Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me to express your views during the 2024 Legislative Session of the Maryland General Assembly. Hearing from my constituents is an invaluable part of serving as your Delegate and I truly appreciate engaging in the legislative process with you. 

 

I am grateful for the privilege of serving as your District 33C Delegate in Annapolis. In this letter, I aim to share with you the great work that I and my colleagues in the General Assembly have done this session. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished, and honored to have heard from you and to have met many of you in person this year. Your participation in the legislative process is a crucial part of the decision making process both in my office, and in the legislature as a whole.

 

This session, I continued to serve on the Health and Government Operations Committee (HGO), working with my colleagues to tackle complex healthcare issues impacting people across the State. Within HGO I serve as chair of the Public Health and Minority Health Disparities Subcommittee, where I led discussions on bills improving public health outcomes and creating a more equitable healthcare system for Marylanders. 

 

I had the honor of serving for the second year as chair of the Anne Arundel County House Delegation. I led weekly meetings with Anne Arundel County Delegates regarding County-specific legislation, and welcomed guest speakers from organizations across the County to help inform the Delegation of resources available to their Districts. I also continued to serve as a member of the Latino Caucus, Women’s Caucus, Veterans’ Caucus, and the Transit Caucus.

 

Beyond my day-to-day work in the General Assembly, I was appointed to several Commissions to help guide policy outside of the Legislative Session. Through my appointments to the Commission on Public Health, the Medicaid Advisory Commission, and the AHEAD Model Workgroup, I have been able to share the perspective of District 33C in critical decisions related to our health systems. I am proud to also be a member of the Crownsville Advisory Committee, where I and other stakeholders from the County have been forming a plan for how to revitalize the Crownsville Memorial Hospital site. Additionally, this year I was invited to speak at several panels across the State to share what the General Assembly is doing to address health outcomes, including a public health panel in front of the Prince George’s County Council, as well as at the Mental Health Association of Maryland’s annual meeting, where I was honored as their Mental Health Legislator of the Year.

 

I am so proud of the work I have done for our community this session. Below is a summary of major legislation I supported and other work for public office I completed during the 2024 Legislative Session.

For a complete list of all the bills introduced this session, and how I voted, please visit my profile on the Maryland General Assembly website here: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/bagnall01

 

Constituent Connections

 

As your Delegate, I always hold my constituents as my highest priority. If you are experiencing issues with a State agency, if you have questions or concerns about legislation in the General Assembly, or if you need any general assistance with government-related work, my office is available to help. In the last 90 days, we responded to over 400 questions and concerns raised by constituents,  and shaped State policy based on those concerns. 

 

In addition to fielding concerns from individuals, I was able to recognize the growth of several businesses across District 33C. I regularly attend ribbon cuttings and ceremonies to recognize grand openings, anniversaries, and other milestones made by the Broadneck Peninsula’s businesses and residents. In the past year, I attended 36 ceremonies to honor businesses and individuals celebrating their success. It is my pleasure to celebrate with you and to recognize the achievements of our community. Please reach out to my office if you would like us to participate in a ribbon cutting or other ceremony in the District.

 

This year, my colleagues Senator Dawn Gile, Delegates Andrew Pruski, Delegate Stuart Schmidt, and I  organized District 33's second-annual District Night. District Nights are opportunities hosted by members of the General Assembly to invite constituents to the Capital to meet their representatives and engage first-hand with the legislative process. Over 45 people from across the District joined us this session in downtown Annapolis, and I was incredibly thankful to connect with them. Next year, we expect to have space to host District Night in the House Office Building right next to the State House. We encourage you to join - attendance is free, and it is a great opportunity to connect with our office!

 

Annually, our office offers Scholarships to eligible students across the District. Last year, our office awarded 84 Scholarships to students in District 33C, totalling over $58,000. Scholarship applications for our office this year are available until April 30th, 2024 at 11:59pm. Please contact our office and complete the following form if you are interested in applying: https://forms.gle/JZvaNiXaRoCi6rbY9

Key Bridge Resources

 

The end of this legislative session was clouded by the tragedy at the Key Bridge in Baltimore. I am deeply saddened by the loss of our fellow Marylanders and thankful for the swift response of law enforcement, fire, and EMS, as well as the many agencies working diligently on rescue and cleanup efforts. The work of our brave first responders saved lives. This tragedy reaches our entire state, and I am closely following developments that will affect those in the district. If you or someone you know needs assistance, I have provided links to essential state resources below. If at any time you need help accessing these resources, do not hesitate to contact our office - the contact information for the office is listed at the end of the letter.

