2016 SESSION OF THE
MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
| | | |
| 2016 SESSION OF THE |
| Volume 22, Number 4 | February 11, 2016 |
Here are some of the hot issues as the 2016 Legislative Session develops:
This week’s new bills of interest to the Johns Hopkins community:
BILLS INTRODUCED
Behavioral Health HB579/SB858 Mental Health - Wraparound Services for Children and Youth Requiring the Governor, for fiscal year 2018, and for each fiscal year thereafter, to include in the budget bill an appropriation to provide specified wraparound services for 300 children or youth with intensive mental health needs. Hearing Date: Tue 2/16 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB595/SB497 Behavioral Health Community Providers - Keep the Door Open Act Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to adjust the rate of reimbursement for specified community providers each fiscal year by the rate adjustment included in a specified State budget; requiring that the Governor's proposed budget for a specified fiscal year, and for each fiscal year thereafter, include rate adjustments for specified community providers based on the funding provided in specified legislative appropriations; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/16 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB682/SB551 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Clinical Crisis Walk-In Services and Mobile Crisis Teams - Strategic Plan Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in consultation with specified agencies and specified health providers, to develop a strategic plan for ensuring that specified crisis services and specified teams are available statewide and operating in a specified manner; requiring the Department to submit a specified strategic plan to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2016; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB715/SB644 Early Identification of Autism Act Requiring the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to require health care practitioners, when providing a well-child examination at the ages of 18 months and 24 months, to administer a specified screening tool for autism; requiring the Secretary to require a child to be referred for specified services if the child has a positive result on the screening tool; requiring health insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the administration of the screening tool; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB885 Behavioral Health Administration - Creation and Maintenance of Mental Health Professional Profiles (Patient Protection Provider Information Act) Requiring the Behavioral Health Administration to create and maintain public individual profiles on specified mental health professionals that include specified information; requiring the Administration to provide a mechanism for the notification and prompt correction of factual inaccuracies in specified profiles; requiring the State Board of Physicians and the State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists to provide promptly specified information to the Administration; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB494/HB713 State Department of Education - Community-Partnered School Behavioral Health Services Programs - Reporting System and Report (School Behavioral Health Accountability Act) Requiring the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, county boards of education, and other stakeholders, to develop and implement a standardized reporting system to determine the effectiveness of community-partnered school behavioral health services programs; requiring the Department to report on or before December 1, 2017 and every 2 years thereafter, to the Governor and General Assembly on the effectiveness of community-partnered school behavioral health services programs; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/24 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 SB569 Methadone Treatment Facilities - Location - Limitations Prohibiting a methadone treatment facility from being established or operated within 500 feet of specified schools, child care centers, or agencies unless the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene receives a letter of support for the location of the facility from specified schools, child care centers, and agencies; etc. Hearing Date: Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB858/HB579 Mental Health - Wraparound Services for Children and Youth Requiring the Governor, for fiscal year 2018 and for each fiscal year thereafter, to include in the budget bill an appropriation to provide specified wraparound services for 300 children or youth with intensive mental health needs who meet specified eligibility criteria. Hearing Date: Wed 3/9 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB753/SB808 State Budget Authorizing the General Assembly to increase or add Executive Department items in the budget bill, subject to a specified limitation; providing for the veto by the Governor of only those items relating to the Executive Department that have been increased or added by the General Assembly; providing for the reversion to original appropriations of specified vetoed items in the budget bill; authorizing the General Assembly to override budget bill item vetoes; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB684/SB558 Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative Program - Codified Establishing the Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative Program; providing for the administration and purpose of the Program; establishing the types of community enhancement projects eligible to receive Program funds; authorizing specified community development organizations to apply to receive Program funds; requiring a community development organization's application to contain specified information; requiring the Governor to include a $12,000,000 appropriation in the annual budget bill to the Fund; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 