With the pressure of a vote on the state operating budget for the coming fiscal year looming over the day, Montgomery County legislators were still able to pass a few of their own bills under the wire during the final hours of the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session.
Closing day of the legislative session, known as “sine die,” is the last opportunity for lawmakers to pass any outstanding legislation. Any bill that does not pass on Monday by midnight will have to be reintroduced in the next 90-day session in January 2026. Montgomery County has nine legislative districts, with 26 delegates and nine senators.
As the hours counted down Monday, lawmakers grappled with how to resolve a $3 billion budget deficit while facing concerns about potential changes in federal funding. Other legislation was still pending as of Monday evening.
“This was a really tough session. We had to make some really hard choices,” Del. Linda Foley (D-Dist. 15), who represents Potomac, told Bethesda Today on Monday afternoon in between voting sessions in the House of Delegates. “I think we did a good job overall trying to navigate everything that’s going on. It’s not just the fact that we came in with the budget deficit, but also what’s going on in Washington, and that just makes it really tough.”
The final day of the legislative session is typically a flurry of activity as lawmakers attempt to push through as many bills as possible. However, Monday’s agenda presented a unique challenge as neither chamber had successfully passed a budget bill yet until later that afternoon.
The delay in finalizing a state budget has had a direct effect on Montgomery County’s process for determining its operating budget for fiscal year 2026, which starts July 1. When introducing his recommended spending plan on March 14, County Executive Marc Elrich (D) noted he could not finalize his proposal until state lawmakers passed a budget. Elrich said the county’s expected funding from the state could range between $22 million and $60 million and he expected to amend his proposal following the finalization of the state budget.
“This budget is not our final budget,” Elrich said at the time. “It’s not possible to close this out until the legislature closes [the state budget] out.”
Last-minute legislating
One bill that passed through the House of Delegates in the late hours of Monday afternoon was Eric’s ID Law, sponsored by Sen. Will Smith (D-Dist. 20) and Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, who both represent Silver Spring. It is named for their constituent, Eric Carpenter-Grantham of Silver Spring, who came up with the concept.
The legislation will allow Maryland residents with certain hidden disabilities to “opt-in” to have the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) place a special symbol — a butterfly logo — on their driver’s licenses or other state identification cards. The legislation will also require the MVA to conduct public outreach about the symbol program and would require law enforcement officers within the state to receive training about the program as well as working with individuals with invisible disabilities.
Another piece of legislation that unanimously passed Monday afternoon was named for Davis Martinez, a Silver Spring man who was murdered in Chevy Chase while working his job as a parole officer in May 2024. The legislation, sponsored by Del. Jared Solomon (D-Dist. 18), who represents Chevy Chase and Kensington, will require greater oversight and safety protocols for public correctional facilities and workplace protections for parole officers and other public safety workers.
Another bill passed Monday was sponsored by the entire Montgomery County delegation and will allow for speed monitoring camera systems to be placed on certain state highways in the county that are considered “high-risk” for vehicle crashes. The legislation will allow the county and municipalities within the county to collect fines for speeding drivers caught by the cameras, requiring that the funds be used only for the study, design and construction of safety-related projects.
MoCo lawmakers share successes
Montgomery County legislators who spoke to Bethesda Today on Monday shared that many of their efforts of which they were proud were either a response to the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration or were created to support marginalized and vulnerable communities.
While walking from the House floor to a last-minute committee session Monday afternoon, Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Dist. 39) told Bethesda Today that the highlight of her legislative year was the passage of legislation that will create a state fund to support abortion services as well as practical support services, such as travel and child care. But the fund will not use tax dollars – rather, it will tap into unspent insurance premiums for abortion coverage.
As a result of a provision of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are forced to “overcharge” for abortion coverage, according to Lopez, but are not allowed to spend those funds on anything other than abortion and related care. Because of this, insurers accrue about $3 million in unspent abortion premiums annually. Under the new law, companies will be required to transfer these funds to the Maryland Department of Health, which will in turn distribute the money to non-profit organizations that run abortion funds.
Lopez said she hopes the legislation will inspire lawmakers in other states to pursue similar legislation.
“We can now live out this example of how state legislators are really the front line in protecting all vulnerable populations,” Lopez said. “That means reproductive rights, immigrants, federal workers – these are all people who’ve been made vulnerable, and this is just one example of what we’re doing to try to fight for folks with the federal government basically being dismantled.”
Del. Aaron Kaufman (D-Dist. 18), who represents Chevy Chase and Kensington, told Bethesda Today before the late afternoon session that he was most proud of a bill he sponsored that will make it easier for powered wheelchairs to be repaired locally. It requires that powered wheelchair manufacturers provide certain software and parts information and tools to the owner of a wheelchair so that the wheelchair can be repaired without having to be sent back to the manufacturer.
Kaufman, who uses a powered wheelchair, said the legislation is important so that people who need their wheelchairs repaired aren’t without them for several weeks while the original manufacturer repairs them.
“If your wheelchair breaks, it’s like breaking your legs, and so many people have had to wait four to eight weeks or even more to get their wheelchair repaired,” Kaufman said. “My bill will allow wheelchairs to be repaired locally and faster and give people with disabilities more autonomy to repair their own chairs, because we want people with disabilities to have agency in their life.”
Kaufman said he was disappointed that two other pieces of legislation he sponsored regarding disability justice — one that aims to divert autistic people from the criminal justice system and another that addresses benefits exploitation of people with disabilities — didn’t make it far in the legislative process. He said he plans to reintroduce the legislation during the 2026 session.
Del. Joe Vogel (D-Dist. 17), who represents Rockville and Gaithersburg, told Bethesda Today in between voting sessions that he believes the environment in the Democratic-majority legislature in Maryland is the antithesis of what is happening in the federal government.
“Big picture, I’m actually really proud of the work that we did here this session. I see it as a very stark contrast to the chaos that we’re seeing from the federal government right now,” Vogel said. “We delivered on some key priorities … and passed a budget that I consider to be very responsible, considering the fiscal situation that Trump is contributing to.”
