����������� Legislative Hotline
2008 SESSION OF THE
MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Volume 15, Number 3����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� February 13, 2008
Here are some of the hot issues as the 2008
Legislative Session develops:
STATE
�
Update: Legislative
Session
FEDERAL
�
Update:
University Endowments
BILLS
INTRODUCED
STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION
Legislative Session
The legislative session is speeding along in
For more information, please contact: Tom Lewis
FEDERAL
University Endowments
The National Association of College and University
Business Officers (NACUBO) released their annual report on the performance of
college and university endowments on January 24, 2008.� The report, which shows continued strong
growth overall in university endowments, sparked Senator Grassley to send a
letter to 136 U.S. colleges and universities with endowments of $500 million or
more, asking a series of questions about endowment growth and spending on
student aid.� He is likely to pursue
congressional action following this preliminary inquiry, though the parameters
of such a move are still unknown.�
For more information, please contact: Melisa Lindamood
[ Go to Top]
Health
Insurance/Health Care Access
Higher Education and
Financial Aid
BILLS INTRODUCED
HB0172�
Creation of a State Debt - Civista
Medical Center, Inc.
This bill authorizes a state grant of $250,000 to
Civista Hospital for a pharmacy.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
HB0197� Creation of a State Debt - Suburban Hospital
This bill authorizes a State grant of $410,000 for a
medical/surgical nursing unit at Suburban Hospital.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
HB0302� Creation of a State Debt - Montgomery General Hospital
This bill authorizes a state grant of $900,000 to
Montgomery General Hospital for emegency department renovation.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
SB0171� Creation of a State Debt - Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
This bill authorizes a state grant of $320,000 to
Sinai Hospital for construction and renovation of its pre-natal and postpartum
units.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
HB0259� Consumer Protection - Required Disclosure of Social
Security Number - Prohibited
This bill provides that unless required by State or
Federal law, a person can not require an individual to disclose their social
security number.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Mat Palmer
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Introduced]
HB0188� Smart Start Scholarship Program
This bill creates the Smart Start Scholarship Program in
the State Department of Education.� The
program allows eligible students to apply for prekindergarten scholarships
through the Department.� Schools must
also apply to the Department to participate in the program.� The program specifies the requirements for
the selection process, compliance with the program, and use of scholarship
money. The Department will determine the amount of scholarships based on income
eligibility.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Delora
Sanchez
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
HB0216� Hereditary and Congenital Disorders - Newborn
Screening
This bill establishes a coordinated statewide system
for screening all newborn infants in the state for hereditary and congenital
disorders associated with severe problems of health or development, and
authorizes only the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (DHMH) laboratory
to perform the testing.� DHMH will be
required to consult with the State Advisory Council on Hereditary and Congenital
Disorders to establish appropriate protocols and determine the screening tests
to be performed.� DHMH will also be
required to maintain a coordinated statewide system for newborn screening that
includes: communicating the results to the health care provider; locating
infants with abnormal results; sharing screening information and delivering
needed clinical information with hospitals, health care providers,
laboratories, and treatment centers.� The
Department must adopt regulations that set forth the standards and requirements
for new screening to perform the testing, coordinate the reporting, and
establish fees.� The bill permits a
laboratory other than the State's to perform post-screening, complementary, or
diagnostic tests; subject to obtaining/maintaining the appropriate licensure
and meeting the standards and requirements set forth by DHMH for newborn
screening for hereditary and congenital disorders.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
HB0168� Hospitals and Ambulatory Surgical Facilities -
Comparable Evaluation System - Outpatient Surgeries
This bill amends current statute by requiring the
Maryland Health Care Commission to include in its comparable evaluation system
information from hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities on the rates of
complications and readmissions following outpatient surgeries in its comparable
evaluation system.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
HB0233� Physicians and Pharmacists - Therapy Management
Contracts - Extension of Law
This bill extends the sunset of the current statute, which
is due to expire May 31, 2008, to September 30, 2010.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
HB0289� Task Force on Health Care Access and Reimbursement -
Extension
This bill postpones the date by which the Task Force
on Health Care Access and Reimbursement must submit its final report to December
1, 2008.