SB680/HB1167 Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit - Investment in Qualified Companies in Low-Income Areas Providing that the amount of a credit allowed against the State income tax is 75%, not to exceed $500,000, of the investment in qualified Maryland biotechnology companies located in Allegany, Dorchester, Garrett, or Somerset counties or Baltimore City; applying the Act to initial tax credit certificates issued after June 30, 2016; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/9 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB715/SB644 Early Identification of Autism Act Requiring the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to require health care practitioners, when providing a well-child examination at the ages of 18 months and 24 months, to administer a specified screening tool for autism; requiring the Secretary to require a child to be referred for specified services if the child has a positive result on the screening tool; requiring health insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the administration of the screening tool; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB587/SB661 Hospitals - Patient's Bill of Rights Requiring each administrator of a hospital to provide patients with a specified patient's bill of rights; requiring each administrator of a hospital to provide specified patients with a translator or an interpreter to provide specified assistance to the patients; requiring each administrator of a hospital to conspicuously post copies of the patient's bill of rights in specified areas of the hospital; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/18 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB714 Nursing Homes - Health Care Quality Account - Adoption and Use of Electronic Health Records Altering the purposes for which the Health Care Quality Account must to be used to require that the Account be used for the adoption and use, including for data mining, of specified electronic health records by nursing homes. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB724/SB462 Public Health - Copies of Medical Records - Fees Authorizing specified hospitals and other health care providers to charge a preparation fee not to exceed $15 for electronic format medical records retrieval and preparation; repealing a specified provision of law that allowed for fees charged for copies of medical records to be adjusted annually for inflation in accordance with the Consumer Price Index; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB537/HB437 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Prescription Drug Monitoring Program - Modifications Requiring that specified authorized providers and prescribers be registered with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program before obtaining a new or renewal controlled dangerous substance registration or by July 1, 2017, whichever is sooner; requiring that pharmacists be registered with the Program by July 1, 2017; altering the mission of the Program; authorizing the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to identify and publish a list of monitored prescription drugs that have low potential for abuse; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/24 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB601 Hospitals - Community Benefit Report - Disclosure of Tax Exemptions Requiring a hospital to include an itemization of the value of all tax exemptions the hospital receives in the hospital's community benefit report. Hearing Date: Wed 2/24 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB661/HB587 Hospitals - Patient's Bill of Rights Requiring each administrator of a hospital to provide patients with a specified patient's bill of rights; requiring each administrator of a hospital to provide specified patients with a translator or an interpreter to provide specified assistance to the patients; requiring each administrator of a hospital to conspicuously post copies of the patient's bill of rights in specified areas of the hospital; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 3/10 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] SB857 Maryland Health Care Commission - Hospital and Physician Financial Arrangement Disclosure - Requirements Requiring each hospital and each physician that has a financial arrangement with a pharmaceutical manufacturer or a surgical hardware manufacturer to file a financial disclosure form with the Maryland Health Care Commission within a specified period of time; requiring the Commission to establish a specified database; authorizing the Commission to impose a specified fine under specified circumstances; requiring the Commission to adopt specified regulations; applying the Act prospectively; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 3/10 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB232/SB605 Health Occupations - Athletic Trainers - Evaluation and Treatment Protocols - Approval Altering the definition of "practice athletic training" to include instruction to tactical athletes regarding the care and prevention of athletic injuries while engaging in tactical athletic activity; granting, except under specified circumstances, immunity from civil liability to a member of the State Board of Physicians for an act or omission relating to the approval of a specified evaluation and treatment protocol; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/10 2:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB568 Health Occupations - Health Care Practitioners - Exemption From Participation in Aid in Dying Prohibiting a health care practitioner from being required to participate in aid in dying; prohibiting a health care practitioner who refuses to participate in aid in dying from being held criminally or civilly liable for refusing to participate; prohibiting a health care facility, health care practitioner, or professional organization or association from subjecting a health care practitioner who refuses to participate in aid in dying to discipline for refusing to participate; etc. Hearing Date: Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB752/SB647 Physicians - Prescriptions Written by Physician Assistants - Preparing and Dispensing Providing that specified provisions of law do not prohibit a licensed physician from personally preparing and dispensing a prescription written by a physician assistant in accordance with a specified delegation agreement if the physician complies with specified requirements. