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*hb0554*
HOUSE BILL 554
P5 6lr2431
By: The Speaker
Introduced and read first time: January 27, 2026
Assigned to: Government, Labor, and Elections
Committee Report: Favorable
House action: Adopted
Read second time: February 18, 2026
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
General Assembly – Legislative Committees – Renaming and Legislative Policy 2
Committee Membership 3
FOR the purpose of altering the membership of the Legislative Policy Committee; updating 4
the names of certain committees of the General Assembly that receive certain 5
required reports and notices; and generally relating to legislative committees and 6
the membership of the Legislative Policy Committee. 7
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 8
Article – Health – General 9
Section 13–1002(e)(3)(iii) and (g), 13–1102(f)(3)(iii) and (h), 15–146(b), 19–1409(b)(3), 10
19–14C–02(a), and 20–1701(c) 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 13
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 14
Article – Health – General 15
Section 19–1409(a) 16
Annotated Code of Maryland 17
(2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 18
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 19
Article – Insurance 20
Section 31–106(c)(2) and 31–110(g)(1) 21
Annotated Code of Maryland 22
2 HOUSE BILL 554
(2017 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 1
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 2
Article – Labor and Employment 3
Section 5–308.1(b) 4
Annotated Code of Maryland 5
(2025 Replacement Volume) 6
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 7
Article – State Government 8
Section 2–403(a)(2) and (b)(2) and 9–1007(b) 9
Annotated Code of Maryland 10
(2021 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 11
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 12
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 13
Article – Health – General 14
13–1002. 15
(e) (3) (iii) If the Department transfers any money among the components 16
of the Program as authorized under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the Department 17
shall report the transfer to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, Senate Finance 18
Committee, House Appropriations Committee, and House Health [and Government 19
Operations] Committee within 60 days of the transfer. 20
(g) No later than January 31 of each year, the Department shall report to the 21
Governor and, subject to § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the Senate Budget and 22
Taxation Committee, Senate Finance Committee, House Appropriations Committee, and 23
House Health [and Government Operations] Committee: 24
(1) The amount of money that was allocated to each component of the 25
Program during: 26
(i) The prior fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated at 27
the end of that year; and 28
(ii) The current fiscal yea r that remained unspent and unobligated 29
as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year; and 30
(2) The amount of money that was distributed to a county as a Local Public 31
Health Tobacco Grant during: 32
(i) The prior fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated at 33
the end of that year; and 34
HOUSE BILL 554 3
(ii) The current fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated 1
as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year. 2
13–1102. 3
(f) (3) (iii) If the Department transfers any money among the components 4
of the P rogram as authorized under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, the Department 5
shall report the transfer to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, Senate Finance 6
Committee, House Appropriations Committee, and House Health [and Government 7
Operations] Committee within 60 days after the transfer. 8
(h) No later than January 31 of each year, the Department shall report to the 9
Governor and, subject to § 2 –1257 of the State Government Article, Senate Budget and 10
Taxation Committee, Senate Finance Committee, Hous e Appropriations Committee, and 11
House Health [and Government Operations] Committee: 12
(1) The amount of money that was allocated to each component of the 13
Program during: 14
(i) The prior fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated at 15
the end of that year; and 16
(ii) The current fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated 17
as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year; and 18
(2) The amount of money that was distributed to a county as a Local Public 19
Health Cancer Grant during: 20
(i) The prior fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated at 21
the end of that year; and 22
(ii) The current fiscal year that remained unspent and unobligated 23
as of December 31 of the preceding calendar year. 24
15–146. 25
(b) At least 90 days prior to making any change to medical eligibility for Program 26
long–term care services, including nursing facility services, home – and community–based 27
waiver services, and other services that require a nursing facility level of care, the 28
Department shall provide a report to: 29
(1) The Senate Finance Committee and the House Health [and 30
Government Operations] Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government 31
Article; and 32
(2) The Medicaid Advisory Committee. 33
4 HOUSE BILL 554
19–1409. 1
(a) There is an Oversight Committee on Qu ality of Care in Nursing Homes and 2
Assisted Living Facilities. 3
(b) The Oversight Committee shall consist of the following members: 4
