Well we are on the cusp of Sine Die!
** Sine Die and Six Bills Pass…So Far
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In the 11th Hour
Sine Die is upon us…the last day of the 90 day session in Annapolis. We have worked our hardest to make sure different laws have passed, the budget especially, and making sure we serve the people in our districts in the most appropriate and constitutional ways! I am proud to say that I have had six bills pass…so far…and I am looking forward to what the final day brings.
** A Big Thank You to My Intern Daileah Ramirez
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This year I was proud to have Ms. Daileah Ramirez (pictured above on the left with her sister and fiancé) as a member of my staff. She has been beyond helpful and has proven to be an asset in the office. It was a pleasure working with her and my Chief of Staff Samuel Lawrence and Legislative Director Linda Widmyer have also expressed their gratitude to her.
** Six Bills Pass…So Far
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I am proud to announce that six bills have passed the General Assembly and are moving to the Governor’s desk:
I am glad that I have been able to move four bills passed one hurdle before eventually going to the Governor’s desk for signature. This week I will be putting out the final bill passage for all of my bills and see what has passed beyond these. Below I have included a synopsis of each of the bills that have passed:
Senate Bill 402: Correctional Training Commission – Membership – Alterations
Senate Bill 402 alters the governing body of the Correctional Training Commission so the members of the commission appointed by the Governor will represent five different geographic regions. The Regions represented will be called Capital, Central, Eastern Shore, Southern, and Western. The Western Region includes our three counties of Garrett, Allegany, and Washington. Going forward, each county will be accurately represented in the commission.
Senate Bill 428: Garrett County Alcoholic Beverages Act of 2024
Another local bill for Garrett County, this establishes a Class B license in Garrett County. The bill establishes a Class B-resort beer license, a resort beer and wine license, and a beer, wine, and liquor festival license in Garrett County. This bill will alter the hours of sale for alcoholic beverages on Sundays for certain licenses as well as requiring that at least one applicant be a resident of the State of Maryland. This will also prohibit alcoholic beverages from being brought into places of adult entertainment to be consumed or transferred.
Senate Bill 521: Garrett County – Sheriff’s Salary – Alteration
A local bill for Garrett County, Senate Bill 521 alters the salary of the Sheriff of Garrett County. It will increase the Sheriff’s salary to 80% of the salary of the State’s Attorney of Garrett County and it repeals the unnecessary need for a study to be conducted to decide whether an increase in the Sheriff’s salary is necessary or not as they are already studying the salary of the State’s Attorney.
Senate Bill 558: Garrett County – Procurement – Bids and Contract
This was a local bill requested by the Garrett County Commissioners. When advertising for contractual services, Garrett County’s minimum dollar value had been $25,000. This bill will increase the minimum amount to $50,000 thus making Garrett County more competitive and will help align our county with the rest of the State of Maryland.
Senate Bill 799: Health Occupations – Limited License to Practice Dentistry – Services for Adults
As you know one of my personal passions throughout my time in the General Assembly has been dental care. If you have good dental health care, then the rest will fall into place. In the House I was your Dental Delegate and now I am proud to be known as Senator Smiles! I introduced Senate Bill 799 in order to assist in the shortage of dental providers for basic adult dental procedures while promoting experience for those new in the dentistry field. In certain Maryland communities, there are not enough dentists to effectively treat our population. Thus, this will eliminate some barriers for dental to students to gain hands-on experience before eventually starting a dental career. Our communities will benefit greatly in health care from this bill!
Senate Bill 1071: Hospitals – Opioid Overdose – Medication-Assisted Treatment
A bipartisan bill I was proud to get passed was Senate Bill 1071. In this bill I wanted to address the opioid-related overdoses that are, unfortunately plaguing our state and district. The bill will require hospitals to possess and administer medication that is helpful in treating those who are effected by opioid addiction. The Governor’s budget will include $500,000 from the Opioid Restitution Fund to provide the adequate funding for this bill. I am so proud to have this passed unanimously and assist in the end of our opioid epidemic.
Throughout this Session, I want to hear from you. I serve Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties and all of your voices are important to me. The best way to represent you is to have your voice heard. Please feel free to contact my Annapolis Office at (410) 841-3565 or my District Office at (240) 362-7040. My public email address is now mike.mckay@senate.state.md.us. Please feel free to email me at anytime. I also have a District Office at the Williamsport Town Hall. It is on the second floor in the first office. Our mailing address below remains the same however.
I continue to be your voice and advocate in Annapolis so I want to hear from you. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or what I can do to help you. I am on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the Executive Nominations Committee. All of our hearings are streamed live on Youtube and the MGA website.
If you are interested in seeing where my bills are in the process, you can create a MyMGA account or you can click here to view bills I am sponsoring by clicking “Legislation” under my name. You can sign up to testify on any bill you wish.