Local Public Campaign Financing - County Boards of Education

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0962*

HOUSE BILL 962
G1 6lr1103

By: Delegates Woorman, Acevero, Behler, Kaufman, Palakovich Carr, Terrasa,
and Wims
Introduced and read first time: February 6, 2026
Assigned to: Government, Labor, and Elections

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Local Public Campaign Financing – County Boards of Education 2

FOR the purpose of authorizing the governing body of a county to establish a system of 3
public campaign financing for elected members of the county board of education; and 4
generally relating to the expansion of local public campaign financing. 5

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 6
Article – Election Law 7
Section 13–505 8
Annotated Code of Maryland 9
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 10

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 11
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 12

Article – Election Law 13

13–505. 14

(a) In this section, “contested election committee” means a contested election 15
committee established under Title 12, Subtitle 3 of this article. 16

(b) (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the governing body of a county 17
may establish, by law, a system of public campaign financing for: 18

(I) elective offices in the executive or legislative branches of county 19
government; OR 20

(II) ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION. 21
2 HOUSE BILL 962

(2) A system of public fina ncing established under paragraph (1) of this 1
subsection may include public financing of a contested election committee. 2

(3) When establishing a system of public campaign financing for [elective 3
offices in the executive or legislative branches of county government] AN OFFICE UNDER 4
PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION, the governing body of a county shall: 5

(i) specify the criteria that are to be used to determine whether an 6
individual is eligible for public campaign financing; and 7

(ii) provide the funding and staff necessary for the operation, 8
administration, and auditing of the system of public campaign financing. 9

(c) A system of public campaign financing enacted under subsection (b) of this 10
section: 11

(1) shall provide for participation of cand idates in public campaign 12
financing on a strictly voluntary basis; 13

(2) may not regulate candidates who choose not to participate in public 14
campaign financing; 15

(3) shall prohibit the use of public campaign financing for any campaign 16
except a campaign for [county] LOCAL elective office; 17

(4) shall require a candidate who accepts public campaign financing to: 18

(i) establish a campaign finance entity solely for the campaign for 19
[county] LOCAL elective office; and 20

(ii) use funds from that campaign finance entity only for the 21
campaign for [county] LOCAL elective office; 22

(5) shall prohibit a candidate who accepts public campaign financing from 23
transferring funds: 24

(i) to the campaign finance entity established to finance the 25
campaign for [county] LOCAL elective office from any other campaign finance entity 26
established for the candidate; and 27

(ii) from the campaign finance entity established to finance the 28
campaign for [county] LOCAL elective office to any other campaign finance entity; 29

(6) shall provide for a public election fund for [county] LOCAL elective 30
offices that is administered by the chief financial officer of the county; and 31
HOUSE BILL 962 3

(7) shall be subject to regulation and oversight by the State Board to ensure 1
conformity with State law and policy to the extent practicable. 2

(d) A system of public campaign financing enacted under subsection (b) of this 3
section may: 4

(1) provide for more stringent regulation of campaign finance activity by 5
candidates who choose to accept public campaign financing, including contributions, 6
expenditures, reporting, and campaign material, than is provided for by State law; 7

(2) provide for administrative penalties for violations, in accordance with § 8
10–202 of the Local Government Article; and 9

(3) allow a publicly financed candidate to transfer any amount of funds 10
from the candidate’s campaign finance entity to the candidate’s contested election 11
committee. 12

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 13
January 1, 2027. 14