Yesterday was the last day of the legislative session and although it was a cool, gray, rainy day, there were still moments when the rain stopped, and the sun burst through. This is an apt description of this year’s legislative session as well.

At a time when economic protections and policies to promote racial equity are being decimated, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently on life support, Maryland’s General Assembly passed some great bills, some good bills, and some very bad bills for working families. Below are some of the bills that Economic Action was thrilled to lead and support.

The Great

Medical Debt

In 2023, 14% of Maryland households (or 327,600 households) have unaffordable medical debt that they cannot pay. Outpatient health providers and services are the cause of medical debt for 44% of households (or 144,144), while 23% (or 75,348) have medical debt from a hospital visit, and 30% (or 108,108) households hold medical debt from both outpatient and hospital care. Three new bills will help patients with hospital and outpatient medical debt:

• HB268/SB981-Hospital Financial Assistance and Debt Policies — sponsored by Del. Lorig Charkoudian and Sen. Steve Hershey, this bill establishes consistent income thresholds and consistent discounts for reduced-cost care for patients that qualify for financial assistance. It also prohibits hospitals from suing patients for medical debt of $500 or below–which will protect 3066 patients a year from lawsuits and makes Maryland the second state in the country to enact such a ban!
• HB438/SB349-Medical Debt Real Property Liens — sponsored by Del. Elizabeth Embry and Sen. Sara Love will prohibit a lien on a first home for any outpatient medical debt. No one should be unable to refinance, get home repair loans, or credit because they or a loved one fell ill.
• HB1020/SB614-The Fair Medical Debt Reporting Act — sponsored by Del. Julie Palakovich-Carr and Sen. Clarence Lam will prohibit outpatient medical debt from being adversely reported to credit agencies. Marylanders will not see their credit score fall because they sought healthcare for themselves or a loved one.

The Good

Energy

As Maryland families grapple with skyrocketing bills, Economic Action supported bills that, in time, will lead to lower rates for customers:

• HB960-The Ratepayer Freedom Act — sponsored by Del. Andre Johnson was folded into the House and Senate leadership energy package. The Act prohibits investor-owned utility companies from passing on the costs of their trade association fees and their private jets onto their customers. Maryland is the fourth state in the country to pass these reforms. In other states, these reforms have saved ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Aspects of HB419-The Ratepayer Protection Act sponsored by Del. Elizabeth Embry was also included in the House and Senate energy package. Now, utilities will have to demonstrate a customer benefit in order to justify multi-year rate plans.

Housing

Renters and homeowners are struggling with the high costs of staying in their home. In Maryland, 26% or 196,936 of renters are very low-income while Maryland homeowners have the fourth highest foreclosure filings in the nation. Two new bills advance our housing agenda, although much work remains unfinished.

• HB796/SB56 Foreclosure Filing Fee — sponsored by Del. Jeffrey Long and Sen. Charles Sydnor will raise the foreclosure filing fee $150 per filing to increase funding for housing counselors, financial literacy organizations and others that are working to keep tenants and homeowners in their homes.
• HB767/SB442 — sponsored by Del. Jen Terrasa and Sen. Charles Sydnor will provide tenants with clear notice about the timeline for their eviction. While this is a positive step forward for tenants it is far weaker than the original bill. The bill, as drafted, was originally named the Tenant Possession Recovery Act and protected renters’ personal possessions from being thrown out onto the curb after an eviction. The bill was weakened in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee so that tenants now will have notice of their pending eviction, but may still face the humiliation and indignity of having their possessions tossed onto a sidewalk.

Consumer Protection

• HB431 Consumer Protection-Consumer Contracts — sponsored by Del. Vaughn Stewart expands consumer protections in contracts, stating that if a contract sets a shorter timeline to bring an action than under law, it is void. Violations of the act are a violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

The Bad

• HB1516/SB1026 Maryland Secondary Market Act — sponsored by Del. Pam Queen and Sen. Pam Beidle at the request of Governor Moore’s Office of Financial Regulation creates a category of passive trusts for secondary mortgages that will be exempt from registration, licensing, regulation, or enforcement. This law is a boon for companies like Rocket Mortgage which was recently sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for illegal kickbacks. Advocates raised concerns that as drafted it was far too broad and would have rolled back consumer protections for a whole range of credit products. That language was eliminated from the bill, although huge concerns remain that the legislation will enable zombie mortgages to flourish and new products may emerge to skirt the loophole that has been created.
• HB1294 Earned Wage Access — sponsored by Del. C.T. Wilson and Del. Marlon Amprey legalizes costly fintech payday loans in which consumers pay fees and optional tips to borrow their own money before payday. The fees and tips will likely exceed Maryland’s decades old 33% rate cap.

The Unfinished

There were a number of good bills we supported that passed one chamber but did not make it passed the opposite chamber including SB107 which would have expanded fair housing testing, HB769 which would have created a statute of limitations for foreclosure, bringing Maryland in line with 47 other states, and HB332 which would have created new protections related to scams and wire fraud.

Economic Action’s small but mighty policy team weighed in on 83 bills, with written or oral testimony, led advocacy efforts on eight of the bills above, and supported the other bills led by our partner organizations and coalitions.

This is a critical time for economic rights, housing justice, and racial equity across the country and in Maryland where families are facing a cost-of-living crisis that is likely to increase as we brace for a possible recession. Thank YOU for the emails, calls, and shares of our social media. All of your actions helped us achieve a number of progressive policy wins and beat back the worst aspects of bad bills. Please help us continue our work next year by making a contribution today.

You can also read more about our Tenant Advocacy program, and Maryland policy advocacy work.