2021 Disability Legislation​

HB0186/SB0007 - Court Dog Therapy Program -Veterans Treatment Courts

• Renaming the Court Dog and Child Witness Program to be the Court Dog Therapy Program;

• Requiring each voter to use a ballot marking device that is accessible to voters with disabilities to vote at early voting centers and election day polling places to ensure that access is provided to voters with disabilities in accordance with a certain provision of law;

• Requiring, except under certain circumstances, that changing facilities suitable for changing the diaper of a child and providing personal care for an adult be installed in certain public restrooms in certain public buildings by October 1, 2022;

• Requiring early voting centers to be open during the hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. during each early voting day in elections other than a presidential general election.

• Requiring that certain training materials used by the program of instruction for election judges include oral and written instruction in certain methods an election judge may use to assist or accommodate elderly and disabled voters in voting;

• Requiring a chief election judge to give voting order priority to individuals with certain mobility problems, individuals assisting others who have mobility problems, or an individual accompanied by a child with a disability;

• Establishing the Task Force to Study Increased Voter Participation to evaluate and identify policies that have the potential to increase voter participation, evaluate the impact of any policy changes on the integrity of the electoral process, and estimate the costs of implementing policy changes to the State and local boards of elections;

• Prohibiting a local board of elections from making a covered change in voting locations except under certain circumstances;
  

• Requiring each local board of elections to send by non-forwardable mail, a vote-by-mail ballot to each individual who is registered to vote as of the 21st day before the day of each election;

• Renaming the Court Dog and Child Witness Program to be the Court Dog Therapy Program; 

• Requiring an early voting center to be open beginning the second Thursday before a primary or general election through the Saturday, rather than the Thursday, before the election.

• Requiring each local board of elections to send a vote-by-mail ballot by mail to each individual who is registered to vote as of a certain day before the day of each election;
  

HB0255- Department of Aging - Grants for Aging-in-Place Programs Funding

• Requiring a chief election judge to give voting order priority to individuals with certain mobility problems, individuals assisting others who have mobility problems, or an individual accompanied by a child with a disability;

​HB0125 -Public Institutions of Higher Ed - Student Athletes (Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act)

• Requiring public 4-year institutions of higher education with athletic programs to provide a student athlete with scholarships for academics, athletics, or both, for 5 years or until the student athlete completes an undergraduate degree, whichever occurs first; 

• Repealing provisions of law establishing educational programs for juveniles in residential facilities under the State Department of Education; establishing the Juvenile Services Education Board in the Department of Juvenile Services;

• Requiring each county board of education, beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, to install at least one video recording device in each special education classroom;

• Requiring each county board of education, beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, to install at least one video recording device in each special education classroom;

• Requiring the State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Health to authorize a certain health care practitioner at an approved school-based health center to provide health care services through telehealth under certain circumstances;

• Establishing the Task Force on Higher Education Students With Chronic Health Conditions to study existing data on undergraduate and graduate students with chronic health conditions at institutions of higher education in the State;

• Establishing the Commission on History, Culture, and Civics in Education to make recommendations to further discovery, interpretation, and learning;

• Prohibiting a county board, public prekindergarten program or primary or secondary school, or nonpublic prekindergarten program or primary or secondary school that receives State funds from discriminating against a person, refusing enrollment of, expelling, or withholding privileges from any student or prospective student, or taking certain retaliatory actions on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability; providing certain penalties;

• Requiring the State Department of Education to disaggregate certain discipline-related data in an electronic spreadsheet format for the Department's website; 

• Establishing the Task Force to Study Access to Mental Health Care in Higher Education; requiring the Task Force to study and make recommendations regarding barriers to providing mental health services on campus, the use of telemedicine, video conferencing and hotlines, and implementation of counseling services;

• Requiring the State Department of Education to establish the Voluntary Ethical Special Education Advocate Certificate Program on or before July 1, 2022, for administration of a voluntary certificate program for ethical special education advocates;
  

​HB0025/SB0311 - Catastrophic Health Emergencies - Health Care Providers

• Altering the definition of "health care provider" for purposes of certain provisions of law governing catastrophic health emergencies to include an employee, an agent, or a contractor of a health care facility who provides or assists in the provision of health care services;
  

HB0069 - Single Use Plastics Restrictions

• Prohibiting, beginning January 1, 2022, a food service business from providing certain single-use food or beverage products to a certain customer unless requested by the customer;

• Requiring the Department of the Environment to develop, post, and maintain on its website a list of at-risk communities in the State by January 31, 2022; 
  

HB0347 - Criminal Law- Exploitation of Vulnerable Adult or Elderly Individual - Undue Influence

• Altering the definition of "undue influence" for purposes of provisions of law prohibiting the exploitation of certain vulnerable adults or individuals at least 68 years old that results in inequity; 

• Providing that a will may be made self-proved in a certain manner; establishing certain requirements for a self-proving will;
  

• Altering the contents of a certain report required by the Department of Human Services regarding children and foster youth in the State child welfare system;

• Establishing as first-degree child abuse three or more acts that constitute second-degree child abuse committed as a continuing course of conduct; 
  

• Altering the definition of "disabled law enforcement officer or rescue worker" for purposes of certain county or municipal corporation property tax credits to include an individual who became disabled as a result of or in the course of employment as a job series 1811 criminal investigator for a federal government agency; applying the Act to taxable years beginning after June 30, 2021; etc.
  

