2025 Legislative Session
The 447th session of the Maryland General Assembly starts on January 8, 2025 and ends at midnight on April 7, 2025.
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 2024 legislative session 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 2025
Our top three priority bills for the 2025 session are:
1. The Abundant, Affordable, Clean Energy Act [FACT SHEET]
This bill would support comprehensive actions to advance development of carbon-free energy in Maryland. It would also promote energy storage, which supports the role of renewables in the grid; create a new set of solar energy credits to support both utility-scale and smaller projects; establish annual procurements for offshore wind energy; and support relicensing of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant and provision of state tax credits to backstop existing federal credits to sustain this source of carbon-free energy in the near term.
2. The Transportation and Climate Alignment Act [FACT SHEET]
This priority bill would improve planning for major highway projects so that the impacts on greenhouse gases and traffic (vehicle miles traveled) – and alternative investments in mass transit and walkable and bikeable communities – are explicitly considered. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gases in Maryland, so that consideration of its impacts at the planning stage is essential to meeting our climate goals.
3. Passing a Maryland Beverage Container Deposit Program [FACT SHEET]
Our third priority bill, 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 reducing 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.
Other Supported Bills
We will also be supporting other bills that will:
- improve information availability on planned and projected data centers, given the
substantial energy demands of these facilities; - promote construction of energy efficient buildings;
- improve planning of the electricity distribution system in the state;
- reform Maryland’s renewable portfolio standard to eliminate incentives for trash incineration;
- support effective funding of mass transit;
- reduce unnecessary light pollution that harms wildlife and human health;
- promote adoption of electric-powered lawn equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution;
- require recycled content in new plastic containers, to displace virgin plastic and incentivize redesign of products to make them more recyclable; and
- strengthen our state’s revenue stream to more adequately support Maryland’s environmental programs and path to clean energy.
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!