The segments below provide a brief overview of MACo’s work on parks and recreation policy in the 2024 General Assembly session.
When advocating for the housing and community development needs of counties MACo supports legislation that bolsters the efforts of local governments to address public and affordable housing, bight, foreclosure, and community development.
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.
Community & Economic Development
MACo supported HB 579/SB 474- Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and Related Approvals – Definition of Generating Station (Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act of 2024). The bill ensures that certain emergency generating stations do not need the full Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) approval. This bill passed the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1090- Revitalizing Neighborhoods Through Homeownership Program and Fund – Established. This bill would have provided counties with additional resources through the Revitalizing Neighborhoods Through Homeownership Program, opening access to low-cost capital to help revitalize homes purchased under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Dollar Homes Program. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1203- Economic Development – Strategic Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program and Tax Increment Financing. This bill establishes the Strategic Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program, providing another “tool in the toolbox”. The program would provide loans for targeted investments in real estate and infrastructure, ultimately providing additional resources to communities looking to redevelop and attract further investment. This bill passed the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 2/SB 138- Property Taxes – Authority of Counties to Establish a Subclass and Set a Special Rate for Vacant and Abandoned Property. This bill provides counties with additional tools to discourage vacancy and take action to combat the current housing crisis. This bill passed the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 271- Limited Liability Companies – Articles of Organization – Required Information. This bill would have required LLCs to provide and maintain accurate contact information for members authorized to act on behalf of the entity. This information, specifically for corporate entities owning real property, could have helped accelerate efforts to target abandoned property and blight to expand housing options. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 535- Maryland Task Force on Educator Housing with amendments. This bill would have established a taskforce to examine the need for educator housing for teachers. Counties requested that MACo be granted three representatives on the taskforce, selected to reflect different county compositions: rural, suburban, and urban. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 599/SB 483- Maryland Community Investment Corporation – Establishment (Housing and Community Development Financing Act of 2024). This bill establishes the Maryland Community Investment Corporation and expands the uses of the Strategic Demolition and Smart Growth Impact Fund. This bill passed the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 692/SB 985- Economic Development – County or Municipality Economic Development Authority – Powers and Use of Proceeds with amendments. This bill would have expanded the scope of certain economic and industrial development authorities established by county governments. MACo proposed an amendment to buttress a county’s oversight and auditing authority over the economic and development authorities. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1224/SB 953- Housing – Community Development Program Act – Funding. This bill would have provided an additional $5 million to the Community Development Program (CDP). This would have been a critical tool in county efforts to enable more affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. Neither the House nor Senate advanced the bill before the crossover deadline, amidst larger fiscal concerns in and around the State budget. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1281/SB 14- Economic Development – Tourism Zones – Designation and Benefits. This bill is a legislative priority for MACo’s sister association, the Maryland Municipal League, and provides municipalities with the ability to designate tourism zones. This bill passed the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 279- Common Ownership Communities – Local Commissions – Requirements. As drafted, MACo had concerns that this bill would require each jurisdiction to create their own COC commissions, which would represent an extensive and burdensome unfunded mandate. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1179- Housing and Community Development – Pets in Housing Developments with amendments. This bill would have set certain guardrails on a landlord’s ability to charge tenants fees for pets. Counties play an important role in regulating certain pet species. Due to an error in the drafting process, HB 1179 would have removed that authority and potentially placed state and local mutual constituents in danger. Counties worked with both the sponsor and the bill’s advocates on amendments to address this error. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported SB 906- Housing and Community Development – Conversion of Commercial Buildings for Residential Use – Report with amendments. This bill would require counties to inventory vacant commercial properties and then develop a plan for converting those properties to residential use. As they believed that the language was too broad and costly, counties offered amendments to enhance effectiveness and visibility. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
Tenant Rights and Protections
MACo supported HB 477/SB 644- Landlord and Tenant – Residential Leases and Holdover Tenancies – Local Good Cause Termination Provisions. The bill would authorize counties to establish laws preventing landlords from failing to renew or terminating leases without just cause. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 783/SB 773- Homeowners Associations – Restriction on Long-Term Rentals -Prohibition. This bill would have prohibited a homeowners association from restricting long term rentals for periods of 6 months or longer and in effect would have served to promote the total number of units available. This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 826/SB 779- Real Property – Taxation of Vacant Property, Certification of Company Representatives, and Short-Term Rentals. This bill would have provided counties with additional tools to discourage vacancy and regulate short-term rentals, and would have ensured corporate entities that may own residential property store accurate contact information with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). This bill did not pass the 2024 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
