Last summer, Maryland Del. Natalie Ziegler’s summer interns organized a “Shark Tank”-style contest to brainstorm ideas for new laws for Howard County in 2026.
There were no television cameras, just a fruit and cheese platter and pitches for how to make life better for county residents. Third place went to an idea that Ziegler said inspired her to propose a bill this session targeting illegal dumping.
“It seemed like the thing that was immediately doable,” said Ziegler, a Democrat.
Each winter, Howard County’s state lawmakers perform a similar exercise — minus the game show gimmick — of proposing local bills to file during the Maryland General Assembly’s session. In December, the lawmakers, all Democrats, floated ideas that would adjust the county’s funding obligation for schools, expand certain voting rights for teenagers in local elections and crack down on speeding.
The start of the session Wednesday means the Howard delegation must settle soon on which bills should move forward. Unanimous support from a county’s or city’s delegation generally improves a local bill’s chances of passing into law.
Howard’s all about schools
Of the dozen bills proposed, five touch on public education. Howard County’s public schools system faces a potential funding gap in the next fiscal year as well as a $194 million backlog of deferred maintenance at a time when the federal government is cutting spending and the state also faces a shortfall.
Del. Chao Wu, who represents District 9A, proposed a bill that would require the county to direct 58% of its general fund revenue to the school system. Last year, the county spent slightly more than that on education — but some of those dollars went to Howard Community College and the library system.
“Everything comes down to, we don’t have enough money for our school system,” he said.
Wu, who previously served on the Board of Education, said he settled on 58% because it was the level of funding about a decade ago.
Two proposed bills aim to expand student voting rights when it comes to the Board of Education.
Del. Jen Terrasa’s legislation would lower the voting age in Board of Education elections to 16 years old. The bill is unusual, but not unprecedented in Maryland. Takoma Park in Montgomery County lowered its voting age to 16 for municipal elections in 2013.
“We should be listening to people that age,” Terrasa said. “This gives them a vote in something that so closely impacts them.”
Ziegler proposed expanding the voting power of the student school board member to include the annual budget. The law currently stops short of giving the student member full voting rights, including on personnel matters and contract negotiations.
“There’s no point voting on policy if you can’t vote on budget,” Ziegler said of the bill. “We desperately need youth voices.”
The student member’s voting power was a major issue in 2020 and 2021, when officials deadlocked on major decisions about reopening the school system during the pandemic. With the adult members unable to agree, the student member would often cast the tie-breaking vote. Several Howard parents filed a legal challenge arguing that student members shouldn’t have any voting rights, but the courts ruled in the school board’s favor.
Some counties, such as Anne Arundel and Montgomery, already give their student member full voting rights. The issue has attracted support from some Howard County teens, more than a dozen of whom attended a public hearing in December to testify in favor of some of the bills.
Liquor, raises and licenses
Other proposed bills would bring changes to Howard’s liquor laws, boost salaries for certain law enforcement and put in place guardrails on county license agreements.
Del. Jessica Feldmark proposed expanding Howard’s liquor laws to allow for the sale and delivery of gift baskets containing alcohol.
Sen. Clarence Lam is pushing for a raise for the Howard County sheriff, to equal the salary of the police chief.
Del. Courtney Watson proposed a bill that would require Howard County to publish certain notices and provide an opportunity for objections before entering into certain license agreements with a for–profit entity. The idea arose from an incident in which a company leased parking spaces from Howard County and parked a commercial vehicle in a residentially zoned area, she said.
Howard County residents and stakeholders can weigh in on the proposed bills at a virtual public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 28.
Baltimore Banner reporter Jess Nocera contributed to this story.
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