Dear Fellow Marylander,
As we embarked on the 446th Legislative Session, my mission was to combat inflation and lower the taxes robbing our citizens of their hard-earned dollars. When I was first elected, the State was suffering from a 5-billion-dollar deficit. Working with the Hogan administration we were able to end our second term with a 5-billion-dollar surplus, all while lowering taxes and reducing tolls. In the span of 15 months, the new administration and legislature have erased that surplus. Budget shortfalls and decreasing sales tax revenue have us staring down the barrel of a looming deficit. It is my fear that legislation passed in 2020 mandating record spending on public schools, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future HB-1300, will bankrupt our state if not repealed or rolled back. Left unchecked, this teacher union driven mandate will ultimately result in more tax hikes and fee increases. This year’s work was underscored by the dilemma that Maryland is back to spending more than it makes and witnessing a mass exodus of high-earners to neighboring states.
As a senior member of the Ways & Means Committee and in my role as Deputy Minority Whip, we considered a variety of issues including pre-K-12 education, election law, horse racing & gaming, and tax law. Here is a small selection of Committee bills I found most noteworthy:
–HB-40/SB-523 Election Law – Post-Election Tabulation Audits – Risk-Limiting Audits passed the House, but regretfully died in the Senate. This election integrity effort would have strengthened risk-limiting audits after each Statewide election. This is a nationally proven scientific method to audit election results.
-I voted YES on HB-760 Office of Legislative Audits – Local School Systems – Report, which will strengthen Department of Legislative Audits investigations of local public school systems and will require follow-up reporting to ensure budgetary compliance as well as increase the frequency of the audits. This bill passed with bipartisan support.
-I voted NO on HB-785 Freedom to Read Act. Bearing little resemblance to the given bill title, this legislation invalidates local library boards. It centralizes decision making for our taxpayer funded libraries and mandates what books are on shelves offered to children.
-I cosponsored HB-1400 Public Schools – Student Use of Force – Authorization which authorized students to use force while preventing violence on school premises or on a school-sponsored trip, protect themselves from a bully, or escape an attack; and prohibits a school from disciplining a student defending themselves. Hopefully this will be reconsidered next year.
-This year’s broader financial package also included HB-646 Income Tax – Subtraction Modification – Police Auxiliary and Reserve Volunteers, providing expanded tax relief for police auxiliary and reserve volunteers. This was complemented with the passage of HB-63 Property Tax – Credit for Dwelling House of Disabled Veterans – Alterations, which expands property tax credits for disabled veterans. Every year we fight hard for our veterans and first responders.
–HB-1515 Sales and Use Tax – Rate Reduction and Services, which would have added sales taxes to all service-based industries, was the largest and most expansive tax increase proposed in Maryland history. I worked hard to successfully kill this bill!
Beyond my work on the Ways & Means Committee, I considered a number of other bills on the House floor. The most high-profile of these was SB-362 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2024. The BRFA is an often-used legislative gimmick to raise fees and taxes on the middle class via an omnibus bill. I voted NO.
Working with our local partners in the Cecil County Government, we were able to pass SB-530 Cecil County – Annual Financial Report – Filing Date conforming the annual County financial report deadline in line with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services. We worked with the Town of Charlestown to permit limited golf cart use within municipal limits with passage of HB-43 Motor Vehicle Registration – Exceptions for Golf Carts – Authorization, by collaborating with my colleagues on the Environment & Transportation Committee.
Our Delegation was able to secure $125,000 for completion of the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Perryville Trail. $90,000 was also secured for the North East Town Nature Preserve. Funding for Principio railroad infrastructure was included in the budget conference committee. Our local equine community will be delighted to hear we secured $750,000 to resurface the Tapeta race track at Fair Hill, which will be combined with $250,000 from last year’s budget.
Our office revisited efforts to legalize consumer fireworks in Maryland. I was assisted by a local fireworks manufacturer who can only sell in neighboring states at a loss. Marylanders already travel out of State to purchase these products for local use. My bill earmarked part of the sales tax revenue on fireworks for Fire/EMS and the State 911 Fund, while keeping the overall tax rate at a lower number than neighboring states to be economically competitive. The bill did not pass this year but we are in a better posture to try again next year.
Additional legislation I cosponsored that passed into law:
–HB-115/SB-4 Jaycee Webster Victims’ Rights Act expands notification requirements and rights of violent crime victims and their families when an inmate is released.
–HB-581 Transparent Government Act of 2024 requires bodies of the State government to provide better publicly-viewable information about their licenses/applications/fees/etc., along with the schedule. This will give us a pulse of where government inefficiency is occurring.
I voted NO and helped kill HB-935/SB-784 Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act; this 6% to 11% sales tax targeted all firearms and ammunition sales. This would have resulted in more Marylanders buying firearms in neighboring states and hurt our local gun shops.
I also voted NO on HB-947/SB-488 Civil Actions – Public Nuisances – Firearm Industry Members, which makes gun manufacturers liable for any harm caused by a firearm. The intent of this bill was to halt gun sales and ownership in a disruptive manner, which we were able to articulate during the floor debate. This blatant attempt to discourage 2nd Amendment rights unfortunately passed. However, I believe our floor arguments will be reviewed by the courts and they will ultimately find this bill unconstitutional.
It has been a privilege to serve as your delegate this session. More information on all the activities of the Maryland General Assembly can be found at https://mgaleg.maryland.gov. Our District 35 Team consists of Senator Jason Gallion, Delegate Mike Griffith, Delegate Teresa Reilly, and myself. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of our offices in the future should you need assistance with a State-related matter.
Thank you,
Delegate Kevin B. Hornberger
District 35B, Cecil County