Maryland Tech Council General Assembly Weekly Report

Week ending January 15, 2021

The 2021 Maryland General Assembly commenced on Wednesday.  The focus of both the Senate and House was the finalization of new operational plans that required rule changes in both the House and Senate.  In addition, Committees held organizational meetings that primarily focused on how they plan to manage their hearings, voting sessions, subcommittees, briefings, etc.  As noted in last week’s update, 775 bills were prefiled and were therefore officially introduced this week.  Most Committees held limited bill hearings.  The bills which were heard were those passed by their Committee last Session, but which failed due to the early conclusion of the 2020 Session and/or were bills that were not controversial.  There were no bills of interest to the Tech Council that were heard this week.

With respect to veto overrides, the Senate voted to override a number of bills vetoed by the Governor including Senate Bill 398: Maryland Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Incentive Program, which the Tech Council supported last year and Senate Bill 669:  Public Health – Prescription Drug Affordability Board and Fund.  While a veto override requires both House and Senate to vote to override, the Senate’s action is notable.  The House is scheduled to consider veto overrides later this month.