Support Environmental Legislation in Maryland
There are currently several environmental justice bills before the General Assembly that provide environmental protection and promote social justice.
The bills are supported by Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home, parishioners across the state, and our parish. Additionally, nearly eighty parishioners signed a petition supporting the bills. There is more to do.
On behalf of the Environmental Justice Committee, we ask that each of you contact your legislative representative and ask them to support the bills.
If your representative sponsored the bill please thank them. If your representative is a committee member or a chair of the committee that the bill has been assigned to, please state your support and urge them to successfully vote it out of the committee.
Your legislative representatives want to hear from you and this is your time to voice your position! Time is of the essence so please act.
HB9 / SB19 – Transportation Equity Act – Del. Sheila Ruth and Sen. Jill Carter
Both chambers have passed their respective bills and are working on moving amended versions of the other chamber’s bill forward (the Senate has passed an amended version of the House bill and the House has reported out of committee an amended version of the Senate bill). Looks like a convergent path to success.
HB 230 / SB 224 – Clean Trucks Act of 2023 – Del. Sara Love and Sen. Malcolm Augustine
The Senate passed its bill, and the House has moved both the Senate bill and its own bill out of committee with the identical amendments. It also seems to be on a path towards enactment, although some of the timelines and requirements have been stretched out.
HB 169 / SB 144 – Low-Income Energy Efficiency – Del. Lorig Charkoudian and Sen. Brian Feldman
Both chambers have passed their respective bills, and they are in the opposite chamber’s committee for further action. Neither committee seems to have scheduled a voting session on these bills, yet.
HB 904 / SB 689 – Energy Savings Act of 2023 – Del. Lily Qi and Sen. Karen Lewis Young
As I mentioned in an earlier email, this bill is being folded into another bill (HB 1035/SB 905) that appears to be the intended vehicle for moving its provisions. IN the House, HB 1035 has been reported from committee with amendments that incorporate key provisions of HB 904. Since it may pass after “crossover,” it will have a slightly more complicated path in the Senate, but if there is a will to pass it, it can happen.
HB 718 / SB 590 – Reclaim Renewable Energy Act – Del. Vaughan Stewart and Sen. Karen Lewis Young
No further action has happened on this bill after its hearings. It is probably not going to pass this year.
HB 908 / SB 613 – Community Solar Pilot Program – Make Permanent – Del. Luke Clippinger and Sen. Ben Brooks
The House passed its bill, and the Senate has moved both the House bill and its own bill out of committee with the identical amendments. It also seems to be on a path towards enactment, although the House of Delegates will have to agree to some of the amendments that the Senate is making (which are relatively minor changes–in my view–from what the House passed).
HB 793 / SB 781 – Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources (POWER) Act – Del. Lorig Charkoudian and Sen. Katie Fry Hester
The Senate passed its bill, and the House has moved both the Senate bill and its own bill out of committee with the identical amendments. It seems to be slated for floor action in the House tomorrow (Monday).
HB 840 / SB 743 – Climate, Labor, and Environmental Equity Act of 2023 – Del. Regina Boyce and Sen. Michael Jackson
No further action has happened on this bill after its hearings. It is probably not going to pass this year.
HJ 1 / SJ 4 – Environmental Human Rights – Del. Regina Boyce and Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher
No further action has happened on this resolution after its hearings. It is probably not going to pass this year.
HB 319 / SB 158 – Prohibiting Toxic PFAS [Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances] in Pesticides – Del. Dana Stein and Sen. Shelly Hettleman
The Senate passed its bill, but after “Crossover Day,” so the bill is currently in the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee, and not the committee of jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the House committee of jurisdiction has reported the bill out of committee unanimously. So, it seems that this bill has a decent chance of making it into enactment, since it doesn’t look like there are substantive problems to its moving forward.