🏛️ Legislative Update — March 9-13, 2026

Union Night Rally - Monday, March 9

Join 600+ union sisters and brothers in celebrating and demonstrating Labor’s Power in Solidarity!

We are pushing collective bargaining expansion, wage theft enforcement, binding arbitration for public employees, and UI increased benefits. 

Next Week’s Agenda

Next week touches nearly every major labor issue:

• Prevailing wage protections
• Heat and workplace safety standards
• Collective bargaining rights
• Education wage floors
• AI and surveillance oversight
• Public workforce recruitment and retention
• Opposition to iGaming expansion
• Responsible use of taxpayer funds
  
   

It’s a pivotal stretch in the session. Engagement with committee members now — especially in Senate Finance and House Government, Labor, and Elections — will shape outcomes that affect workers across Maryland. It is not too late to email legislators with your thoughts on these bills. If you need help contacting people, please reach out to Elizabeth Bobo at ebobo@mddclabor.org

What’s Happening the Week of March 9-13 | Annapolis

🔴 LABOR TESTIFYING IN PERSON 

🟡 SUBMITTING WRITTEN TESTIMONY

🔵 MONITORING

📅 Tuesday, March 10

🟡 HB 19 – Maryland Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
House Appropriations
Establishes a public service loan forgiveness program to support workers in public and nonprofit sectors.

🟡 HB 1165 – State Procurement: Apprenticeship Program Accountability and Completion
House Government, Labor, and Elections
Strengthens accountability standards tied to apprenticeship programs connected to state procurement contracts.

🔵 HB 1572 – Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard – Waste-to-Energy
House Environment and Transportation
Alters what qualifies under Maryland’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, including waste-to-energy sources.

📅 Wednesday, March 11

(An extremely heavy labor day in Senate Finance and multiple House committees. Testimony for these bills is due on Monday between 8AM-6PM. If you need help submitting testimony, please email Elizabeth Bobo at ebobo@mddclabor.org.)

🔵 SB 675 – Prevailing Wage Rate Calculation
Updates how prevailing wage rates are calculated on public projects 

🟡 SB 887 – Greenhouse Workers: Collective Bargaining & Heat Protection
Extends organizing rights and strengthens workplace heat protections for agricultural greenhouse workers who have been excluded from the right to organize. 

🔴 SB 804 – Revisions to Heat Stress Standards (oppose)
Changes to Maryland Occupational Safety and Health heat protections.

🟡 SB 900 – Noncompete & Conflict of Interest Clauses – Employer Relocation
Limits abusive noncompete provisions tied to forced relocation.

🔴 SB 831 – Labor Law Reform (Child Labor, Private Sector Labor Relations, State Employee Standards)

Comprehensive labor standards bill strengthening enforcement and protections.

🔴 HB 1492 – Public Employees: Revocation of Certification & School/Library Right to Strike
Would alter certification and strike rights for certain public employees — significant implications for organizing and bargaining power.

🟡 SB 857 – Maryland Employee Civic Activity and Lawful Expression Protection Act
Protects employees from retaliation for lawful civic engagement.

🟡 HB 1205 – Minimum Wage for Education Support Professionals
Establishes a wage floor for paraprofessionals and school support staff.

🔵 SB 880 – Part-Time State Employment Pilot Program
Creates a pilot to address recruitment, retention, and reentry in state employment.

🎓 Higher Education & Workforce

🔵 SB 509 – Workforce Pell Grant Program Implementation
Implements expanded workforce-focused higher education funding.

🟡 SB 597 – Maryland Artificial Intelligence Partnership
Establishes a statewide higher education AI partnership initiative.

🎰 iGaming Expansion

🔴 SB 761 – Internet Gaming Referendum 
🔴 SB 885 – Internet Gaming & Online Bingo Authorization 
🔴 SB 884 – Internet Poker Authorization and Regulation Act 

Expands commercial gaming into online platforms — ongoing debate about labor standards, revenue allocation, and community impact.

Consumer & Pricing Protections 

🔵  SB 886 – Food Service Facilities & Minimum Wage
Addresses wage standards within food service operations.

📅 Thursday, March 12

🟡 HB 1385 – Health Insurance: Use of Artificial Intelligence – Human Evaluation
Requires human review in certain AI-driven health insurance determinations.

🔴 SB 922 – Collective Bargaining – Local Government Employees & Public Employee Relations Act 
Modernizes and strengthens collective bargaining protections.

🔴 SB 889 – Electronic Shelf Labels & Surveillance-Based Price and Wage Setting
Targets surveillance pricing and the use of electronic shelf labels — a major consumer and labor issue tied to grocery pricing and wage-setting transparency.

📝 HOW TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY

Planning to testify on upcoming legislation? Great. To ensure that your testimony counts, follow the rules and use the tools available.

👉 Step-by-step instructions are available here: https://mddclabor.org/how-testify-maryland-general-assembly-step-step-guide

Testimony Guidelines to Know

• All testimony submissions (oral sign-up and written testimony) must be completed through the MyMGA portal.
• Testimony opens up 2 business days before the hearing date (i.e. if your bill is heard on a Tuesday, testimony is due by Friday). Testimony is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm.
• The bill orders are usually posted on the website by noon on the day of the hearing.
• All testimony will be public record and searchable online.
• No late submissions. Miss the deadline or try to switch from in-person to virtual after it closes, and you’re out.

Need help? You don’t have to figure this out alone. If you have questions or run into issues submitting testimony, reach out to Elizabeth Bobo at ebobo@mddclabor.org.

Upcoming Events

Union Night in Annapolis
🗓 Monday, March 9 | 🕠 6PM
📍 Lawyer's Mall, Annapolis

Labor Lobbyist Meeting
🗓 Monday, March 16 | 🕠 5PM
📍 Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO HQ | 7 School Street, Annapolis

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