Agenda Insights: Montgomery County Council to introduce tenant rights legislation

Also: Public to testify on hookah lounge hours, cannabis community outreach

March 4, 2024 3:27 p.m.

Two new tenant rights bills, new tax credit proposals and public hearings on hookah lounge hours and cannabis community reform top the Montgomery County Council’s agenda this week.

The council will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting. Here’s what to expect:

Two new tenant rights bills

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Council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) will introduce a bill that would require apartment complexes to provide tenants with more information pertaining to emergencies and also notify them of the risks of living in a building without sprinklers.

The legislation was inspired in part by the 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex that claimed the life of a 25-year-old woman, as well as a massive power outage at a North Bethesda complex.

“[The bill] will mandate better notification for tenants in a number of areas in terms of when there are emergencies and also make sure that when tenants sign a lease, that they understand and are informed accurately about the type of insurance provided by their buildings,” Stewart told MoCo360 last month.

A second bill related to tenant rights is being introduced by councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large).

This legislation would require landlords to post notices regarding the use of criminal arrest and conviction information in rental housing decisions. Passage of the proposal would help the county comply with “ban the box” laws that aim to end discrimination against formerly incarcerated people.

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The council passed legislation in 2021 that states landlords cannot conduct a criminal background check on potential tenants prior to offering a rental price. However, the proposed legislation aims to ensure tenants are aware that they have these rights when seeking to rent a home.

Public hearings on hookah lounges, cannabis tax fund

The council will hear from the public at 1:30 p.m. on a bill that would restrict late-night business hours for hookah lounges and tobacco and vape shops, requiring them to close at 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.

The legislation is sponsored by Stewart and fellow councilmembers Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) and Evan Glass (D-At-large).

The bill is intended to align the late-night business hours of establishments that serve and sell tobacco and hookah with establishments that serve and sell alcohol. Under current county law, businesses that serve or sell alcohol must close by 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends, but there is no restriction on the hours of businesses that serve or sell tobacco and hookah.

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“There has been an increase in calls for service [in downtown Silver Spring], particularly from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., which has resulted in a drastic increase in the need for police presence in our central business districts at this time, and excess overtime expenditures,” Stewart said when introducing the bill last month.

Community members will also have the opportunity to voice their opinions on a new bill that would create a commission to determine how funds raised through cannabis taxes would be distributed to communities most impacted by cannabis prohibition.

In November 2022, Maryland voters overwhelmingly supported legalization of cannabis—more than 67% of voters were in favor. The Maryland General Assembly spent much of the 2023 session working on legislation to regulate and oversee cannabis use in the state.

One of the state laws passed by legislators created the state’s Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, which holds 35% of cannabis revenues from the new state recreational cannabis excise tax. Those funds will be split amongst Maryland jurisdictions, proportionate to the rate at which their residents faced prosecution for cannabis possession charges. Each jurisdiction is responsible for creating their own policies and methods for distributing those funds to community-based organizations.

“The recreational adult-use constitutional amendment in Maryland created new markets for economic opportunity to flourish. But we must recognize that it also highlighted inequity,” said councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), one of the lead sponsors of the bill. “White people will profit immensely from a new commodity that was just a few months ago contraband, funneling disproportionately Black and brown people into the criminal justice system.”

Potential tax credit for disabled veterans

Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) will introduce a new tax credit proposal for disabled veterans.

The credit would be available to honorably discharged veterans who are certified at least 50% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with an income of $100,000 or less.

Veterans considered 75% disabled or more could receive a credit worth 50% of the county property tax imposed on their home and veterans considered 50% to 74% disabled could receive a 25% credit.

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