The MACo staff gave testimony this week on the following bills:

February 17, 2014:

• SB166: Labor and Employment – Minimum Wage- Establishment by Counties testimony
• SB273: Labor and Employment – Minimum Wage – Establishment by Counties testimony

MACo supported two bills granting counties the flexibility to set their own minimum wage level for county employers.

February 18, 2014:

• SB338: Public Safety – Statewide Interoperability Radio Control Board – Established testimony

The Administration and public safety leaders all supported MACo’s initiative bill to create a multi-party governance structure for the Maryland FiRST public safety radio system.

• HB598: Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights – Prosecutorial Disclosures – Punitive Action testimony

MACo joined police chiefs and sheriffs, opposing new and troubling limitations on discipline for law enforcement officers.

• HB772: Local Government Investments – Self-Insurance Funds and Trust Fund Accounts of Political Subdivisions testimony

MACo supported clearer flexibility on local government ability to invest long-term trust investments.

• HB929: Motor Vehicles – Speed Monitoring Systems – Local Jurisdictions testimony

MACo supported broad revisions and reforms to the state laws authorizing speed cameras.

• HB968: Labor and Employment – Maryland Earned Sick and Safe Leave Act testimony

MACo opposed a rigid leave requirements, citing concerns that elements of essential public services would be unduly affected.

February 19, 2014:

• SB388: Education – Maintenance of Effort – Lease Payment Exclusion testimony

MACo supported a limited exclusion from school funding laws to more fairly account for lease payments.

• SB430: Libraries – Regional Resource Centers and County Public Libraries – Funding testimony

MACo supported incremental funding restoration for public libraries.

• SB572: Homestead Tax Credit – Eligibility – Definition of Legal Interest testimony

MACo supported a bill adjusting eligibility for the Homestead Tax Credit, seeking a prospective-only effect.

• SB605: Property Tax Credit – Upper Stories of Commercial Structures – Rehabilitation testimony

MACo supported authority for counties to provide targeted tax relief – with amendments seeking a more flexible local option.

• SB664: Transportation – Motor Fuel Tax and Highway User Revenue – Increased Local Share testimony

MACo supported a reasonable and gradual restoration of Highway User Revenues – proposing a means to get local road funding back into the state’s priorities, without upending immediate project commitments.

• SB686: Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights – Prosecutorial Disclosures – Punitive Action testimony

MACo opposed further narrowing of police administrators’ ability to discipline employees.

• SB973: Criminal Procedure – Pretrial Confinement and Release testimony

MACo offered wide-ranging views on the leading “bail reform” proposal, suggesting changes to the bill that could help best accommodate concerns from local correctional facilities and state’s attorneys (and their far-reaching budgetary effects).

• HB232: County Boards of Education – Spending – Reporting Requirement testimony

MACo supported a clearer per-student spending reporting requirement for school budgets, requesting that county governments be among the recipients of the compiled data.

• HB349: Education – Maintenance of Effort – Lease Payment Exclusion testimony

MACo supported a limited exclusion from school funding laws to more fairly account for lease payments.

• HB365: Public Safety – Fire, Rescue, and Ambulance Funds – Distribution testimony

MACo supported a compromise bill to modernize and clarify multiple statutory provisions about fire company funding.

• HB645: Real Property – Landlord Defenses in Nuisance Actions testimony

MACo opposed an overbroad new defense for property owners to be excused from governmental nuisance concerns.

• HB867: Maryland False Claims Act testimony

MACo supported a bill designed to afford more avenues to capture false claims unfairly costing government funding.

• HB918: Business Regulation – Automated Purchasing Machines – Licensing of Buyers and Required Records testimony

MACo supported statewide regulation of “reverse vending machines” (that offer cash for unwanted cell phones and other electronics), seeking amendment language to ensure local regulation or bans are not pre-empted.

February 20, 2014:

• SB382: Business Regulation – Automated Purchasing Machines – Licensing of Buyers and Required Records testimony

MACo supported statewide regulation of “reverse vending machines” (that offer cash for unwanted cell phones and other electronics), seeking amendment language to ensure local regulation or bans are not pre-empted.

• SB394: Statewide Container Recycling Refund Program testimony

MACo opposed a “bottle bill” requiring counties as the central administrators of a 5-cent per container refundable deposit program.

• SB753: Labor and Employment – Maryland Earned Sick and Safe Leave Act testimony

MACo opposed a rigid leave requirements, citing concerns that elements of essential public services would be unduly affected.

• SB877: Board of Electricians – Licensing and Regulation of Electricians – Phase Out of Local Licenses testimony

MACo opposed a bill that would eliminate local licensing of electricians, citing its conflict with the recommendations of a recent task force on the same subject.

• HB691: Property Tax Credit – Upper Stories of Commercial Structures – Rehabilitation testimony

MACo supported authority for counties to provide targeted tax relief – with amendments seeking a more flexible local option.

To see online versions of MACo’s written testimony from the 2014 legislative session, click here.