also provide outreach and education to employers about the program.
A business
entity that hires a qualified ex-felon through the pilot program will be able
to obtain a one-year federal fidelity bond for the qualified ex-felon for the
first year of employment. The Department is required to purchase federal
fidelity bonds and to provide the bonds to the designated one-stop centers for
up to 150 qualified ex-offender participants each year.
A business
entity may claim a tax credit for wages paid to a qualified ex-felon
employee.� For each taxable year, a
credit is allowed in an amount equal to: (1) 30% of up to the first $6,000 of
the wages paid to the qualified ex-felon employee during the first year of
employment; and (2) 20% of up to the first $6,000 of the wages paid to the
qualified ex-felon employee during the second year of employment. A tax-exempt
organization may apply the credit against income tax due on unrelated business
taxable income or for the payment to the Comptroller of taxes that the
organization is required to withhold from the wages of employees and is
required to pay to the Comptroller.
A business
entity may not claim the credit under this section until it has notified DLLR
that a qualified ex-felon employee has been hired. A business entity may not
claim the credit: (1) if the business entity is simultaneously receiving
federal or State employment training benefits for the same employee; or (2) if
the ex-felon (a) is related to an individual who owns 50% or more of the
business, or (b) was hired to replace a laid off or striking employee.
Any excess
credit may be carried forward for up to five taxable years. A taxpayer
claiming
the credit is required to make an additional modification in the amount of the
credit claimed. DLLR, in consultation with the Governor’s Workforce
Investment Board and the Comptroller, is required to adopt regulations to carry
out the provisions of the bill.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Heather
Barthel
General Education
sb0238� Education - Comprehensive Induction Program for New
Teachers
Senate Bill 238 establishes a comprehensive induction program
in the State Department of Education for new teachers employed by hard-to-staff
schools.� The bill requires that the
comprehensive induction program include mentoring, professional development
training and support, and formal assessments of teachers participating in the
program.� The bill requires MSDE to adopt
regulations in order to implement the comprehensive induction program and
requires that funding for the comprehensive induction program be provided in the
State budget.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
General Health Care
SB0380� Health Services Cost Review Commission - Report on
Hospital Charges
This bill requires the Health Services Cost Review Commission
to annually publish each acute care hospital's severity-adjusted average charge
per case for the 15 most common inpatient diagnosis-related groups.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Tom Lewis
Health Care Facilities
HB0327� Nursing Facilities - Electronic Monitoring
The bill would require
nursing facilities to install and use electronic monitoring devices, including
video surveillance cameras and audio devices, in rooms of residents.� The requirement would apply to institutions
that have a patient population of 50 or more, and a nursing assistant staff
with a ratio of more than two patients to one nursing assistant.�
�
Institutions
that use monitoring devices under the bill would be required to post a notice
in a conspicuous location that states that resident rooms are being
monitored.� Patients would be able to
elect not to be monitored, and no institution would be able to refuse to admit
an individual to residency or remove a resident because of a refusal to accept
electronic monitoring.
Installation
and operation of these devices would be funded by institutions, as would
development and implementation of policies that protect the privacy rights of
residents.� The area of an institution
that receives a signal from electronic monitoring devices would have to be
staffed 24 hours a day, be out of the view and hearing of visitors and
residents of the institution, and have a communication system in place to
notify the appropriate staff of a monitored patient’s need for
assistance.
The bill
would create criminal penalties for individuals and institutions that violate
its statutes, and require institutions to document compliance.
The bill
also provides that videotapes created from video camera monitoring be
admissible in criminal and civil actions brought in Maryland courts, subject to
the Maryland Rules of Evidence.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
Health Care Practitioners
HB0574� Health Insurance - Recredentialing of Health Care
Providers - Change in Tax Identification Number or Employer
The bill prohibits health insurance carriers from
requiring a health provider participating on the carrier's panel to be
recredentialed based on a change of federal tax ID number.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
HB0626� Prescription Safety Act
The bill authorizes
electronic transmission of prescriptions and requires that each prescription
contain the following:
- the full name and dosage form
of the drug spelled out, with no abbreviations;
- the strength of the drug
expressed in, as applicable metric units; or
- �standardized international units;
- the words "unit" or
"international unit" instead of "u" or "ui";
- the words "daily" or
"every other day" instead of "qd", "qod", or
"qod";
- the quantity in numerical
notation and, for a controlled dangerous substance, textual notation;
- the reason for prescribing the
drug;
- the age of the patient;
- the weight of a child under age
14 expressed in kilograms;
- a leading zero preceding all
decimal points;
- no trailing zeros after a
decimal on non-oral prescriptions;
- the name of the prescriber
printed legibly, typed, stamped, or circled;
- the date of issuance;
- a reliable means to contact the
prescriber for clarification or questions; and
- no apothecary abbreviations
The Health
Occupations Boards that oversee health practitioners are authorized to
prescribe drugs shall ensure compliance.�
The Secretary of Health shall work with the health practitioner professional
organizations and boards to educate prescribers, pharmacists and the public on
the requirements of the statute.�
Health
Occupation Boards will be required to issue CME credits associated with
training on this statute.� The Board of
Pharmacy shall establish standards for certifying software applications that
transmit prescriptions electronically. Individuals and/or corporations who
purchase such software may be eligible for a tax credit.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
SB0371� State Board of Pharmacy - Registration of Pharmacy
Technicians
The bill authorizes
the Board of Pharmacy to regulate pharmacy technicians and requires that an
individual must be registered and approved as a pharmacy technician by the
Board prior to being permitted to perform delegated pharmacy acts.� It also specifies that pharmacy students are
exempt from this certification.
An
applicant must be of good moral character, be at least 18, be a high school
graduate or GED, pass an exam or pharmacy technician training program, complete
160 hours of work experience in the prescription area of a pharmacy and
submitted a request for a State criminal background investigation.�
The bill
also stipulates conditions under which an application may be denied by the
Board.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
Health Insurance
HB0549� Health Insurance - Private Review Agents - Emergency
Inpatient Admission Determinations
The bill amends
current law regarding private review agents and the information they must
submit to the Maryland Insurance Commissioner.
Private
review agents will be required to make all determinations on whether to
authorize or certify an emergency inpatient admission of a mental, emotional or
substance abuse disorder within 2 hours of being notified that a determination
is necessary, and to notify the health care provider of the determination.
If the
agent's determination is NOT to authorize or certify emergency inpatient
admission and the health care provider believes it warrants reconsideration,
the agent must provide the health care provider with the opportunity to speak
with the physician who made the determination within 2 hours of the request.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
SB0158� Private Review Agents - Treatment Plan Form - Form
Mandated by Another State
The bill amends current law, by requiring a private
review agent that requires a health care provider to submit a treatment in plan
in order for the agent to conduct utilization review of proposed or delivered
services for the treatment of a mental illness, emotional disorder, or a
substance abuse disorder to accept a treatment plan form mandated by a state in
which the services were provided.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
Higher Education
HB0122� Higher Education - State Plan for Higher Education -
Mission Statements - Quadrennial Review
House Bill 122, introduced at the request of the
Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), changes the schedule for
submitting reviews of the State Plan for Higher Education from every other year
to every fourth year.� MHEC must submit
the first quadrennial review by July 1, 2009. In the year following each
quadrennial review, public institutions of higher education and regional higher
education centers must submit updates of their mission statements to MHEC for
review and approval.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
SB0214� Public Institutions of Higher Education - Textbook
Fairness Act
Senate Bill 214
requires public colleges and universities to notify students of the textbooks
assigned for each course offered at the institution by listing the textbook on
the website of the institution when the course instructor identifies the
textbook.� Furthermore the notice must
include the ISBN for each textbook.
In
addition, the bill prohibits an employee of a public institution of higher
education from receiving payment or other benefits in exchange for requiring
students to purchase certain textbooks.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
SB0270� Institutions of Higher Education - Transfer of Credits
- Letter of Acknowledgment
Senate Bill 270 requires an institution of higher
education that does not possess regional accreditation to require its students
to sign a letter of acknowledgment that the transfer of credits may be
difficult if the student intends to transfer the credits to an institution of
higher education that is regionally accredited.�
The bill requires these institutions to keep these letters on file while
the student attends the institution and for 2 years or more after the student
completes the course.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
SB0341� Higher Education - Nonresident Tuition - Exemption
Senate Bill 341 exempts a student who registers at a
public institution of higher education in the State from paying nonresident
tuition if the student is employed in the State by a business entity that pays
100% of the cost of the student's tuition and mandatory fees payable by a
resident; and requiring the Maryland Higher Education Commission to adopt
specified regulations.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
Medical Liability
HB0107� Task Force on Administrative Compensation for
Birth-Related Neurological Injury
This bill establishes a Task Force on Administrative
Compensation for Birth-Related Neurological Injury. The task force is required
to: (1) study the administrative compensation programs for birth-related
neurological injury established in Virginia and Florida; (2) investigate the
issues critical to designing such a program; (3) examine the effect of such a
program on the supply of physicians practicing obstetrics and on the
availability of affordable obstetrical liability coverage; and (4) develop a
pilot program for the specialty of obstetrics that would be implemented by
December 1, 2008. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in consultation
with the Workers’ Compensation Commission and other appropriate State
agencies, must provide staff support for the task force. The task force must be
appointed, organized, and begin its deliberation by November 1, 2006, submit an
interim report by December 1, 2007, and submit a final report by December 1,
2008. The bill terminates December 31, 2008.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Heather
Barthel
SB0345� Physicians - Unauthorized Practice of Medicine -
Penalty
This bill modifies the current penalty for the
unauthorized practice of medicine, changing it from a misdemeanor to a felony.
