2026 Legislative Session
The 449th session of the Maryland General Assembly started on January 14, 2026 and ended at midnight on April 13, 2026.
Sierra Club Maryland Chapter stays involved in the Maryland legislative process through grassroots activism and support for bills to change our state for the better! We strategize, meet, advocate, testify, and organize in teams and with partners to pass the most impactful environmental and social justice bills.
For details of the 2025 legislative session please see the archived 2025 legislative and testimony pages. For more information on previous years please visit legislative history and previous campaigns.
Sierra Club Top Issues for 2026
Our top three priority bills for the 2026 session are:
1. The Transportation and Climate Alignment Act [FACT SHEET]
This bill would encourage more investment in public transit, walking and biking infrastructure, and transit-oriented development to offset pollution from highway expansion projects. These investments would reduce the time people spend sitting in traffic and give Maryland residents more affordable options to get to work, school, and other destinations. In 2024 and 2025, this bill passed the House of Delegates and received support from the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The Maryland bottle bill would institute a deposit-refund system to reduce the burden of litter and trash on the environment and local governments. Ten other states have already enacted such systems, which are highly effective in reducing beverage-container litter in our waterways and along our roadsides, as well as lowering trash management burdens on local governments. About 5.5 billion beverage containers are sold in Maryland annually, and only a quarter are currently recycled. This legislation is designed to increase that level to 90 percent.
3. Advancing Environmental Quality Through the State’s Budget [FACT SHEET]
This priority has three components. The first is to devote funds collected for the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF) as intended: to reduce energy costs and increase energy efficiency for low-income households and minimize emissions of harmful pollutants from burning of fossil fuels. The second is to devote funds collected for Program Open Space to their intended purpose, particularly for conserving Maryland’s shrinking wildlife habitat and natural areas. Third, we urge funding the State’s operational agencies – including Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Agriculture (MDA), and Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) – so that they can execute their core responsibilities to protect our air, water, natural places, and public health.
Other Supported Bills
We will also be supporting other bills that will:
- improve incentives for renewable energy production, including “balcony solar,” that can easily be installed by ratepayers across the state;
- promote use of grid-enhancing technologies that can reduce costs to ratepayers and harmful air pollution;
- require large loads, such as data centers, to have operational flexibility to reduce peak loads on the electric grid and in turn benefit ratepayers and the environment by reducing the need for expensive investments in fossil fuel infrastructure;
- create a new “project prioritization” process as requested by MDOT to evaluate statewide transportation projects for their impacts on safety, accessibility and mobility, climate change and the environment, social equity, economic development, land use, and transportation demand management;
- promote adoption of electric-powered lawn equipment by State government agencies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and other air pollution;
- protect vernal pools, which are seasonal wetlands crucial for sustaining populations of amphibians;
- enact an annually recurring Native Plants Month to encourage nurseries to promote use of these plants, which are essential for the survival of Maryland’s wildlife and have the potential to increase sales and profits;
- amend the Maryland Constitution to provide for filling General Assembly vacancies during off-cycle (i.e., Presidential) elections, to promote representative democracy and reduce the reliance on appointed legislators who currently can serve up to four years; and
- enact Maryland law to backstop Federal law aimed at preventing suppression or dilution of the voting rights of citizens who are in racial, color, or minority language groups.
Navigating the General Assembly Online
The links below help give more information on watching hearings, testifying, setting up a MyMGA new account, witness sign up, and understanding how bills become law.
WATCH A HEARING VIDEO TUTORIALS BILL PROCESS GENERAL ASSEMBLY WEBSITE
How You Can Get More Involved
For starters, here are ten suggestions for how to get involved! Definitely visit our Take Action page! We welcome you to join the legislative team, help us be effective and creative this legislative session. We need new creative ideas to inspire and organize people and influence elected officials in this new virtual pandemic reality. Are you savvy with social media? Make videos or artwork? Want to plan a social distance demonstration? Email legislation@mdsierra.org and we will connect. To volunteer to help enact our legislative agenda, email legislation@mdsierra.org and tell us how you’d like to get involved!