 

Resources for those affected by the disaster:

·       Maryland Department of Labor Unemployment Line for bridge related job issues: 667-930-5989, Monday-Friday8am-4pm. Select option 1 when prompted.

·       SAMHSA National Disaster Distress Hotline: 1-800-985-5990

·       Bridge Collapse Response Site: https://response.maryland.gov/bridge 

 

Maryland’s Budget

 

Maryland is required under the State Constitution to pass a balanced budget. Despite a challenging financial landscape, we successfully passed a $63.1 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2024, maintaining funding for our most important State initiatives. With this budget, we have secured financial support for our road and transit infrastructure, educational goals under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, among other investments to improve Maryland. Here is a summary of major appropriations set by the budget:

·       Aid to local school systems under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future grew by roughly $457 million

·       Support for roads, highways, bridges, and other transit projects increased by $330 million

·       Maryland’s trauma system received $105 million in additional funding to address shortfalls in services

·       Police aid funds are set to $121.4 million, $10.3 million of which is allotted for community-based services for juveniles and services to families residing in communities with high crime rates

·       $90 million increase for climate pollution reduction efforts, including lowering building and vehicle emissions

 

Capital Budget

 

The state capital budget funds a number of capital projects in Maryland, with a primary focus on infrastructure and public investments. This year, the members of the Anne Arundel County Delegation were able to secure over $6.5 million in state funding for capital improvement projects around the county. As chair of the Delegation, I worked with my Anne Arundel County colleagues in both the House and the Senate to secure key funding for projects and organizations in our community and county. 

 

Anne Arundel County Capital Budget Grants

 

·       Annapolis Maritime Museum: $42,500

·       Heroes Park: $70,000

·       Annapolis Middle School: $500,000

·       Historic Charles W. Baldwin Hall: $25,000

·       Annapolis Skatepark at Truxton Park: $50,000

·       History of the Annapolis Five - Road Marker: $20,000

·       Anne Arundel County Fair: $100,000

·       Lake Waterford Park - Pickleball Court: $250,000

·       Aquatic Center Structural Integrity: $125,000

·       Lloyd Keaser Community Center: $75,000

·       Arundel High School Field House: $300,000

·       Maryland Society - Revolutionary War Memorial: $250,000

·       Banneker-Douglass Museum: $150,000

·       Pascal Crisis Stabilization Center: $100,000

·       Bowie Elks Lodge No. 2309: $100,000

·       Piney Orchard Nature Preserve: $8,772

·       Cedar & Morris Hill Community Center: $150,000

·       UM BWMC Cardiac Interventional Suite: $2,000,000

·       Chesapeake High School Field House: $250,000

·       Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 160: $250,000 

·       Community Wood Kiln: $15,000

·       Village Common Community Center: $225,000

·       Deale MD Elks Lodge No. 2528: $50,000

·       West Arundel Swim Club: $162,500

·       Earl Conservation Center: $100,000

·       Whitehall Historic Site: $393,000

·       Earleigh Heights Fire Station Construction: $350,000

·       Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center: $25,000

·       Gambrills Athletic Club: $67,013

·       William Paca Garden: $75,000

·       George Phillips Jr. Recovery Center: $175,000

·       Zero Waste to Zero Hunger: $87,500

 

TOTAL: $6,541,285

 

My Primary Legislation

I introduced fourteen bills this session, addressing a wide range of dental and mental health outcomes, as well as local issues. This year, I made dental health access a priority; with these bills passed, we will increase coverage for senior dental care services, address a shortfall in dental professionals to meet the needs of our citizens, reduce administrative burdens on our dentists, and ensure patient safety in dental practices. In the realm of mental health, I sponsored bills that will enable residential treatment centers to more easily open their doors in Maryland, and ensure insurance for mental health care is on par with physical health care. The following is a summary of my legislative work this session.

 

H.B. 103 -  Maryland Medical Assistance Program – Dental Services – Coverage and Rate Study: Requires a study by the Maryland Department of Health to explore how to expand Medicaid coverage to include dentures and dental house calls. This is an important step towards ensuring that senior Marylanders can access these services.