A person who practices, attempts to practice, or offers to practice medicine
without a license is guilty of a felony and subject to a fine of up to $5,000
or imprisonment for up to five years or both.
Effective
Date:
For more
information, please contact:� Heather
Barthel
Mental Health
SB0381� Consent Provisions - Minors - Mental or Emotional
Disorder
The bill adds psychologists to those who may give
information to a parent, guardian or custodian of a minor without the consent
of or over the objection of a minor.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
Minority Health Disparities
HB0568� Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities -
Grant Program and Funding
The bill establishes a
health disparities grant program within the Office of Minority Health and
Health Disparities.� The purpose of the
program is to provide grants to:
1)
community-based organizations and historically black colleges and universities
to conduct special research, demonstration, and evaluation projects for
targeted at-risk racial and ethnic minority populations, and
2)
community based organizations and other health care providers that demonstrate
the capacity for reducing health disparities and that utilize interventions in
the plan to reduce health care disparities.
The Office
is charged with establishing criteria and an evaluation system for the grants.
Funding for
the grants will come from the Cigarette Restitution Fund program in the amount
of at least $1,000,000.� The
appropriation may not supplant any other appropriation made to the CRF program
prior to fiscal year 2008.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more information,
please contact:� Sheila Higdon
Miscellaneous
hb0050� Income Tax - Credit for Homeland Security Expenses
House Bill 50 creates a tax credit against the State
income tax for expenses incurred by a business or nonprofit organization in
order to provide security to a building or housing development identified by
the federal government or by State homeland security officials “as a
target of opportunity for activities that threaten the health and safety of the
public.”
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
Public Health
HB0012� Repeal of Procedure on Shell Casing Information -
Timing of Report on Personalized Handgun Technology
House Bill 12 repeals the requirement for: (1) handgun
manufacturers to provide to handgun dealers shell casings of projectiles discharged
from handguns; (2) handgun dealers to forward shell casings to the Department
of State Police (DSP) Crime Laboratory; and (3) DSP to enter the information
sent to them in a relevant database. The bill also requires the Handgun Roster
Board to report on the status of personalized handgun technology once every
three years rather than annually.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
HB0243� Task Force on Indoor Air Quality in Educational
Institutions
House Bill 243
establishes the Task Force on Indoor Air Quality in Educational Institutions.� A final report of its findings and
recommendations must be submitted to the General Assembly by July 1, 2007.� The bill takes effect July 1, 2006 and
sunsets July 31, 2007.
