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SB0253 • 2026

Baltimore County Public Library - Collective Bargaining - Supervisory Employees

Baltimore County Public Library - Collective Bargaining - Supervisory Employees

Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Senator Hettleman
Last action
2026-05-26
Official status
Approved by the Governor - Chapter 756
Effective date
2026-07-01

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how many supervisory employees are needed to form a bargaining unit or whether there is a requirement for review by the County Executive.

Baltimore County Public Library Supervisory Employee Collective Bargaining

This law allows supervisory employees at the Baltimore County Public Library to form unions and engage in collective bargaining, while also defining certain management roles.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows supervisory employees of the Baltimore County Public Library to join or form employee organizations for collective bargaining purposes.
  • Establishes specific conditions under which an employee can be considered a management employee instead of a supervisory one.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Supervisory employees at the Baltimore County Public Library
  • The Board responsible for managing the library's operations

Terms To Know

Collective bargaining
Negotiations between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, benefits, and working conditions.
Bargaining unit
A defined group of employees who share common interests and are represented by the same union for collective bargaining purposes.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify how many supervisory employees must be involved to form a bargaining unit.
  • It is unclear what specific actions will change as a result of this legislation beyond allowing collective bargaining activities.
  • The exact impact on the library's budget and operations due to these changes remains uncertain.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-26 Post Passage

    Approved by the Governor - Chapter 756

  2. 2026-04-03 House

    Favorable Report by Government, Labor, and Elections

  3. 2026-03-26 House

    Hearing 4/02 at 1:00 p.m.

  4. 2026-03-22 House

    Third Reading Passed (96-31)

  5. 2026-03-21 Senate

    Returned Passed

  6. 2026-03-18 House

    Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed

  7. 2026-02-17 House

    Referred Government, Labor, and Elections

  8. 2026-02-16 Senate

    Favorable Report by Finance

  9. 2026-02-14 Senate

    Third Reading Passed (43-0)

  10. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Favorable Adopted

  11. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Second Reading Passed

  12. 2026-01-20 Senate

    Hearing 1/29 at 3:00 p.m.

  13. 2026-01-16 Senate

    First Reading Finance

  14. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - First - Baltimore County Public Library - Collective Bargaining - Supervisory Employees

  15. Maryland General Assembly

    Vote - Senate - Committee - Finance

  16. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - Third - Baltimore County Public Library - Collective Bargaining - Supervisory Employees

  17. Maryland General Assembly

    Vote - House - Committee - Government, Labor, and Elections

  18. Maryland General Assembly

    Text - Chapter - Baltimore County Public Library - Collective Bargaining - Supervisory Employees

Official Summary Text

Authorizing supervisory employees of the Baltimore County Public Library to form, join, and participate in an employee organization and engage in certain other activities related to collective bargaining; authorizing certain bargaining units for the employees of the Baltimore County Public Library; and altering certain provisions to provide that an employee may be deemed a certain management employee, rather than a supervisory employee, under certain circumstances.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken from the bill by amendment or deleted from the law by
amendment.
*sb0253*

SENATE BILL 253
F3 6lr2471
SB 914/25 – FIN CF HB 388
By: Senator Hettleman
Introduced and read first time: January 16, 2026
Assigned to: Finance
Committee Report: Favorable
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: February 12, 2026

CHAPTER ______

AN ACT concerning 1

Baltimore County Public Library – Collective Bargaining – Supervisory 2
Employees 3

FOR the purpose of authorizing supervisory employees of the Baltimore County Public 4
Library to form, join, and participate in an employee organization and engage in 5
certain other activities related to collective bargaining; authorizing certain 6
bargaining units for the employees of the Baltimore County Public Library; altering 7
certain provisions to provide that an employee may be deemed a certain management 8
employee, rather than a supervisory employee, under certain circumstances; and 9
generally relating to collective bargaining for supervisory employees of the Baltimore 10
County Public Library. 11

BY renumbering 12
Article – Education 13
Section 23–802 through 23–812 14
to be Section 23–803 through 23–813, respectively 15
Annotated Code of Maryland 16
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 17

BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 18
Article – Education 19
Section 23–801(a), (k), and (l) 20
Annotated Code of Maryland 21
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 22

2 SENATE BILL 253

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 1
Article – Education 2
Section 23–801(h) 3
Annotated Code of Maryland 4
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 5

BY adding to 6
Article – Education 7
Section 23–802 8
Annotated Code of Maryland 9
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 10

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
Article – Education 12
Section 23–803 and 23–810(a) 13
Annotated Code of Maryland 14
(2022 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 15
(As enacted by Section 1 of this Act) 16

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 17
That Section(s) 23 –802 through 23 –812 of Article – Education of the Annotated Code of 18
Maryland be renumbered to be Section(s) 23–803 through 23–813, respectively. 19

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That the Laws of Maryland read 20
as follows: 21

Article – Education 22

23–801. 23

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 24

(h) (1) “Employee” means a full–time or part–time employee of the library. 25

(2) “Employee” does not include a confidential employee [,] OR 26
management employee[, or supervisory employee]. 27

(k) “Management employee” means an employee who generally has authority and 28
who: 29

(1) Formulates policy that is applicable throughout a bargaining unit; 30

(2) Has a significant role in personnel administration, employee relations, 31
or the preparation and administration of budgets for the employer; or 32

(3) May reasonably be required to: 33

SENATE BILL 253 3

(i) Assist directly in the preparation for and conduct of collective 1
bargaining negotiations on behalf of the employer; or 2

(ii) Have a major role in the administratio n of resulting collective 3
bargaining agreements. 4

(l) “Supervisory employee” means an employee who is authorized to: 5

(1) Hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, 6
reward, or discipline employees; 7

(2) Responsibly direct em ployees for more than 50% of the employee’s 8
working hours; or 9

(3) Address and resolve the grievances of employees. 10

23–802. 11

(A) THERE MAY NOT BE MORE THAN TWO BARGAINING UNITS ESTABLISHED 12
UNDER THIS SUBTITLE, INCLUDING: 13

(1) ONE BARGAINING UNIT F OR EMPLOYEES WHO ARE NO T 14
SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES; AND 15

(2) ONE BARGAINING UNIT FOR SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEES. 16

(B) THIS SUBTITLE MAY NOT BE CONSTRUED TO MODIFY OR TERMINATE: 17

(1) A BARGAINING UNIT THAT WAS RECOGNIZED OR IN EXISTENCE ON 18
OR BEFORE JUNE 30, 2026; OR 19

(2) A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO ON OR 20
BEFORE JUNE 30, 2026. 21

23–803. 22

(a) An employee who may effectively recommend an action listed in [§ 23–801(l)] 23
§ 23–801(K) of this subtitle may be deemed a [supervisory] MANAGEMENT employee if 24
the employee’s exercise of the authority requires the exercise of independent judgment and 25
is not merely of a routine or clerical nature. 26

(b) The exercise of any single function listed in [§ 23–801(l)] § 23–801(K) of this 27
subtitle may not necessarily require the conclusion that the individual exercising that 28
function is in fact a [supervisory] MANAGEMENT employee within the meaning of the 29
definition. 30
4 SENATE BILL 253

(c) In differentiating a [supervisory] MANAGEMENT employee from a 1
[nonsupervisory] NONMANAGEMENT employee: 2

(1) A class title alone may not be the basis for determination; and 3

(2) The nature of the [supervisory] MANAGEMENT employee’s work, 4
including whether or not a significant portion of the [supervisory] MANAGEMENT 5
employee’s working time is spent as part of a team that includes [nonsupervisory] 6
NONMANAGEMENT employees shall be considered. 7

23–810. 8

(a) The Board shall submit a term of a collective bargaining agreement or 9
memorandum of understanding entered into under [§§ 23 –807 and 23 –808] §§ 23–808 10
AND 23–809 of this subtitle to the County Executive with the Board’s recommendation 11
regarding whether the agreement or the mediator’s decision requires an appropriation of 12
additional funds. 13

SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 14
1, 2026. 15

Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.