The Maryland Road Worker Protection Act (SB 479, HB 513) Will improve safety for highway construction workers in Maryland by implementing the recommendations of the Governor’s Work Zone Safety Work Group. This legislation authorizes the State Highway Administration (SHA) to establish pilot programs to test new speed capture technology and share the data with the Maryland State Police; increases the automated speed enforcement (ASE) fines from $40 to match the live officer stop citation amount of $290; increases the third fine up to $1,000 for repeat violent offenders to match the live officer stop citation amount for repeat speeders; limits violations to one ticket per work zone; and ensures that counties can establish their own work zone ASE program.
The Protecting Election Officials Act (SB 480, HB 585) Will help stop the epidemic of threats and harassment targeting election officials, which poses a fundamental threat to our State’s ability to conduct free and fair elections. The bill would create a new misdemeanor charge in the Election Law article for threats against election officials or their families. Because the new misdemeanor would be written into the Election Law Article, the crime would be prosecutable by either State Attorneys' offices or the Office of the State Prosecutor.
The Caring for Public Employees in Safety Professions (CAPES) Act (SB 476, HB 584) Expand worker's compensation presumptions for firefighters to cover thyroid, colon, and ovarian cancers. There is growing scientific evidence that firefighters experience an increased incidence of thyroid and colon cancers as a result of exposure to carcinogens in the normal course of their work. Because of the low number of women who serve as firefighters, it is difficult to provide accurate data regarding the impact ovarian cancer is having on firefighters. Current law identifies a number of cancers as preemptively occupationally related, including leukemia, prostate, rectal, throat, multiple myeloma, non–Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain, testicular, bladder, kidney, or renal cell, or breast cancers. This legislation helps ensure our firefighters receive the benefits to which they’re entitled.
The Families Serve Act (SB 478, HB 604) Supports Maryland’s military families by expanding job opportunities for military spouses. Military family members make sacrifices to support the work of their loved ones, and ensuring that they are taken care of is both a moral imperative and a way to make Maryland a better place for service members and military facilities. This bill would allow businesses to provide hiring preference for military spouses, thereby improving employment opportunities and economic opportunities for these families.
The Time to Serve Act (SB 477, HB 580) Ensures that state employees who also serve in the National Guard and Reserves are fully supported by the State in both of their areas of service. Under current State policies, these individuals often have to use their personal leave for the time they spend meeting their military service obligation. The bill would expand military leave for these individuals to 30 days, in line with the extent of their military service obligations.