The segments below provide a brief overview of MACo’s work on health and human services policy during the 2025 General Assembly session.
Each county in Maryland has a local health department that plays a role in providing essential public health services to residents. They are also county agencies that provide citizen services for children, families, and persons with special needs. MACo advocates actively for policies that continue to confront the opioid crisis and to support county health and social service programs.
Maryland’s 447th 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 supported HB 1049/SB 599 – Behavioral Crisis Response Grant Program – Funding. This bill requires the Governor to include $5 million in the annual budget bill for fiscal years 2027 through 2029 for the Behavioral Health Crisis Response Grant Program. This program has been instrumental in expanding community-based crisis services, ensuring that individuals in crisis receive timely and appropriate care. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 1164 – Counties and Municipalities – Homelessness – Local Laws (Right to Rest Act). This bill would have preempted local authority to prohibit counties from enacting or enforcing local laws that could impact or are intended to impact individuals experiencing homelessness. This bill did not pass the 2025 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 43/SB 1005 – Federally Qualified Health Centers Grant Program – Acquisition of Land. This bill strengthens the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) Grant Program by authorizing the Board of Public Works to provide grants to counties, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations for the acquisition of land for the construction or use of FQHCs. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1434 – Maryland Food System Resiliency Council – Healthy Food Area Priority Study and its cross-file, SB 353 – Food Deserts Work Group – Establishment. This bill would have established the Food Deserts Workgroup to study and recommend solutions to eliminate food deserts across the state. The Workgroup’s findings and recommendations could be critical in identifying strategies to ensure all Marylanders have reasonable local access to fresh and healthy food. This bill did not pass the 2025 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo opposed HB 559/SB 544 – Food Establishments – Portable Chemical Toilets. This bill allows agritourism food establishments, Class 4 limited wineries, and Class 8 farm breweries to comply with restroom requirements by providing a portable chemical toilet, raising significant public health and safety concerns. This bill did pass the 2025 session but did not include the requested MACo amendment.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 429/SB 376 – Health Facilities – Delegation of Inspection Authority – Nursing Homes. This bill extends authority to local governments requesting to oversee and maintain standards for nursing homes. Under the bill, if a county requests this authority, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) would work in partnership to grant it and share the associated costs. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 718 – Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission – Established with amendments. This bill establishes the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission to monitor and assess the effects of potential and actual federal changes to healthcare programs and provide recommendations for state and local actions to protect residents’ access to affordable health coverage. MACo requested amendments to ensure counties have a formal role in the effort. This bill passed the 2025 session with MACo’s amendment.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported SB 856 – Mold – Landlord Requirements and Regulations (Maryland Tenant Mold Protection Act) with amendments. This bill establishes new requirements for landlords, including local governments with housing authorities, regarding mold prevention, assessment, and remediation, along with creating centralized resources on mold-related issues. While MACo appreciates the bill’s goal to protect tenants from hazardous living conditions, certain provisions require further refinement to avoid unreasonable burdens on local governments in their capacity as enablers of affordable housing stock. This bill was amended to clarify that a local government or local health department will not be mandated to conduct a mold assessment or mold remediation. This bill passed the 2025 session and did not incorporate all of MACo’s amendments.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 989/SB 481 – On-Farm Home Processing License – Revenue Limit – Prohibition with amendments. This bill would have prohibited the Maryland Department of Health from limiting the amount of revenue the holder of an on-farm home processing license could derive from food processed under the license. This bill was withdrawn and did not pass in the 2025 legislative session.
MACo supported HB 798/SB SB 589 – Opioid Restitution Fund – Interactive Dashboard. As amended, bill seeks to enhance public transparency by requiring the Maryland Office of Overdose Response (MOOR) and the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) to develop and maintain an interactive dashboard detailing opioid restitution fund spending. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 999 – Opioid-Associated Disease Prevention and Outreach Program Data – Submission to Local Health Departments. This bill would have required the Maryland Department of Health to submit the data reported to the Department by an Opioid-Associated Disease Prevention and Outreach Program to the local health department for each county in which the Program operates. This bill did not pass the 2025 session.
MACo took no position on HB 1241 – Other Tobacco Products and Electronic Smoking Devices – Seizure and Wholesaler Licensure Requirements and its cross-file, SB 842 – Electronic Smoking Devices – Seizure and Wholesaler Record-Keeping Requirements with amendments. This bill would have strengthened the enforcement of laws regulating other tobacco products and electronic smoking devices by granting the Executive Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission or a peace officer the authority to seize products sold or offered for sale in violation of the law without a warrant. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly with MACo’s amendment.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 1131 – Buprenorphine – Training Grant Program and Workgroup. This bill establishes the Buprenorphine Training Grant Program to assist counties with offsetting the cost of training paramedics to administer buprenorphine. Additionally, HB 1131 requires the Maryland Office of Overdose Response (MOOR) to convene a workgroup to study access to buprenorphine in the State. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 743/SB 592 – Public Health – Health Care Quality Fund for Community-Based Behavioral Health Programs – Establishment. This bill would have established the Health Care Quality Fund for Community-Based Behavioral Health Programs, providing a dedicated funding stream to invest in training, grant awards, demonstration projects, and other initiatives aimed at improving behavioral health care quality. This bill did not pass the 2025 session.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
MACo supported HB 729/SB 594 – Public Health – Use of Opioid Restitution Fund and Training Under the Overdose Response Program as amended. This bill makes necessary improvements to the existing framework governing the use of Opioid Restitution Fund (ORF) dollars, expanding the range of allowable uses to better align with the National Settlement Agreement. This bill passed the Maryland General Assembly.
Bill Information | MACo Coverage
