Field Notes By Delegate Mike McDermott

Observations and Reflections on Legislative Activities

Tuesday Judiciary Hearings:

Hearing on School Safety Bills-“The only thing proven to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun on the other side of the doorway”-Delegate Mike McDermott

HB-776 would require records be kept on the sale of ammunition by businesses and would allow a review of sales records by law enforcement personnel. The bill provides for access by local police whenever they desire to review ammunition purchases. This would place Maryland on the same posture as they were in 1986 before congress voted to resend many aspects of the 1968 Civil Rights Act passed by congress. The tracking of ammunition could not be justified as helping solve crimes by law enforcement and was scrapped under the new bill.

HB-375 would require record keeping of significant records which are already required by federal regulations.

HB-1092 would require reporting a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of knowledge that the firearm was lost or stolen. It is thought that this bill would assist in establishing straw purchases.

HB-490 would prohibit Teflon coated bullets (referred to as “Cop Killer” bullets). This bill is supported by the NRA with amendments.

HB-861 would tighten up access and availability requirements within a home.

HB-1275 would tax regulated firearms to fund mental health screenings and programs to insure firearms are not accessed by said individuals.

HB-1077 would require the owner of a regulated firearm when it is lost or stolen within 72 hours of such an occurrence. It is very similar to HB-1092.

HB-655 would tighten regulations on access and availability requirements of firearms within a home by children.

Wednesday Judiciary Hearings:

HB-885 seeks to address the sale of counterfeit airbags in Maryland. I see this as legislation that should be addressed federally, but the representatives who testified from the automobile industry believe is should also be implemented at the state level.

HB-838 seeks to repeal the Sunset date for collecting of the surcharge collected by the courts through civil cases to pay for legal aid for those who qualify. This bill would allow for that funding mechanism to continue unabated.

HB-1304 would insure that any communications during Critical Incident Stress Management would be considered Confidential Communications. One would think that these types of communications would already be protected, but we were advised otherwise.

HB-1114 would allow for the use of an annuity account to compensate and provide for persons who are the recipients of judgments awarded under a malpractice claim. It would create an arbitration board who could structure settlements for individuals through annuities over a long period of time to insure that a person’s needs were able to be met in the future.

HB-1156 seeks to create a Maryland Contributory Negligence Act by establishing that contributory negligence should be established based upon the Common Law standard in place as of January 1, 2011. There was much discussion on this issue as it has been before the committee for several sessions as the sponsors seek to reach consensus with the committee members.

Wednesday Voting Session in Judiciary:

The following bills were passed as “Favorable” by the Committee:

HB-60, HB-245, HB-247, HB-277, HB-292, HB-588, HB-626, HB-742, HB-821, HB-858, HB-859, HB-921, HB-950.

Thursday Judiciary Hearings:

HB-396 would create a law addressing the electronic harassment of a minor. This is an attempt to deal with cyber bullying through various social media sources currently in use.

HB-679 would require that notices be issued to residents in an impacted neighborhood that a Juvenile Group Home is being located in that neighborhood.

HB-1320 would increase funding for a pilot program to address Children in Need of Supervision in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. This bill will allow for continued funding support for the next 3 years.

HB-848 would require that juveniles who have been waived to adult status in the courts would be required to be housed in a juvenile facility if it was shown that the juvenile was not violent or a threat to others in the institution.jA

HB-1010 would restrict the ability of government employees to conduct searches of juveniles. It is aimed at actions taken by TSA agents at our airports.

HB-786 would be similar to HB-848 by keeping juvenile offenders under the control of the Dept. of Juvenile Justice and continue to treat them as juveniles even if they have been adjudicated as adults through the courts.

Thursday Third Readers(Click)

Friday Judiciary Hearing:

Friday Third Readers(Click)

The Judiciary Committee conducted a Voting Session on SB-276, the Repeal of the Death Penalty. The Republicans offered several amendments to restore the Death Penalty for certain qualified offenses including for the murder of police and correctional officers, Acts of Terrorism, and First Degree Murder on School Grounds, along with several other heinous acts of crime worthy of Death Penalty consideration. The amendments were all defeated along party lines and the bill was voted out of committee by the same party line vote with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against the repeal. It was clear that there would be no changes allowed on this bill. (Update Analysis)

A Joint Hearing was conducted by the Judiciary and the Health and Government Operations Committees to hear the presentation from the Senate on SB-281, the O’Malley-Brown Gun Bill. The administration highlighted the amended sections of the bill as changed by the Senate. I was told by the Judiciary Chairman that we will be working on the Senate version of the bill going forward. Some changes made in the Senate have weakened the effect of the bill but the proposed legislation continues to do nothing to impact criminals while creating stumbling blocks and challenges to law abiding citizens. It is impossible to amend this bill in a way that would make it something that one could vote for in good conscience. Also heard during this hearing were several marijuana bills addressing medicinal usage and decriminalization. In my opinion, this is a moot point as the federal government continues to maintain marijuana as a Scheduled drug.