MACo Associate Director Andrea Mansfield joined Gaithersburg Council Member Ryan Spiegel, MML Governmental Relations Director Candace Donoho, and former Senator Larry Levitan to support HB 233 with amendments before the House Economic Matters Committee on Tuesday, February 15.  HB 233 would authorize municipal corporations  to pay wages of employees by direct deposit. If a municipal corporation elects to pay its employees through direct deposit, it would be paid in one of three ways: 1) a bank account selected by the employer; 2) a bank account offered to the employee by the employer with the employees’ authorization; or 3) a bank account provided by the employer if the employee fails to select a bank account to receive the funds.

MACo’s testimony urged the Committee to give the bill a favorable report with amendments to provide this same authority to county governments.  During the hearing, the Maryland Banker’s Association raised concern with language in the bill that would allow the employer to provide a bank account for an employee.  Further amendments allowing for a process similar to the one in place for State employees are being drafted to address this concern.

MACo also provided testimony on the crossfile of this bill, SB484.