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: Upon Enactment SB482/HB1114 State Board of Physicians - License Renewal - Grace Periods Providing that specified licensed physicians and allied health professionals regulated by the State Board of Physicians have 60 days after a license expires in which to renew it retroactively under specified circumstances; providing that, after a specified grace period has ended, specified licenses lapse into a nonrenewal status; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/17 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB639 Health Insurance - Provider Claims - Payment by Credit Card - Prohibited Prohibiting an insurer, nonprofit health service plan, or health maintenance organization from paying clean claims for reimbursement submitted by specified providers of health care services using a credit card; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/18 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB798 Health Insurance - Reporting Requirements - Repeal Repealing a requirement that an annual report be filed with the Maryland Insurance Commissioner by insurers, nonprofit health service plans, health maintenance organizations, dental plan organizations, and specified other persons or entities regarding a summary description of specified clinical issues and diagnostic and therapeutic services; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB801 Health Insurance - Conformity With Federal Law Repealing provisions of law permitting specified preexisting condition limitations in group and blanket health insurance contracts and policies; altering provisions of law relating to specified preexisting condition exclusions in individual health benefit plans to comply with requirements of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB802 Health Insurance - Provider Panel Lists Altering the information about providers on a provider panel that insurance carriers must make available to specified enrollees under specified circumstances; requiring the information provided in printed form to be accurate on the date of publication; requiring the information provided on the Internet to be accurate on the date of initial posting and update; requiring a carrier to demonstrate the accuracy of certain information on request of the Maryland Insurance Commissioner; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 SB648/HB1006 Health Insurance - Coverage for Digital Tomosynthesis Establishing that a specified coverage requirement that applies to specified insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations includes coverage for digital tomosynthesis under specified circumstances; applying the Act to all policies, contracts, and health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on or after January 1, 2017; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/9 1:00 PM Effective Date: Upon Enactment SB662 Health Insurance - Health Benefit Plans - Special Enrollment Period for Pregnancy Requiring specified health benefit plans and specified carriers to provide a special enrollment period during which specified individuals who become pregnant may enroll in a health benefit plan; establishing the duration of the special enrollment period; establishing specified effective dates of coverage for specified individuals enrolled in specified health benefit plans during the special enrollment period; applying the Act to all health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed in the State on and after January 1, 2017; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/9 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 SB839/HB958 Insurance - Rate Filings - Trade Secrets Establishing the confidentiality of specified information that an insurer files with the Maryland Insurance Commissioner as proprietary rate-related information; authorizing the Commissioner to make a determination concerning specified material and to make the material available to the public under specified circumstances; requiring the Commissioner to give an insurer specified notice of the determination at least 10 days before disclosing the information; authorizing the Commissioner to disclose specified information; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/15 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB848/HB1005 Health Insurance - Contraceptive Equity Act Prohibiting health insurers, nonprofit health service plans, and health maintenance organizations from applying a copayment, coinsurance, or prior authorization requirement for specified contraceptive drugs and devices; providing that the prohibition does not apply with respect to a grandfathered health plan; requiring a health insurer, nonprofit health service plan, and health maintenance organization to post its contraceptive formulary on its Web site; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/2 1:00 PM Effective Date: January 1, 2018 SB887/HB1150 Health Insurance - Consumer Health Claim Filing Fairness Act Requiring a specified health benefit plan to include provisions that permit enrollees a minimum period of time of 1 year to submit a claim for a service, provide for the suspension of the minimum period of time, and provide that failure to submit a claim within the minimum period of time does not invalidate or reduce the amount of the claim; creating an exception to a provision of law that requires proof of loss to be furnished to an insurer in case of claim for loss within a specified period of time; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/2 