Agenda Insights: Council to vote on reproductive health privacy legislation

Plus: Members will introduce a Child Investment Fund

March 18, 2024 3:01 p.m.

A vote on a reproductive health privacy bill and an introduction of a Child Investment Fund 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:

Reproductive health privacy

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The council will vote whether to approve a bill that would prohibit county employers from asking their employees or recruits questions about abortion care, miscarriage and other reproductive health information.

Employers within the county would still be permitted to ask questions about an employee or employee’s health history only to the extent that it is “business related” and relevant to the employee’s job duties, but sexual and reproductive history would be excluded.

“If it is not necessary to their employment, it should not be required for them to disclose,” said councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), who is co-sponsoring the legislation with councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), when it was introduced in December.

The council passed a similar bill in March that applied these restrictions to the county government as an employer.

Child Investment Fund

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Albornoz and councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large) plan to introduce a bill establishing a Child Investment Fund.

According to the legislation packet, the fund aims to “reduce wealth inequity in the County by establishing a non-lapsing fund to invest public monies for the ultimate benefit of children in low-income families in the County.”

For each child born in the county, $1,800 would be placed into the fund. When the child turns 18, they would be able to apply for disbursements from that account, until they turn 36, subject to income or wealth requirements that will be established by a 13-person committee.

The disbursements would be restricted to use for educational expenses, ownership of a county business, investment in a county business located, county property ownership or retirement investments.

Capital Improvement Program

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The council will host a second work session to review recommended projects for the upcoming CIP. The CIP is a six-year plan for capital improvements in the county that works in tandem with the county’s capital budget. It outlines the objectives of capital programs and their relationship to the county’s long-range development plans, recommendations for construction, and estimates of costs, revenue sources and impacts.

County Executive Marc Elrich (D) unveiled his proposed CIP and capital budget of $5.84 billion for fiscal years 2025-2030 in January. He released his proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025 on Thursday.

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