The task
force must: (1) study the nature, location, and extent of health and
environmental risks posed to students and employees of educational institutions
as a result of molds, spores, and other toxic organisms in the heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; and (2) make recommendations
regarding the prevention of HVAC-related illnesses, the use of appropriate
remedies and controls, a plan to provide information and warnings regarding
risks, and legislative or regulatory measures needed to address gaps in
federal, State, and local protection.� A
representative of the Bloomberg School of Public Health would serve on the task
force.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
HB0342� Disease Prevention - Hepatitis C Advisory Council
House Bill 342 will establish a State Advisory Council
on Hepatitis C that will review, recommend changes to, and solicit funds to
implement a specified Hepatitis C prevention plan.� The bill will require the Advisory Council to
coordinate Hepatitis C initiatives in State agencies and review and recommend
changes to Hepatitis C initiatives.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
HB0496� Motor Scooters and Mopeds - Protective Headgear -
Requirement
House Bill 496 prohibits an individual from operating
or riding on a motor scooter or moped unless the individual is wearing
protective headgear.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
HB0507� Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Prenatal
Dietary Supplement Distribution Program
House Bill 507 will look to reduce the number of cases
of neural tube and other birth defects in the State of Maryland and requires
DHMH to establish a program for distribution of: 1) prenatal multivitamins and
mineral dietary supplements with the recommended levels of Folic Acid to women
of childbearing age (women ages 15 to 45 who qualify for WIC), and 2)
counseling and written information regarding the proper use of the
supplements.� The bill also provides for
the program to be funded by the state budget, the federal Women, Infants and
Children (WIC) food program as well as other lawful sources.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
SB0279� Vehicle Laws - Mandatory Seat Belt Use
Senate Bill 279 expands the application of the
mandatory seat belt law by requiring motor vehicle passengers 16 years of age
and older in any seat of the vehicle to be restrained by a seat belt.� Additionally, violation of this requirement
for back seat passengers may only be enforced as a secondary violation when a
police office detains a driver for another suspected motor vehicle violation.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Bret
Schreiber
Research/Human Subject
SB0160� Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2006
This bill establishes
that a person may not knowingly perform/participate or attempt to perform/participate
in human cloning.� The terms
“asexual reproduction” “human cloning” “human
somatic cell” “nuclear transplantation” “nucleus”
and “oocyte” are defined within the bill.
It may not
be construed to restrict a person from conducting or attempting to conduct
scientific research not specifically prohibited by this bill.� A person may participate in scientific
research that uses nuclear transplantation or other cloning techniques to
produce: molecules, DNA, cells other than embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or
animals other than humans.
Penalties:
If this
bill is passed, a person violating it is guilty of a felony and on conviction
is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $100
or both.
A person in
violation of this bill would be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1
million or the applicable amount under paragraph 2 of this subsection,
whichever is greater.� Paragraph 2 of
this subsection reads: If the violator derives pecuniary gain from the transaction,
a civil penalty may be assessed of not more than two times the gross pecuniary
gain resulting from the violation.
Penalties
assessed will be paid to the general fund.�
If a person fails to pay any assessed penalty, a civil action for
recovery of the penalty may be brought by the state against the person.� This section may not be construed to give a
person a private right of action.
A violation
of this subtitle is grounds for the denial of an application for, renewal of,
or revocation of any license, permit, certification, or any other form of
permission regulated by the state.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Tom Lewis
SB0197� Hospitals - Umbilical Cord Blood - Donation
This bill would
require each hospital to offer pregnant patients the option of donating
umbilical cord blood extracted from the umbilical cord of the patient's newborn
baby to a certified public cord blood bank
It would
prohibit the requirement for collection of cord blood by hospitals and hospital
employees directly affiliated with a bona fide religious denomination that as
an essential tenet of its religious beliefs objects to the transfer of human
blood.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Tom Lewis
Taxes/Tax Policy
HB0314� Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit
Program
This bill extends the
termination date of the Program to July 1, 2012.
This bill
repeals specified preferences for awarding initial credit certificates to
commercial rehabilitations under the Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation
Tax Credit Program. �
Initial
credit certificate for a proposed commercial rehabilitation shall expire and
the credit may not be claimed if the commercial rehabilitation is not completed
within 30 months after the Director awards the initial credit certificate.��
The Director
may accept an application for approval of plans of a proposed rehabilitation,
even though, prior to the application the applicant has
(I)
incurred costs for architectural, engineering, consultants’ services, or
limited exploratory demolition necessary to prepare the application, or
(II)
undertaken emergency repairs required by circumstances beyond the
applicant’s control.
If passed
as is, the bill will extend the requirement for an appropriation of at least
$30 million to the Reserve Fund through FY 2012.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2006
For more
information, please contact:� Tom Lewis
��
STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION
Please contact Government Relations if you have concerns or would like
additional information. Your input assists us greatly in evaluating and
formulating the position of Johns Hopkins on all legislation.
Legislative Session Office
410-269-0057
fax
Heather Barthel������������������� [email protected]
Mickey Geisler��������������������� [email protected]
Sheila Higdon��������������������� [email protected]
Jessica Hendrix������������������ [email protected]
Bret Schreiber��������������������� [email protected]
Tom Lewis���������������������������� [email protected]
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Cathy Ximenez������������������� [email protected]
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