 

H.B. 327 - Anne Arundel County – Board of Community College Trustees – Membership Alterations and Appointment Requirements: The Anne Arundel Community College Board of Trustees expressed concerns about its ability to complete its duties at its current size. As such, this bill adds two new members to the Board, and requires that the Governor consider the geographic and ethnic makeup of Anne Arundel County when appointing members to ensure the whole County is represented properly on the board.

 

H.B. 342 - State Procurement – Prompt Payment of Suppliers:  Suppliers provide necessary equipment and materials to State contractors. This bill requires that contractors and subcontractors working on state projects pay the required amount owed to their suppliers within a set timeframe, mirroring protections given to direct State contractors. This eliminates a loophole that often led to delays in payments for suppliers on public works projects and disincentivized these companies from doing business with the state. H.B. 342 ensures that the state remains an attractive partner for Maryland’s suppliers, speeding up the completion of key infrastructure projects. 

 

H.B. 408 - Mental Health Law – County Mental Health Advisory Committees – Membership: Each county in Maryland has a mental health advisory committee that advocates on behalf of residents affected by mental health and substance use disorders. This bill alters the required makeup of these committees to ensure that they include an expert or professional that has experience in mental health care for veterans and current military service members. Including these vital specialists on each county's board will ensure that  recommendations made by the committees better reflect the needs of military members and veterans. 

 

H.B. 499 - Health Occupations – Private Dental Offices – Infection Control: Previously, Maryland law did not specify a method for enforcing some rules designed to protect patients from infection in dental procedures. H.B. 499 ensures that all violations are now covered under state dental infection control laws, further improving Maryland patients’ protection against dangerous infections. 

 

H.B. 786 - Health Occupations – Limited License to Practice Dentistry – Services for Adults: In response to a shortage of dental professionals in Maryland, this bill will expand a program for internationally trained dentists to practice dentistry. Currently, only pediatric dentistry professionals are eligible for the program - this bill extends that program to dental services for adults, which will expand access to dental services to Marylanders in need. Applicants to the program must meet a series of qualification and education requirements and practice for at least two years in an underserved community.

 

H.B. 1074 - Health Insurance – Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits – Sunset repeal and Modification of Reporting Requirements: In 2008, Congress passed a bill to require health insurance companies to offer equally favorable benefits for mental health coverage as they do for physical medical coverage. Implementing that bill has been challenging for the Maryland Insurance Administration. H.B. 1074 addresses this issue by giving clearer guidance and expanded powers to the Maryland Insurance Administration on how to ensure parity in offered benefits. This change is another step closer to closing gaps in mental health insurance coverage for Marylanders.

 

H.B. 1093 - Anne Arundel County – Human Relations Commission – Subpoena Enforcement: This bill will expand Anne Arundel County’s authority to investigate discrimination complaints in housing efficiently and fairly by allowing it to fully enforce subpoenas in such investigations. The County Human Relations Commission already has some investigatory powers; this bill aligns those powers with what is granted to the State Commision on Civil Rights.

 

H.B. 1134 - Hospitals and Related Institutions – Residential Treatment Centers – Accreditation: Residential treatment centers (RTCs) provide key services for those with mental health and substance use disorders in Maryland and across the country. However, Maryland’s process for certifying new RTCs is not up to date with those in neighboring states, making it more difficult and therefore less attractive for operators of these facilities to expand into our state. This bill updates the process to follow the same standards used by all of Maryland’s neighbors, eliminating hurdles that prevented RTCs from opening in many areas of the state, and expanding access to behavioral health care for all Marylanders.

Anne Arundel County

 

H.B. 193 - Anne Arundel County – Speed Limits– Establishment:  This bill allows Anne Arundel County to pass legislation lowering speed limits to 15 miles per hour on county roads, provided that they first carry out a study to determine whether doing so is safe. It additionally prevents them from installing new speed monitoring devices along these roads if the speed limit is reduced in this manner. This will allow communities more options in addressing dangerous driving habits.

 

H.B. 541 - Anne Arundel County – Student Loans Assistance Repayment Program for Educators – Established: In order to attract qualified educators to Anne Arundel County Public Schools, this bill creates a student loan repayment assistance program for prospective county teachers that agree to serve in the system for at least 5 years.

