Legislation

During the legislative session, the Maryland Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is responsible for monitoring various bills that enter the state legislature and may potentially impact the needs of Deaf and hard of hearing Marylanders. The office also ensures that the community remains informed of updates on hearings and votes on bills already introduced.

How Our Laws Are Made

To understand more about the legislative process and how a bill becomes a law, please review How a Bill Becomes Law.

This flowchart on the Maryland General Assembly may help you understand its structure. It will be helpful to also explore their website.

2017 Legislative Session

Citizens are encouraged to testify on issues of concern to them. To submit a written or oral testimony, please attend the bill’s scheduled hearing and refer to the Department of Legislative Services’ guidelines on providing testimonies; in particular, you will need to arrive early to sign the witness sheet before the hearing begins (typically at least an hour in advance) and provide copies of your testimony.

As the date gets closer to the hearing, the weekly hearing schedule will specify the number of copies of written testimony required and when to show up to sign the witness sheet before a hearing begins.

Please contact the Department of Legislative Services if you need accommodations for the hearing, such as sign language interpreters.

Scheduled Budget Hearings for the Office (2017)

• February 22nd, House of Delegates, Health and Human Resources Subcommittee
  • Room 150, HOB – 1:00 pm
• February 23rd, Senate, Health and Human Services Subcommittee
  • 3 West, Miller – 1:00 pm

The full schedule of all budget hearings is available here.

Scheduled Bill Hearings (2017) 

Below are some bills that the office is currently monitoring. To learn more about each bill, please click on the bill’s Legislative Resource Guide, if available.