My Initiatives
Mary serves on the House Environment and Transportation Committee, so many of her bills tackle issues under the jurisdiction of ENT: pedestrian and road safety, clean water and stormwater controls, affordable housing and tenant protections, and animal welfare.
For the 2024 session, which convenes Wednesday, January 10, Mary has pre-filed four bills, two of which are re-introductions from 2023. The reintroduced bills passed the full House but did not make it out of the Senate. For more details about Mary’s 2024 legislation, much of it still in drafting, check out her full list.
Keep yourself informed about the latest developments in Maryland, District 21, and the ongoing projects that Mary Lehman is involved in. Stay connected by following her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and ensure you subscribe to her newsletter below.
2024 Bills Delegate Lehman's Will Sponsor in 2024
Require horseback riding helmets for minors
Require owners of synthetic turf fields to record a chain of custody through the MD Department of Natural Resources
Increase the penalties on participants of speed exhibition and street takeover events
Increase funding for low-cost spay & neuter services for shelter pets
Allow Anne Arundel County to lower local speed limits to 15 mph on certain residential streets
Discontinue the use of plastic yard waste bags on state properties
Require air conditioning in new and renovated multi-family housing
Require playgrounds to have a sign board for non-verbal children
Require the coal Industry to clean up their leaking landfills and contaminated Maryland waters
Mandate disclosure of who receives tips from point-of-sale transactions
2023 Bills Signed Into Law
HB 36/SB 100 Actions to Repossess – Proof of Rental Licensure This legislation, cross-filed by Senator Shelly Hettleman, requires a landlord who files an eviction case to prove he or she has a valid rental housing license before the case can proceed. If the landlord does not have a license issued by the county or municipality in which the housing is located, the court case is paused until a license is obtained. Rental licenses are needed to ensure the safety and habitability of housing.
HB 608/SB 535 Housing Discrimination – Service Dogs The bill, cross-filed by Senator Mary-Dulany James, prohibits rental discrimination by landlords against a person with a disability who retains their service dog once it has retired. It prevents landlords from charging a pet fee for retired service dogs. MD law previously only protected working service dogs.
HB 830 Residential Construction – Electric Vehicle Charging I co-proposed this bill with Delegate Jen Terrasa of Howard County. It requires developers of newly constructed, single-family homes and townhomes to create EV-ready parking spaces or install electrical work to allow future installment of EV charging infrastructure in a garage, carport, or parking lot. The bill requires the MD Energy Administration to study the cost of adopting similar requirements for multifamily housing units.
HB 365 Spay-Neuter Fund – I co-proposed this bill with Delegate Sheila Ruth of Baltimore County. This is a follow-up to my 2022 bill reauthorizing the spay-neuter grant program for ten years. The program is funded through a fee that pet food manufacturers pay for each product they register with the state. HB 365 proposed adjusting the cost for inflation. The program instead received a one-time additional appropriation of $200,000. We will reintroduce the bill in 2024.
Delegate Lehman and her staff are busy researching and drafting 2024 bills addressing flooding risks, safe roads, synthetic turf disposal, equestrian helmets for minors, endangered species protection, mental health care, and pilot carbon sequestration legislation. If you have bill ideas you would like to share, email her office: mary.lehman@house.state.md.us.
Unattended Dogs in Extreme Weather
Due to the shortened session, this bill was not voted on by the time of Sine Die. Mary, however, plans on bringing this bill back in the 2021 Legislative Session. Please check back for more updates.
This bill sets the minimum standard for care and should not be considered uniform across all counties with stricter laws.
The bill’s description is as follows:
This bill generally prohibits a person from leaving a dog outside and unattended for longer than 30 minutes without access to continuous “suitable shelter” during “extreme weather conditions.” This prohibition does not apply if the dog is lawfully and actively engaged in (1) hunting; (2) livestock herding; (3) sledding; (4) “sporting”; or (5) training. Violators are guilty of a civil offense punishable by a warning for a first violation, a civil penalty of up to $500 for a second violation, and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a third or subsequent violation.
To read the Fiscal and Policy Note, click here.
Disposal of Synthetic Turf
This bill has been a multiyear effort to require accountability for an industry that is generally held unchecked.
Check out my presentation in front of the Economic Matters Committee below to see the damage synthetic turf can do to our communities when it is not appropriately disposed of.
State Redistricting
Every 10 years, local and state legislatures nationwide make adjustments to legislative boundaries for political representation in Congress, Statehouses, and on county councils and county commissions.
In the 2022 session that convenes January 12, the Maryland General Assembly will consider proposed changes to the 47 House and Senate legislative districts that have been in place for the past decade.
The House Rules and Senate Redistricting Committees will hold a joint public hearing in the first few weeks of the session. A joint Redistricting Resolution with the map would then go to each chamber for a floor vote. Upon final passage by both chambers, it goes into effect. Unlike regular legislation or the Congressional Redistricting map approved by the General Assembly in December, it is not sent to the Governor for approval.
The proposed map can be viewed using the link below. It should allow users to enter a street address complete with zip code to determine the district of any residential or commercial property in Maryland.