1:00 PM Effective Date: January 1, 2017 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB574 Ji'Aire Lee Workgroup on the Protection of Adults With Mental Illness and Their Children Requiring the Department of Human Resources, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to convene the Ji'Aire Lee Workgroup on the Protection of Adults With Mental Illness and Their Children; requiring the Workgroup to evaluate and determine whether modifications are needed to specified laws, systems, and services; requiring the Department to report the findings of the Workgroup to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2016; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/16 1:00 PM Effective Date: June 1, 2016 HB644/SB691 Public Health - Provision of Life-Preserving Health Care Services (Vulnerable Protection Act) Prohibiting health care practitioners and health care facilities from denying patients life-preserving health care services requested by a specified person on the basis of a specified view or disagreement; authorizing specified persons to file an action for an injunction in a specified court under specified circumstances; authorizing a health care practitioner, under specified circumstances, to provide specified reasons as a defense to an action filed under a specified provision of the Act; etc. Hearing Date: Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB662 Emergency Vehicles - Blood, Organ, or Tissue Delivery Vehicles Altering the defined term "emergency vehicle" to include a blood, organ, or tissue delivery vehicle; defining the term "blood, organ, or tissue delivery vehicle"; authorizing the driver of an emergency vehicle to exercise specified privileges while transporting under specified circumstances human blood, organs, or tissue or medical personnel; authorizing blood, organ, or tissue delivery vehicles to be equipped with specified light or signal devices; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB746 Human Services - No Wrong Door Pilot Program Establishing the No Wrong Door Pilot Program in the Department of Human Resources; specifying that the purpose of the Program is to ensure that low-income residents of the State have access to the services needed to sustain themselves and their families; requiring the Department to consult with stakeholders to develop criteria for the evaluation of grant applications, and track and assess Program outcomes; requiring the Governor to include in the annual budget for specified fiscal years an appropriation of at least $500,000; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 HB749 Alcoholic Beverages - Sale of Powdered Alcohol - Prohibition Prohibiting a person from selling or offering to sell alcoholic beverages that are sold in a powder or crystalline form for direct use or use in combination with water or any other substance; and providing a maximum fine of $1,000 for violation of the Act. Hearing Date: Mon 2/22 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 HB827 Newborn Infant Screening - Testing by Nonpublic Laboratories - Authorization Authorizing specified laboratories to perform specified screening tests for hereditary and congenital disorders under specified circumstances; authorizing a parent or guardian of a newborn infant to request that a specified laboratory perform specified initial tests to screen for hereditary and congenital disorders; requiring a health care provider to obtain and deliver test specimens to screen for hereditary and congenital disorders to an authorized laboratory chosen by the parent or guardian to perform the screening tests; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/23 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB537/HB437 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Prescription Drug Monitoring Program - Modifications Requiring that specified authorized providers and prescribers be registered with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program before obtaining a new or renewal controlled dangerous substance registration or by July 1, 2017, whichever is sooner; requiring that pharmacists be registered with the Program by July 1, 2017; altering the mission of the Program; authorizing the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene to identify and publish a list of monitored prescription drugs that have low potential for abuse; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/24 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB587 Alcoholic Beverages - Sale of Powdered Alcohol - Prohibition Prohibiting a person from selling or offering to sell alcoholic beverages that are sold in a powder or crystalline form for direct use or use in combination with water or any other substance; and providing a penalty of a maximum fine of $1,000 for violation of the Act. Hearing Date: Fri 2/26 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 SB691/HB644 Public Health - Provision of Life-Preserving Health Care Services (Vulnerable Protection Act) Prohibiting health care practitioners and health care facilities from denying patients life-preserving health care services requested by a specified person on the basis of a specified view or disagreement; authorizing specified persons to file an action for an injunction in a specified court under specified circumstances; authorizing a health care practitioner, under specified circumstances, to provide specified reasons as a defense to an action filed under a specified provision of the Act; etc. Hearing Date: Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB856/HB180 Public Health - HIV Testing During Pregnancy Requiring specified health care providers to obtain consent for HIV testing in accordance with specified provisions of law and to test pregnant patients, except under specified circumstances, during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy; and repealing specified provisions of law made obsolete by the Act. Hearing Date: Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB834 Higher Education - Last Dollar