Legislation

2009 LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP


Legislative Resources

Our 2009 Legislative Agenda

Transgender Anti-Discrimination

This bill would add gender identity to existing state law prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and credit.

Equality Maryland strongly supports:


HOUSE BILL 474

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Del. Peña-Melnyk
  • Cosponsors: Del. Ali, Anderson, Barkley, Barnes, Barve, Beidle, Benson, Bobo, Branch, Bronrott, Carr, Carter, V. Clagett, Conaway, Doory, Dumais, Feldman, Frick, Frush, Gaines, Gilchrist, Glenn, Gutierrez, Guzzone, Hammen, Harrison, Healey, Hecht, Hixson, Holmes, Hubbard, Hucker, Ivey, Jones, Kaiser, Kirk, Krysiak, Lafferty, Lee, Levi, Love, Manno, McHale, McIntosh, Mizeur, Montgomery, Nathan-Pulliam, Niemann, Oaks, Ramirez, Reznik, Rice, Riley, Robinson, Rosenberg, Ross, Schuler, Stukes, Tarrant, F. Turner, V. Turner, Valderrama, Vallario, Vaughn, Waldstreicher, and Walker
  • Status: A hearing was held on February 25 at 1:00 p.m. in the House Health and Government Operations Committee. No further action was taken.

SENATE BILL 566

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Sen. Madaleno
  • Cosponsors: Sen. Conway, Forehand, Garagiola, Gladden, Harrington, Jones, King, Lenett, McFadden, Pinsky, Pugh, Raskin, and Rosapepe
  • Status: A hearing was held on March 4 at 1:00 p.m. in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. No further action was taken.

Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act

This bill would allow two people, regardless of their gender, to marry, so long as they were otherwise eligible to be married under Maryland law. It would also guarantee the freedom of religions and religious leaders to perform and honor only those marriages that are consistent with their religious tenets.

Equality Maryland strongly supports:


HOUSE BILL 1055

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Del. Barnes, McIntosh, Mizeur, and Kaiser
  • Cosponsors: Del. Ali, Anderson, Barkley, Barve, Bobo, Bronrott, Carr, Carter, Dumais, Feldman, Frick, Frush, Gaines, Gilchrist, Gutierrez, Guzzone, Harrison, Heller, Hixson, Hubbard, Hucker, Ivey, Kirk, Kramer, Krysiak, Lee, Manno, Montgomery, Niemann, Pena-Melnyk, Pendergrass, Ramirez, Reznik, Rice, Rosenberg, Schuler, Stukes, F. Turner, Valderrama, and Waldstreicher
  • Status: A hearing was held on March 12 at 1:00 p.m. in the House Judiciary Committee. No further action was taken.

SENATE BILL 565

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Sen. Madaleno and Raskin
  • Cosponsors: Sen. Forehand, Gladden, Kramer, Lenett, McFadden, Pinsky, and Pugh
  • Status: A hearing was held on March 11 at 1:00 p.m. in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. No further action was taken.

Click here for video interviews and news coverage from the 2009 legislative hearings for the RFCMPA.

WHY NOT CIVIL UNIONS?


Experience and common sense tell us that "separate but equal" does not work. Here are some resources to help make that argument:

Civil Union Laws Don't Ensure Benefits
Civil Limits in Vermont
Not marriage, not fair
2 Months After Civil Union Law, Problems Finding True Equality
Differences between marriage and civil unions (PDF)
N.J. Civil Union Law Has Fallen Short, Commission Is Told
The Inadequacy of Civil Unions
New Jersey Civil Union Board Hears Bias Charge
Insurance unclear in civil unions
Report: Civil union law fails to achieve goal of equality
Report criticizes N.J. civil union law

Inheritance Tax Exemption

This bill would add "domestic partners" to the list of family members who can inherit property without paying an inheritance tax.

Equality Maryland strongly supports:


HOUSE BILL 1215

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Del. Hixson
  • Cosponsors: Del. Hucker, Kaiser, Mizeur, Montgomery, Niemann, Rice, and Ross
  • Status: The bill was signed by Gov. O'Malley and went into effect on July 1, 2009.

SENATE BILL 785

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Sen. Robey and Madaleno
  • Status: This bill was passed by the Senate 28-19 on April 3rd to cover only same-sex couples. After being amended by House Committee to include both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners, it was passed by the House of Delegates on April 13th by a vote of 94-38-4. The bill was signed by Gov. O'Malley and went into effect on July 1, 2009.

Maryland Family and Medical Leave Act

The bill will require employers subject to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow their employees to take leave under the FMLA to care for additional family members, including domestic partners and children of domestic partners.

