The segment below provides a brief overview of MACo’s work on public information and ethics policies in the 2024 General Assembly session.
County governments gather and maintain public information as part of their various functions. Compliance with federal and state public information mandates and guidelines is paramount. This responsibility and others are maintained with a standard of ethics in all government practices and priorities throughout Maryland’s county governments’ administrative agencies and legislative bodies. Through its advocacy and professional education in public information and ethics, MACo urges a balance between government efficiency, privacy, and public access to information.
Maryland’s 446th legislative session convened amidst a substantial concern over the State’s fiscal situation, with weakened revenues and cost increases for many services at every level of government. Despite the fiscal limitations, a wide range of policy issues received a full debate, with many resolutions arising from the 90-day annual process. MACo’s legislative committee guided the association’s positions on hundreds of bills, yielding many productive compromises and gains spanning counties’ uniquely wide portfolio.
Follow these links for more coverage on our Conduit Street blog and Legislative Database.
MACo opposed HB 712- Public Information Act – Denials – Confidential Information. This bill would have required county governments to disclose confidential and proprietary information voluntarily shared by businesses in the development of tax increment financing and payment in lieu of tax agreements. Accessing records not typically available to the public enables local governments to negotiate competitive and beneficial deals on behalf of taxpayers. This bill could have resulted in businesses becoming unwilling to disclose this pertinent information and hamstring local government efforts to reasonably and responsibly bolster local economies. Making deals that serve the best fiscal interests of each jurisdiction and its residents, while growing the economy is vital to the health of all communities. This bill was withdrawn by its sponsor and did not pass the 2024 session.
MACo supported SB 624- Task Force to Study Public Information Act Requests Made to Law Enforcement – Establishment with amendments. This bill would have re-established the task force to study costs, procedures, and compliance board decisions for Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests made to law enforcement agencies. MACo amendments would have expanded the scope of the study to explore and recommend best practices for the review, redaction, and release of body-worn camera footage. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
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