 

H.B. 668 - Anne Arundel County – Sheriff – Salary:  This bill sets a competitive salary for the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County comparable to that of sheriffs in other counties and equal to that of a captain in the county police department.

Notable General Assembly Legislation

 

Protecting Rights

 

H.B. 875 - Freedom to Read Act: In response to efforts around the nation to ban books from libraries, this bill creates standards for what material is included in libraries and protections for librarians who curate them. With these changes, we will ensure students maintain access to a wide variety of information in our public institutions.

 

H.B. 602 - Employment Discrimination - Sexual Orientation: This bill expands Maryland’s Equal Pay for Equal Work protections to include nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Under the new law, Marylanders will receive equal pay protections in the workplace regardless of who they love.

 

S.J. 1 - Affirming the Equal Rights Amendment: This Joint Resolution urges the Presidential administration to publish the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which would guarantee equal protection under law regardless of sex. This amendment was first proposed in 1972, and ratified by a three-fourths majority of State legislatures (as required for ratification in the United States Constitution) in 2020. Publishing this amendment would ensure that people are not discriminated against under the law on the basis of sex.

 

H.B. 598 - Discrimination - Military Status - Prohibition: This bill prohibits housing and workplace discrimination based on an individual’s military status, ensuring fair treatment for all Marylanders that serve in the military and their families in these areas.

 

Criminal Justice

 

H.B. 814 - Juvenile Law - Reform: This bill makes a number of alterations to improve the juvenile justice process and better align the system with the objectives of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 2022. H.B. 814 establishes new reporting requirements and best practices related to juvenile justice, mandates greater supervision for minors involved in vehicle theft, and asserts that crimes involving firearms, sexual assault, and other violent acts committed by a minor fall under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

 

H.B. 583 - Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention - Establishment: Maryland is seeking legal and innovative ways to address a national trend in rising gun violence rates. To facilitate that goal, this bill establishes an organization within the Department of Health to provide policy recommendations to reduce harm from firearm violence. 

 

H.B. 947 - Civil Actions - Public Nuisances - Firearm Industry Members (Gun Industry Accountability Act of 2024): This bill creates an avenue of accountability for firearm manufacturers and retailers who knowingly contribute to straw purchases, firearm trafficking, or other illegal sale of firearms, decreasing the amount of illegal sales of firearms across the State, ensuring that those who possess firearms do so legally.

 

Consumer Protections

 

H.B. 567 - Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024: This bill sets forth rights of all Internet users in Maryland with respect to their personal data, including the ability to opt out of targeted advertising, and requires large firms that collect data to delete a user’s personal information if requested. It also increases transparency for Internet users by requiring these firms to disclose certain details to a user when their information is sold, and to clearly provide users notice of the rights required under the bill in a description of privacy practices. Finally, it limits the collection of personal data to only that which is necessary and proportionate to provide a product or service.

 

H.B. 603 - Consumer Protection – Online Products and Services – Data of Children (Maryland Kids Code): Supplemental to protections listed in H.B. 567, H.B. 603 provides an additional series of protections for children accessing online applications. This bill prevents the sale of children’s data, and requires websites to the best of their ability avoid website design choices intended to manipulate children into taking certain actions.

 

S.B. 539 - Commercial Law - Consumer Protection - Sale and Resale of Tickets: This bill, sponsored by our District’s very own Senator Dawn Gile, requires ticket selling platforms like Ticketmaster to disclose the full price of tickets (including all fees), and prevents the sale of “speculative tickets” which they have not confirmed the ability to confer ownership of. These changes will establish fair pricing and sales practices for selling tickets for large-venue events such as concerts and sporting events.

 

Housing

 

H.B. 7 - Housing Innovation Pilot Program and Housing Innovation Fund – Establishment: This initiative by the Department of Housing and Community Development establishes financial support for counties pursuing mixed-income housing projects. This support will increase the capacity of our counties to expand their affordable housing efforts.

 

H.B. 538 - Land Use – Affordable Housing – Zoning Density and Permitting (Housing Expansion and Affordability Act of 2024): The Housing Expansion and Affordability Act of 2024 seeks to provide more affordable housing for Marylanders by incentivizing housing developers to include affordable housing units in new building projects and also to build more affordable housing units within close proximity to rail stations. This bill is another step towards increasing the supply of housing to decrease housing costs for all Marylanders.

