[NOTE: The 2024 Legislative Session is now over. Click the following link for more detail on the overall session outcome. The content below is no longer current.]
2024 Legislative Session
The 446th session of the Maryland General Assembly started on January 10, 2024 and ended at midnight on April 8, 2024.
The Maryland General Assembly concluded a productive 2024 legislative session on Monday April 8th 2024. One of our top three priority bills passed, and we have reason for optimism for future progress on the other two. Many other excellent bills passed as well, and our Chapter and your support played a part. We submitted written testimony on over 120 bills and provided oral testimony and consultation on many of these. For a more thorough overview of the session, read out legislative recap here.
For more details, please see the archived 2024 legislative and testimony pages. For more information on previous years please visit legislative history and previous campaigns.
Sierra Club Top Issues for 2024
Our top three priority bills for the 2024 session were:
1. Reforming EmPOWER Maryland [FACT SHEET]
This year, we helped pass HB864 to update the EmPOWER program. The enacted reforms will help Marylanders lower their energy bills, reduce their exposure to harmful emissions from gas appliances, and move towards our climate goals by reframing the program goals around greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating fuel switching from gas to electric, and adding new incentives for energy efficient electric appliances. Enactment of this priority bill is a big win and reflected work with a large coalition of partners.
2. The Transportation and Climate Alignment Act [FACT SHEET]
Unfortunately, the clock ran out before the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act could pass the General Assembly. The bill passed the House, the Senate committees, and an initial vote on the Senate floor, but didn’t get to the final step before the session ended at midnight. This priority bill would require the State to assess the climate and vehicle traffic impacts of future highway expansion projects to determine if they are in alignment with our climate goals. The bill would also create a workgroup to determine how to offset these impacts with investments in mitigation options such as public transit, transit oriented development, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure. We made a lot of progress and look forward to the bill passing next year.
3. Passing a Maryland Beverage Container Deposit Program [FACT SHEET]
Our third priority bill, the Maryland bottle bill made substantial progress this year, on which we will build in 2025. This year, we worked with nearly two dozen other environmental organizations as part of a new Maryland Bottle Bill coalition. Several former opponents of the bill moved to neutral positions. We have broad support from many Delegates, Senators, and voters across the state. We aim to work with MDE over coming months to help develop the Moore Administration’s support.
Other Supported Bills
We also supported successful bills that will:
- Encourage solar deployment on rooftops and other preferred sites (the Brighter Tomorrow Act).
- Establish pilot projects for networked geothermal energy production (the WARMTH Act).
- Promote time of day pricing for electricity and use of electric vehicle batteries to reduce peak loads (the DRIVE Act).
- Provide funding to help address WMATA's (D.C. area Metro) operating budget gap.
- Require minimum funding levels for the state's Locally Operated Transit Systems.
- Improve bus service (Better Bus Service Act of 2024).
- Promote transit-oriented development and expand affordable housing (Housing Expansion and Affordability Act of 2024).
- Increase revenue to help address a portion of the state's $3.15 billion imbalance for transportation budget needs including public transit, active transportation, and vehicle electrification programs.
- Establish a Paint Stewardship Program that will require paint producers to take responsibility for the collection, reuse, recycling, and disposal of leftover house paint.
- Require producers and sellers of synthetic turf fields to disclose typical maintenance requirements over the fields’ life cycle and the cost of removal, replacement, and disposal, and MDE will be required to conduct a study of current practices and guidelines on the sale, maintenance, reuse, and disposal of synthetic turf fields, to be delivered by July 2026.
- Require installation of bottle refilling stations in new construction where drinking fountains are mandated nearly passed before time ran out in the Senate. We hope this bill will be enacted in 2025.
- Better control sales of invasive plants in Maryland (the Biodiversity and Agriculture Protection Act).
- Expand pollinator habitat along the state’s roadsides and median strips.
- Strengthen oversight of stream restoration projects and direct funding more effectively to protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay and riparian areas (the Whole Watershed Act).
- Restore protections in Maryland for wetlands that were recently weakened at the Federal level by the U.S. Supreme Court (the Clean Water Justice Act).
- Alleviate park overcrowding by expanding the time horizon and types of public lands the Department of Natural Resources can expend funds for and promote outdoor environmental education in the state.
- Control spreading of food processing sludge on Maryland fields.
- Improve control of PFAS pollution from industrial sources.
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!