Scholarship - Established Establishing the Last Dollar Scholarship; establishing specified application requirements; authorizing the use of the Scholarship for specified costs at specified institutions of higher education subject to a specified limitation; limiting the Scholarship to a maximum of $3,000 per academic year; authorizing the Scholarship to be renewed for up to an additional 4 years under specified circumstances; and requiring the Governor to appropriate at least $1,000,000 in the State budget to provide specified scholarships. Hearing Date: Thu 3/3 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB685 Department of Aging - Comprehensive Plan for the Aging Population Requiring the Department of Aging, in consultation with specified other units, to develop a comprehensive long-term plan to address the impacts and needs of the State's aging population; requiring the plan to include specified information, recommendations, and benchmarks; requiring the Department to submit specified progress reports to the General Assembly; requiring the Department to submit the completed plan to the Governor and the General Assembly; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB665 Constitutional Amendment - Marijuana - Right to Use, Possess, and Cultivate Amending the Maryland Constitution to establish that, subject to specified exceptions, an individual in the State who is at least 21 years old has the right under State law to use, possess, and cultivate marijuana; providing that the right enumerated in the amendment may not be infringed except that the transfer of marijuana by purchase or sale may be regulated as necessary to insure health and safety and taxed for specified purposes; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB886/SB242 Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Telemedicine - Modifications Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, under specified circumstances, to include primary care providers in the types of health care providers eligible to receive reimbursement for health care services that are delivered through telemedicine and provided to Maryland Medical Assistance Program recipients; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 3/3 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB869/SB574 Civil Actions - Noneconomic Damages - Catastrophic Injury Altering the maximum amount of noneconomic damages that may be recovered in health care malpractice and other civil actions for a catastrophic injury under specified circumstances; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/2 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB377/SB513 Maryland No-Fault Birth Injury Fund Establishing a system for adjudication of a claim involving a birth-related neurological injury; providing equitable compensation, on a no-fault basis, for a limited class of catastrophic injuries that result in unusually high costs for custodial care and rehabilitation; establishing the Maryland No-Fault Birth Injury Fund to provide compensation and benefits to eligible claimants; providing for specified premiums and insurance surcharges to be used to finance and administer the Fund; applying the Act prospectively; etc. Hearing Date: Fri 2/12 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 HB606 Patient Safety Early Intervention Programs Providing that a statement made by a party during a discussion held in accordance with a patient safety early intervention program is inadmissible as specified evidence in a health care malpractice proceeding or civil action; authorizing a hospital, a related institution, or an insurer that provides professional liability insurance to a health care provider in the State to establish a specified patient safety early intervention program; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/17 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB566 Medical Malpractice - Notice of Intent to File Claim Prohibiting a claim against a health care provider for damage due to a medical injury from being filed with the Director of the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office unless, at least 90 days before filing the claim, the claimant has given a notice of intent to file a claim to the health care provider; requiring the notice to include specified information and to be served on the health care provider at a specified address; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB636 Medical Malpractice - Discovery Establishing that a defendant in a claim filed with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office may seek discovery as to the basis of a certificate of a qualified expert filed by the claimant or plaintiff without prejudice to later discovery if the attesting expert is designated as a trial expert; prohibiting a deposition of a defendant health care provider from being required until the claimant has filed and served a specified certificate of a qualified expert; applying the Act prospectively; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/25 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] SB919 Insurance - Exemption From State Insurance Laws for Self-Funded Student Health Plans Exempting from State insurance laws a self-funded student health plan operated by an independent institution of higher education that provides health care services to its students and their dependents if the institution files a specified report on July 1 each year; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 3/2 1:00 PM Effective Date: Upon Enactment [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB372 Criminal Law - Synthetic Drugs - Penalties Prohibiting a person from purchasing, using, or possessing specified synthetic drugs; prohibiting a person from distributing specified synthetic drugs under specified circumstances; providing factors to be considered when determining whether a product is being distributed as a synthetic drug; establishing penalties for a violation of the Act; providing that a person who violates the Act shall be