• Altering the minimum age, from 16 years to 12 years, at which a minor has the same capacity as an adult to consent to consultation, diagnosis, and certain treatment of a mental or emotional disorder by a health care provider or clinic;
  

• Authorizing the establishment of an Overdose and Infectious Disease Prevention Services Program by a community-based organization to provide a place for the consumption of pre-obtained drugs, provide sterile needles, administer first aid, and provide certain other services;

• Altering a provision of law to specify that a person who is experiencing a medical emergency, rather than a person who reasonably believes that the person is experiencing a medical emergency, after ingesting or using alcohol or drugs is immune from criminal arrest, charge, or prosecution for a drug or alcohol-related misdemeanor if the evidence for the arrest, charge, or prosecution was obtained solely as a result of the person seeking or receiving medical assistance; 

• Requiring each law enforcement agency to provide confidential access to an employee assistance program or a mental health program to address the mental health issues of police officers related to personal and work-related concerns;
  

• Requiring the Maryland Department of Health, in partnership with the Department of Aging, the Virginia I. Jones Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Council, and the Greater Maryland Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, to incorporate information regarding certain types of cognitive impairment into outreach programs administered by the Maryland Department of Health to educate health care providers and increase understanding and awareness of certain types of cognitive impairment.
  

• Requiring each residential service agency, beginning July 1, 2022, to ensure that certain individuals receive certain training relating to dementia; 03
  

• Establishing the Task Force on Oral Health in Maryland to study access to dental services for all State residents, identify areas lacking in dental services for a significant number of people, identify barriers to receiving services, analyze the impact of barriers, assess options to eliminate barriers, and make recommendations on methods to increase access to dental services;

• Renaming the Office of the Inspector General in the Maryland Department of Health to be the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Health

• Requiring the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities to publish, to a certain extent, health data that includes race and ethnicity information collected by the Office and to provide updates at least every 6 months;

• Altering certain circumstances to allow a petition for an emergency evaluation to be made for certain individuals who have a substance use disorder;

• Requiring the State designated exchange to participate in a certain advisory committee, maintain a certain data set, and provide data under certain circumstances; authorizing the State designated exchange to use certain data to improve outcomes for patients;

• Providing that an advanced practice registered nurse is not precluded from delegating a nursing or other technical task to an assistant under certain circumstances;
  

• Requiring the Maryland Department of Health to require that proposals requesting Behavioral Health Crisis Response Grant Program funding contain certain response standards that minimize law enforcement interaction for individuals in crisis; altering the proposals the Department is required to prioritize in awarding grants under the Program;

• Repealing the termination provisions for certain provisions of law relating to the eligibility of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners who provide Assertive Community Treatment or mobile treatment services to Maryland Medical Assistance Program recipients in a home or community-based setting through telemedicine to receive reimbursement for the health care services from the Program.
  

• Establishing the Maryland Suicide Fatality Review Committee, also referred to as the State Team, to identify and address the factors contributing to suicide deaths and facilitate system changes in the State to prevent suicides; 

• Establishing the Task Force to Study Access to Mental Health Care in Higher Education; 

• Establishing the Heat and Eat Program within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the Department of Human Services; providing that the purpose of the Program is to expand food access to households that are receiving or eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits

• Establishing the Mobile Laundry for the Homeless Pilot Program in the Division of Neighborhood Revitalization to provide funds to nonprofit organizations to establish or expand mobile laundry services for the homeless;
  

• Establishing the Workgroup on Minority Homeownership, Neighborhood Revitalization, and Household Wealth Equity; requiring the Workgroup to study and make recommendations to promote homeownership and create wealth-building opportunities for minority households and promote community revitalization through targeted investments in homeownership;

• Requiring the Department of Housing and Community Development to report to the General Assembly and the Governor by December 1 each year on the total of households receiving certain financial assistance disaggregated by race, disability status, and income;

• Establishing the Office of Digital Inclusion in the Department of Housing and Community Development to ensure that every resident of the State is supported by high-quality broadband Internet service at an affordable price, and has the tools necessary to use and take advantage of the Internet;