During the 2022 legislative session, members of the WDC Advocacy Committee worked tirelessly to advocate for a total of 44 bills. Of those bills, 14 passed. Although we were pleased with our accomplishments, there is still much work to be done on important bills that did not survive. The fact that there is a new legislature starting in January 2023, makes our work even harder since many of the bills will have to be introduced anew.
On May 27th Governor Hogan vetoed another 18 bills (He vetoed 11 bills on April 8th). This action is particularly devastating since being an election year, the new legislature starting January 2023 cannot override vetoes of legislation passed by previous lawmakers. Two bills WDC directly advocated for were vetoed by the Governor. “The Time to Care Act” veto was immediately overridden by the legislature before sine die on April 9th. The “Act” establishes the Maryland Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. The “Stay of Eviction Proceeding for Rental Assistance Determination” bill was vetoed on May 27th. Although the traditional date for enacted bills to go into effect is October 1st, the earliest date for 2022 enacted bills to take effect can be as early as June 1st. In fact, the “Time to Care Act’ was a bill that went into effect on June 1st. Our families thank you!
WDC supported the following bills that ultimately passed:
