Governor Larry Hogan Signs Major Education Initiatives Into Law

Also Enacts Measures To Support Foster Youth, Victims Of Crime

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan was joined today by Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller and Speaker of the House Michael Busch to sign 213 bills into law at a signing ceremony at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. The governor and presiding officers also signed two resolutions and a constitutional amendment.

The governor signed legislation (HB 281) implementing the administration’s ACCESS Initiative (Achieving Computer Science Collaborations for Employing Students Statewide), a comprehensive computer science education and workforce development plan which includes $5 million in new funding for computer science education.

“Our top priority is to ensure that every child in Maryland has access to a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in,” said Governor Hogan. “This legislation will inspire Maryland students at a younger age to pursue careers in computer science.”

Joining the governor for the signing were students and representatives from Code.org and Girls Who Code, who the governor thanked for their work to help close the gender gap in technology.

Additionally, Governor Hogan signed Senate Bill 1122, which will put an initiative on the ballot in the November election to create a lockbox that ensures revenues from Maryland casinos go directly toward increasing – not supplanting – school funding.

The governor also signed the administration’s Fostering Employment Act of 2018 (SB 308/HB 431), which gives foster youth and homeless youth greater access to apprenticeship programs and other workforce development opportunities, such as the nationally-recognized EARN program, through the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.

After over a decade of tireless work by advocates, Governor Hogan signed the Repeat Sexual Predator Prevention Act into law, which will allow courts to admit evidence of a defendant’s prior history of sexual crimes or abuse during prosecution for subsequent sexual offenses. The Hogan administration has proposed this legislation two years in a row, and during the signing, the governor recognized Baltimore County Senator Jim Brochin and Howard County Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary for their leadership on this issue.

The governor also signed a number of additional measures to aid victims of crime or abuse in Maryland, including legislation sponsored by Baltimore County Senator Bobby Zirkin to prevent cyberbullying.

“I want to thank senators and delegates on both sides of the aisle for working together with us this session. With the over 200 bills signed into law today, we are once again sending a very clear message that – unlike Washington – here in Annapolis we are working together in a bipartisan way to change Maryland for the better,” said the governor.