WASHINGTON — Maryland lawmakers have a full schedule this week as they prepare to discuss hundreds of bills.
The bills vary from cyberbullying to protecting birds from flying into buildings.
One bill going through the state senate would require buildings to be “bird-safe.” The idea behind SB1009 is to change lighting inside and outside state-run buildings so that birds don’t crash into them. Every year millions of birds become disoriented due to lighting and window design and die after striking structures.
Two bills the senate and the house will tackle concern boat safety. SB0019 will prohibit a business that winterizes boats from shrink wrapping the vessel until all procedures that require a worker to be inside the boat are complete. The proposal stems from a case involving a worker who died of apparent overexposure to carbon monoxide inside a boat that had already been shrink wrapped.
HB0795 would require carbon monoxide education for boat owners and for boats to be equipped with carbon monoxide detection system and prohibit the sale of motorboats without them.
Another bill going through the senate would allow victims or parents of victims of cyber bullying to file an injunction against a certain individual. SB0725 also authorizes a school principal to make a report if the school has reason to believe a student behaved in a way that constitutes a criminal offense.
A law enforcement bill on the schedule for legislators targets authorities who intentionally disable or fail to activate body-worn cameras. SB0495 would make the offense a felony. In January, a grand jury indicted a Baltimore police officer on a misconduct charge connected to the use of a body-worn camera. The officer also faces a charge of fabricating evidence.
For a complete list of bills for the 2018 session, go to the Maryland General Assembly’s website.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
