Maryland Legislation

maryland legislation

2024 Legislative Session

The 446th session of the Maryland General Assembly starts on January 10, 2024 and will end at midnight on April 8, 2024. 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! Each session we strategize, meet, advocate, testify (virtually or in person), and organize in teams and with partners to pass the most impactful environmental and social justice bills. Please note the 2024 key dates and protocols for in-person and virtual testimony in the Senate and House.

Lobby Night

Our most important night of the year is Lobby Night, which is held in February. Find out more at http://sc.org/mdlobbynight2024 and get trained to successfully advocate for Sierra Club priorities! 

Sierra Club Top Issues for 2024

Our top three priority bills for the 2024 session are: 

1. Reform EmPOWER Maryland [FACT SHEET]

heat pump

This legislation will update Maryland’s energy efficiency program (EmPOWER Maryland) to refocus it on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The reformed program would provide rebates to Maryland households to switch from gas to high-efficiency electric heating, cooking, hot water heating, and clothes drying, and would end subsidies for fossil-fuel burning appliances. In 2023 an earlier version passed the House, but time ran out in the Senate before legislative action could be completed. This bill is important to achieving our buildings-related climate goals and easing the financial burden, particularly for low- and moderate-income households.

2. Transportation and Climate Alignment Act [FACT SHEET]

Public transportation

The Transportation and Climate Alignment Act (HB 836/SB 681) would require the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and regional transportation planning agencies to mitigate any increases in climate pollution and vehicle traffic caused by planned highway expansion projects over $10 million. Mitigation actions could include improving and expanding public transit, creating protected bike infrastructure, expanding remote work options, and locating jobs and amenities near where people live. This will help expand transportation choices so that people have more options to get to their next destination without relying on a car and ensure that we are not increasing greenhouse gas emissions emitted from the transportation sector. 

3. Pass a Maryland Beverage Container Deposit Program [FACT SHEET]  

beverage

According to the Container Recycling Institute, each year in Maryland, about 5.2 billion bottles and cans are sold, but only 1.2 billion are currently recycled. The rest are incinerated, buried in landfills, or littered in our waterways and along roadways. Ten states in the U.S., covering about 90 million people, have long-standing, successful, and cost-effective beverage container deposit programs that incentivize recycling and deter littering by refunding a small deposit for each container to those who return them for recycling. A modern program requiring a 10-cent deposit on single-use beverage containers would boost Maryland’s recycling rate for beverage containers, from 23% to more than 80%; remove about 3 billion beverage containers annually from landfills, incinerators, or the environment; yield substantial cost savings for local governments; and reduce the pollution associated with producing containers.

Ask your state senator and delegates to support these bills!

Supported Bills

We also will be testifying in support of many other bills and appropriations actions this session. We expect these will include legislation to:

  • require analysis of equity impacts of siting facilities that have large environmental impacts;
  • restore, through state law, important environmental enforcement authorities that were recently undermined at the federal level by a Supreme Court decision;
  • reduce the spread of invasive plants through improved listings and management of nursery sales;
  • improve vegetation management along the state’s highways to promote pollinator habitat;
  • improve stream restoration and stormwater runoff policies;
  • require recycled content in new plastic containers, to displace virgin plastic and incentivize redesign of products to make them more recyclable;
  • increase reuse and recycling of used paint and mattresses through two new stewardship programs; and
  • require owners of synthetic turf playing fields to report the chain of custody from installation to disposal of the fields’ turf and infill, to deter improper disposal.

This list is being continually updated. 

BILL TESTIMONY      TAKE ACTION NOW     LOBBY NIGHT MATERIALS     PAST SESSIONS

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!

FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS      10 SUGGESTIONS     TAKE ACTION     EMAIL US