Effective
Date:� June 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Sheila
Higdon
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
Health Insurance/Health Care Access
SB0215� Maryland False Health Claims Act
This bill prohibits submission of false claims to a
State health plan or program.� A State
health plan or program includes a private health insurance carrier that
receives reimbursement or is a required benefit of a State health plan or
program.�� The State is required to
investigate a civil action alleging a false claim.� An individual or the State may file a civil
action against a person who submits a false claim.� Certain remedies and damages resulting from a
claim are specified within the bill.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Delora
Sanchez
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
Higher Education and Financial Aid
SB0167� Education - Teacher Certification - National
Organization Standards
This bill would expand the State and Local Aid Program
for Certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to
include teachers who pursue certification or renewal by the American Board for
Certification of Teacher Excellence; renaming the Program to be the State and
Local Aid Program for Certification by the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards or the American Board for Certification of Teacher
Excellence; updating Program qualifications.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Mat Palmer
SB0187� Institutions of Postsecondary Education - Certificate
of Approval
This bil would allow MHEC to require an application
fee from institutions of postsecondary education seeking certification in
Maryland.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Mat Palmer
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
HB0047� Income Tax - Credit for Low Impact Development
This bill would allow a credit against the state income
tax for the use of low impact development techniques in a construction
project.� The credit may be claimed as 5%
of the costs incurred for implementation of the low impact development
techniques.� The bill would also require
the Maryland Department of the Environment to establish a Low Impact
Development Advisory Committee to study low impact development and create
regulations surrounding its implementation.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Matt
Greenwood
HB0249� Motor Vehicles – Accident Reports – Access
The bill will amend current statute to add a hospital
or an employee or agent of a hospital to the list of entities who can access
motor vehicle accident reports within 60 days after the report is filed.� Hospitals that have provided their services
or medical treatment to an individual involved in the motor vehicle accident
will be authorized to access the motor vehicle accident report.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Delora
Sanchez
SB0207� Solar and Geothermal Tax Incentive and Grant Program
This Administration
bill would revise the solar and geothermal energy grant programs to increase monetary
incentives for the installation of solar and geothermal energy equipment.� For photovoltaic property, the grant would be
valued at the lesser of $2,500 per kilowatt of installed electricity generation
capacity or $10,000 (rather than the lesser of $3,000 or 20% of the total
installed cost of the equipment).� For
solar water heating property, the grant would be valued at the lesser of $3,000
or 30% of the total installed cost of the equipment (rather than the lesser of
$2,000 or 20% of the total installed cost of the equipment).� For geothermal property, rather than being
capped at $1,000, the grant would be valued at the lesser of $1,000 per ton or
$3,000 for a residential system, and $1,000 per ton or $10,000 for a
non-residential system; where a ton is defined as 1 standard ton of
refrigeration equal to 12,000 BTUs of heat removal per hour.
Additionally,
the Administration is granted the authority to adjust the grant amounts
according to market conditions.� Solar
and geothermal energy equipment is also exempted from the sales and property
taxes under this legislation.
Effective
Date:� July 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Matt
Greenwood
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
SB0286� Public Health - Antibiotic-Resistant Infection
Prevention Campaign
This bill requires the Secretary of Health and Mental
Hygiene to establish a public awareness campaign on antibiotic-resistant
infections.� The campaign is to include
the development and dissemination of educational materials containing
information in the causes and symptoms of antibiotic-resistant infections,
including methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, and the methods to
reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant infections.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Ines Vigil
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
SB0204� Maryland Transit Administration - Transit-Oriented
Development
This bill defines "Transit-Oriented
Development" as development planning which maximizes the use of transit,
walking or bicycling by residents.� The
bill also designates transit-oriented deveolpment as a guiding principal of the
states transit planning.
Effective
Date:� October 1, 2008
For more
information, please contact:� Mat Palmer
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
��
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 410-269-1574
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STATE |
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�� Mickey Geisler |
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�� Matt Greenwood |
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�� Sheila Higdon |
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�� Tom Lewis |
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�� Mat Palmer |
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�� Delora Sanchez |
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�� Ines Vigil |
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FEDERAL |
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�� Melisa Lindamood |
[ Go to Top]�� [Back to Bills
Introduced]
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Johns
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