 

H.B. 599 - Maryland Community Investment Corporation - Establishment (Housing and Community Development Financing Act of 2024): This bill establishes the Maryland Community Investment Corporation, which will be responsible for managing state and federal funding of investment projects used in the development of low-income communities.

 

Public Health and Insurance

 

H.B. 576 - Mental Health - Emergency Evaluation and Involuntary Admission Procedures and Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs: Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is a class of court-ordered psychiatric treatment for severe mental illness, independent of involuntary hospitalization or criminal proceeding. AOT is an effective, well-established treatment method that allows individuals who are vulnerable to repeated stays in overcrowded state hospitals and correctional facilities, or are homeless, to receive treatment in an outpatient setting while under observation. It has been adopted in 48 other states with resounding success, reducing incarceration and overall hospitalization rates, and decreasing the cost of treating those with severe mental illnesses. This bill establishes AOT programs in each Maryland county.

 

H.B. 728 - Access to Care Act: This bill allows all residents of the state regardless of citizenship status to purchase health insurance through Maryland’s public health insurance marketplace, the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, which provides plain language descriptions of private health insurance plans in a variety of languages and serves as a tool for comparing plans. In addition to increasing access to care statewide for all residents, this change is projected to reduce overall insurance costs and ER wait times for all Marylanders without costing taxpayers.

 

H.B. 1051 - Maternal Health – Assessments, Referrals, and Reporting (Maryland Maternal Health Act of 2024): This bill seeks to reduce complications during pregnancy and after birth among Maryland women by improving data collection and requiring the distribution of resources detailing signs and symptoms of postpartum complications. Additionally, the Maryland Department of Health must publish an online report card detailing the rate of complications at every hospital and any other location that provides obstetric care in Maryland.

 

H.B. 1229 - Public Health - Kratom Consumer Protection Act: Kratom is an herbal substance that induces stimulant- and opioid-like effects. This bill establishes requirements for retailers that sell kratom products to clearly disclose on the product label that its contents contain the substance. Under the bill, retailers are also prohibited from advertising kratom products to minors as well as from selling them to individuals under the age of 21 or advertising unsubstantiated health benefits.

 

H.B. 1230 - Public Health - Tianeptine Consumer Protection Act: Tianeptine is an addictive drug with opioid-like effects which has not been approved by the FDA for medical or dietary use. H.B.1230 prohibits the sale of products containing tianeptine within the state. This bill follows the efforts of nine other states that have banned the drug.

 

S.B. 119 - Legally Protected Health Care – Gender-Affirming Treatment: Multiple states have created a patchwork of bans against gender-affirming treatment, even across state lines. This bill provides a technical fix to existing law to protect providers and patients who seek this care in Maryland by preventing the state from engaging in civil or criminal investigations brought in other states regarding gender-affirming treatment prescribed or provided in Maryland. 

 

H.B. 933 - Behavioral Health Crisis Response Services – 9-8-8 Trust Fund Fees: Last year, the legislature established a fund to support the new 9-8-8 National Suicide and Crisis Hotline; this fund is used to finance the physical crisis call centers in Maryland where 9-8-8 calls are routed. H.B. 933 ensures that the fund has a sustainable revenue source so that our call centers have the capacity to take all calls originating from Maryland.

 

H.B. 367 - Community Colleges – Contraception – Access Requirements: In 2023, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring public 4-year colleges and universities in Maryland to provide 24-hour access to over-the-counter contraception on campus. H.B. 367 expands the law to include community colleges.

 

H.B. 1143 - Emergency Medical Services - Maryland Emergency Department Wait Time Reduction Commission - Establishment: Reducing emergency department wait times is an important focus of the General Assembly. To that end, H.B. 1143 creates a commission to study wait times and provide potential strategies for alleviating them. 

 

S.B. 614 - Maryland Medical Assistance Program and Health Insurance - Coverage for Prostheses (So Every Body Can Move Act): This bill requires Medicaid and many insurers to provide coverage for prostheses beginning in 2025. With this change, those who need prostheses will be able to attain them more affordably.

 

Environmental and Climate Protections

 

H.B. 990 - Environment – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions – Manufacturers: Existing Maryland law exempts manufacturers from many restrictions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. H.B. 990 scales back these exemptions by requiring cement manufacturers - the manufacturing industry with the highest proportion of GHG emissions in Maryland - to comply with all existing GHG emission regulations.