ordered to pay specified administrative fees and costs; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 2/16 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB699/SB700 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Biosafety Level 3 Laboratories Requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to identify specified biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories and the location of the laboratories; requiring the Department to collect information from the laboratories relevant to public health and safety; requiring the laboratories to report specified information to the Department; requiring the Department to report annually the number and location of the laboratories to officials in each local jurisdiction; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 2/18 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB71/SB514 Tobacco Taxes - Healthy Maryland Initiative Requiring the Governor to include for fiscal year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter an additional $11,000,000 in annual appropriations for tobacco use prevention and cessation programs; altering the tobacco tax rates on cigarettes and other tobacco products; establishing the tobacco tax rates on cigarillos; clarifying that all cigarettes and other tobacco products used, possessed, or held in the State on or after July 1, 2016, are subject to the full tax enacted under the Act; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/17 1:00 PM Effective Date: July 1, 2016 [GO TO TOP] [GO TO BILL LIST] HB220/SB328 Criminal Procedure - Partial Expungement Authorizing a person to file a petition for a partial expungement of specified criminal records under specified circumstances; requiring a court to order that specified records may not be included on a specified Web site or within specified records; repealing a provision of law establishing that if a person is not entitled to expungement of one charge or conviction in a specified unit the person is not entitled to expungement of any other charge or conviction in the unit; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/8 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB401 Labor and Employment - Equal Pay for Equal Work - Revisions Establishing the Equal Pay Commission to study and promote research on wage disparities and recommend ways to remediate wage disparities in the public and private sectors, between men and women and between minorities and nonminorities; requiring an employer to include specified information in a job advertisement to recruit an employee or individual contractor to fill a position within the employer's organization; prohibiting an employer from seeking salary history information by specified methods; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB420/SB417 Labor and Employment - Minimum Wage - Individuals With Disabilities (Ken Capone Equal Employment Act) Prohibiting the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, except under specified circumstances, from authorizing work activities centers and specified sheltered workshops to pay employees with disabilities less than a specified minimum wage; requiring a State certificate issued by the Commissioner under a specified provision or law to expire no later than October 1, 2019; etc. Hearing Date: Wed 2/10 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016, October 1, 2019 HB504/SB186 Workers' Compensation - Permanent Partial Disability Compensation - Reversal or Modification of Award Applying a specified provision of law relating to the reversal or modification of an award for permanent partial disability compensation to the Workers' Compensation Commission; clarifying that, for purposes of a specified provision of law relating to the reversal or modification of an award for permanent partial disability compensation, the payment of any new compensation awarded is subject to a monetary credit for compensation previously awarded and paid; and applying the Act prospectively. Hearing Date: Tue 2/16 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 HB580/SB472 Labor and Employment - Maryland Healthy Working Families Act Requiring employers with more than nine employees to provide employees with earned sick and safe leave that is paid at the same rate as the employee normally earns; requiring employers with nine or fewer employees to provide an employee with unpaid earned sick and safe leave; providing for the manner in which earned sick and safe leave is accrued by the employee and treated by the employer; requiring an employer to allow an employee to use earned sick and safe leave for specified purposes; etc. Hearing Date: Tue 3/1 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB481/HB1003 Labor and Employment - Equal Pay for Equal Work Altering a specified provision of law concerning equal pay for equal work to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity; prohibiting an employer from discriminating between employees in any occupation by providing less favorable employment opportunities based on sex or gender identity; prohibiting an employer from taking any adverse employment action against an employee concerning the disclosure or discussion of an employee's wages; applying the Act prospectively; etc. Hearing Date: Thu 3/3 1:00 PM Effective Date: October 1, 2016 SB940 Labor and Employment - Payment of Wages - Minimum Wage and Repeal of Tip Credit Specifying the State minimum wage rate that is in effect for specified time periods; increasing, except under specified circumstances, the State minimum wage rate in effect for specified periods of time based on the annual growth in the Consumer Price Index; repealing the authority of an employer to include, as part of an employee's wage, a specified amount to represent the tips of the employee; etc. Hearing Date: Effective Date: June 1, 2016 Legislative Session Office Legislative Hotline is a service of Johns Hopkins Government Affairs. © 2016 The Johns Hopkins Institutions. 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