Equality Maryland strongly supports:


HOUSE BILL 902

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Del. Mizeur
  • Cosponsors: Del. Barkley, Bronrott, Carr, Feldman, Frick, Gilchrist, Lafferty, Lee, Manno, Montgomery, F. Turner, and Waldstreicher
  • Status: The bill died at the end of the 2009 legislative session but may be revived in 2010 after additional study.

Domestic Partner Benefits for State Employees

This year, Gov. O'Malley proposed extending healthcare, retirement and other benefits to state employees' domestic partners and dependent children. Equality Maryland worked vigorously to ensure that that these benefits remained in the fiscal year 2010 budget. They went into effect July 2009.

Defeating Anti-Gay Constitutional Amendments

Sadly, this year's legislative session will no doubt bring further attempts to deny rights to LGBT Marylanders by writing discrimination into the state constitution. Equality Maryland will make sure that, once again, these efforts find little traction in the General Assembly.

Equality Maryland strongly opposes:


HOUSE BILL 913

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Del. Dwyer
  • Cosponsors: Del. Bartlett, Bates, Beitzel, Boteler, Eckardt, Elmore, Frank, George, Haddaway, Impallaria, Jennings, King, Kipke, Krebs, McComas, McConkey, McDonough, Miller, Myers, Norman, O'Donnell, Schuh, Serafini, Shank, Shewell, Sossi, Stocksdale, Stull, Walkup, and Wood
  • Status: A hearing was held on March 12 at 1:00 p.m. in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill was issued an unfavorable report by the Judiciary Committee, killing the measure for the year.

SENATE BILL 647

  • Text of bill
  • Sponsor: Sen. Greenip
  • Cosponsors: Sen. Colburn, Haines, Harris, Jacobs, Mooney, Simonaire, Stoltzfus, and Stone
  • Status: A hearing was held on March 11 at 1:00 p.m. in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. No further action was taken.

If any of these bills or issues are crucial to you or your family, or you have a story to tell about how your family has been harmed by the denial of the protections of marriage, please let us know! Send an email to info@EqualityMaryland.org or call (888) 440-9944.



Other bills we support

Although Equality Maryland's primary goal is to secure and protect the rights of LGBT Marylanders, we also support the following bills out of a broader concern for the civil rights of all citizens.

Freedom of Association and Assembly Protection Act of 2009


This legislation passed by a unanimous vote in both the House and the Senate to prohibit all Maryland law enforcement from spying on and infiltrating political activity and prohibits the compilation and dissemination of political dossiers.

The differences between the final bill and the model legislation promoted by the ACLU of Maryland and Equality Maryland are outlined below.

INVESTIGATIONS: Covert investigations involving "first amendment activities" are prohibited unless there is written authorization that documents a reasonable, articulable suspicion that targets are planning or engaged in criminal activity, AND that a less intrusive method is not likely to yield satisfactory results.

A covert investigation is defined as the infiltration or attempt to infiltrate in a manner that conceals the identity of law enforcement.

All investigations involving "first amendment activities" must be justified by a legitimate law enforcement objective; have clear termination triggers; and cannot be for the purpose of harassment, retaliation, or interference with exercise of First Amendment rights. Such investigations must respect constitutional rights.

All law enforcement must adopt policies that conform to these requirements.

INFORMATION/DOSSIERS: Dossiers about political beliefs and associations are prohibited. Such information must be relevant to a criminal investigation to be maintained. There is an exception that permits such information to be collected and maintain with a reasonable articulable suspicion that “ADVOCATES, SUPPORTS, OR ENCOURAGES THE VIOLATION OF ANY FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL CRIMINAL LAW THAT PROHIBITS ACTS OF TERRORISM, RACKETEERING ACTIVITY, AS DEFINED IN 18 U.S.C. § 1961, VIOLENCE, EXTORTION, DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, INTIMIDATION, HARASSMENT, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE, OR FRAUD."

All information in criminal intelligence files must be evaluated for reliability, "validity" and accuracy and must be accurately classified. Nothing can be maintained that has been obtained in violation of law. Dissemination of criminal intelligence information is limited to "appropriate persons" for a legitimate law enforcement objective. All law enforcement must adopt policies regarding retention, purging, review, audit and dissemination of criminal intelligence files.

WRONGFUL TARGETS: The end of the bill requires the MSP to search their database for wrongful terrorism targets; notify those individuals, provide them with their files and thereafter purge their files. MSP must revise or discontinue use of the Case Explorer Database. MSP must report to the General Assembly on these mandates by January 1, 2010. Note that at the bill hearings, the MSP reported that they had discontinued use of the Case Explorer Database.

2008 Legislative Wrap-Up


FAQs on New Domestic Partner Laws