 

H.B. 397 - Public Utilities – Thermal Energy Network Systems – Authorization and Establishment (Working for Accessible Renewable Maryland Thermal Heat (WARMTH) Act): This bill requires large gas companies to establish a pilot plan to construct geothermal heating systems.

 

H.B. 1165 - Watershed Restoration – Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Restoration and Funding (Whole Watershed Act): In order to continue and improve restoration and cleaning efforts in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays and their watersheds, this bill allocates additional funding for specific restoration projects in the bays and their tributaries. 

 

S.B. 783 - Public Utilities - Solar Energy Systems and Programs, Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund, and Prevailing Wage (Brighter Tomorrow Act): In line with further reducing carbon emissions, this bill increases tax incentives for the installation of home solar systems and makes it easier for those with solar systems to use excess energy from those systems to power other areas. 

 

H.B. 979 Agriculture - Invasive Plant Species - Regulation (Biodiversity and Agriculture Protection Act): Invasive plant species cause great ecological and economic harm across our state. H.B. 979 takes steps to reduce their negative impact by expanding existing law to cover additional invasive species and streamlining the process by which invasive plants are identified and assessed for their risk. Agricultural and environmental communities came together to support this legislation.

 

Miscellaneous

  

H.B. 1526 Maryland Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade (PORT) Act: Following the tragedy at the Key Bridge, this bill creates and funds temporary programs, including unemployment insurance, grants, and emergency loans, to assist individuals and businesses impacted by the fallout of the collapse.

 

S.B. 818 - Artificial Intelligence Governance Act of 2024: The past two years have seen a proliferation of AI, both in terms of how accurate and accessible the technology has become. This bill establishes policies to ensure that there are guardrails around how State agencies use AI, preventing unlawful discrimination and other adverse outcomes from AI use.

 

H.B. 609 - Education – Public Libraries – Collective Bargaining (Library Workers Empowerment Act): This bill creates a statewide framework for unionization of public library workers. With this change, library workers will be able to better advocate for the working environment and protections that they deserve.

FUTURE LEGISLATION

 

Every year, I am presented with great new ideas for legislation, including many from my constituents. However, the legislative process, from idea to bill to law, entails a complicated series of steps and often spans multiple sessions. One of the most important parts of getting a bill across the finish line is the advocates who take their valuable time to work on an issue. There are several potential pieces of legislation that our office will be working on before next session, and we want to hear your input and get your help on them. Below I have listed a few of these ideas and given a brief description of each. If you would like to testify or have any additional ideas or comments on them, please reach out to our office using the contact information at the bottom of the letter.

 

Automotive Consumer Protection and Transparency - Used Car Service History Disclosure: This session, I introduced H.B. 695, which was a response to a personal experience and constituent complaints regarding a lack of available information about certain types of defects when purchasing used vehicles. The bill was not passed this year, but I am still deeply invested in finding a solution, especially because many of these defects are dangerous, but are sometimes not considered by manufacturers, vendors, or regulators to be safety issues that must be disclosed prior to or at the time of purchase. Recently our office has researched and gathered information to help us craft a remedy, and it would be greatly helpful to us to hear your stories about undisclosed defects in used cars as well. 

 

State Employee Whistleblower Protections: Whistleblower laws are critical to increasing accountability and transparency in public institutions. Our office is committed to implementing measures that will support and protect any state employee who comes forward with information regarding fraud, waste, or abuse of power. I introduced a bill this year to strengthen our whistleblowing laws by expanding the scope of banned retaliatory action against whistleblowers. This expansion would offer further protections for those who witness and wish to report wrongdoings by our state agencies. If you have a personal experience related to whistleblower retaliation, we encourage you to reach out to our office. 

 

I am so thankful to all of my constituents for the honor to serve as your representative in District 33C.  Your feedback and comments are important to me, and how legislation impacts you is the first thing I consider when deciding my vote. Should our office be able to provide any assistance, or if you would like to voice your opinion on matters being considered by the General Assembly, please do not hesitate to contact me at Heather.Bagnall@house.state.md.us or 410-841-3406

 

I am proud of all that my colleagues and I accomplished this session in the General Assembly. Together, we achieved many bipartisan solutions that will ensure Marylanders have a strong education, access to affordable housing, and equal protections under the law. 

 

Sincerely,

Delegate Heather Bagnall

District 33C