(3) Two members of the House Health [and Government Operations ] 5
Committee, appointed by the Speaker of the House; 6
19–14C–02. 7
(a) (1) If a State–owned nursing home that is operated by a contractor receives 8
a deficiency from or is subject to an enforcement action by a monitoring agency, within 15 9
days after the final survey finding, the department charged with oversight of the nursing 10
home shall provide notice of the deficiency or enforcement action to: 11
(i) The Governor; 12
(ii) In accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the 13
Senate Finance Committee, the House Health [and Government Operations] Committee, 14
and the members of the General Assembly who represent the district in which the nursing 15
home is located; and 16
(iii) The local governing body of the county in which the nursing home 17
is located. 18
(2) Within 30 days after the contractor’s fin al acceptance of a plan of 19
correction or completion of an informal dispute resolution, the department charged with 20
oversight of the nursing home shall provide to the Governor and, in accordance with § 21
2–1257 of the State Government Article, the Senate Finance Committee, the House Health 22
[and Government Operations] Committee, and the members of the General Assembly who 23
represent the district in which the nursing home is located: 24
(i) A statement of the deficiencies found by the monitoring agency; 25
(ii) The plan of correction or results of the informal dispute 26
resolution; and 27
(iii) All communications from the monitoring agency regarding 28
survey activities conducted at the nursing home. 29
20–1701. 30
(c) The Department shall provide written notice to th e Senate Finance 31
Committee and the House Health [and Government Operations ] Committee before 32
HOUSE BILL 554 5
submitting any proposed regulation under subsection (b) of this section to the Maryland 1
Register for publication. 2
Article – Insurance 3
31–106. 4
(c) (2) Unless waived by the chairs of the committees, at least 30 days before 5
submitting any proposed regulation to the Maryland Register for publication, the Board 6
shall submit the proposed regulation to the Senate Finance Committee and the House 7
Health [and Government Operations] Committee. 8
31–110. 9
(g) Before employing an alternative contracting option or active purchasing 10
strategy, the Exchange: 11
(1) on or after December 1, but not later than the first day of the next 12
regular session of the General Assembly, shall submit to the Senate Finance Committee 13
and the House Health [and Government Operations ] Committee, in accordance with § 14
2–1257 of the State Government Article, a plan for the use of the alternative contracting 15
option or active purchasing strategy, including an analysis of: 16
(i) the objectives to be achieved through use of the alternative 17
contracting option or active purchasing strategy; and 18
(ii) the impact on the insurance markets inside and outside the 19
Exchange and on consumers; and 20
Article – Labor and Employment 21
5–308.1. 22
(b) The Commissioner shall submit notice regarding any modifications made to, 23
or directives issued interpreting, the federal Bloodborne Pathogen Standard after 24
November 5, 1999 and, subject to § 2 –1257 of the State Government Article, make 25
recommendations for any legislative changes to the House Health [and Government 26
Operations] Committee, the Senate [Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs ] 27
FINANCE Committee, and the General Assembly within 30 days of the issuance of 28
modifications to the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard. 29
Article – State Government 30
2–403. 31
(a) The Legislative Policy Committee consists of the following 28 members: 32
6 HOUSE BILL 554
(2) from the House: 1
(i) the Speaker; 2
(ii) the Speaker Pro Tem; 3
(iii) the Majority Leader; 4
(iv) the Chair of the Appropriations Committee; 5
(v) the Chair of the Health [and Government Operations ] 6
Committee; 7
(vi) the Chair of the Economic Matters Committee; 8
(vii) the Chair of the Environment and Transportation Committee; 9
(VIII) THE CHAIR OF THE GOVERNMENT, LABOR, AND ELECTIONS 10
COMMITTEE; 11
[(viii)] (IX) the Chair of the Judiciary Committee; 12
[(ix)] (X) the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee; 13
[(x)] (XI) the Minority Leader; and 14
[(xi)] (XII) 1. [4] 3 other Delegates, appointed by the Speaker and 15
approved by majority vote of the House; or 16
2. if a Delegate simultaneously serves in 2 of the positions 17
set forth in items (ii) through [(ix)] (X), inclusive, of this item, [5] 4 other Delegates, 18
appointed by the Speaker and approved by majority vote of the House. 19
(b) (2) As far as possible, the Delegates appointed by the Speaker, under 20
subsection [(a)(2)(xi)] (A)(2)(XII) of this section, shall be representative of the various 21
sections and interests of the State. 22
9–1007. 23
(b) At the request of the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the 24
Chair of the Senate [Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs ] Committee ON 25
EDUCATION, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT, or the Chair of the House [Health and] 26
Government [Operations], LABOR, AND ELECTIONS Committee, the State Archivist shall 27
review, evaluate, and make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding State 28
designations under Title 7 of the General Provisions Article. 29
HOUSE BILL 554 7
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 1
1, 2026. 2
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.