Carozza, Hartman reflect on General Assembly week one

The Maryland General Assembly hit the ground running for its first week as it swore in a new leadership team, passed routine bills and made progress on Wade’s Law, Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) reported this week.

“It was emotional and historic and a real understanding of the monumental shift of power with the longest serving senate president in the country transitioning to serve as a state senator representing his direct and the elevation of a young senator from Baltimore,” Carozza said, referencing that new Senate President Bill Ferguson entered a new position as Sen. Mike Miller (D-27) stepped down from his 33-year reign as president.

After the proceedings, Carozza said her committee, Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee, was the first committee to pass out a bill that cleared the entire senate. That bill was the State Real Estate Commission Sunset Extension, an extension of the commission to July 1, 2032.

Carozza added that Wednesday, Jan. 14, was a huge day for Senate Bill 29, otherwise known as Wade’s Law, which increases the penalties regarding life-threatening injuries involving a motor vehicle. The bill went through the senate hearing that day and Wade Pusey, a Worcester County resident, testified before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee about the life-threatening injuries he suffered because of criminally negligent driving.

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