Bill Filing Deadline

Just as I was completing my weekly email, my teammate Delegate Ariana Kelly was selected to fill the term of our now departed State Senator, Susan Lee.  Ariana's name now goes to the Governor for further action.   Congratulations Ariana!
 
We are more than one-third of the way through the 2023 legislative session and have passed the bill filing deadline, the date by which legislation must be introduced to be guaranteed a hearing.  1,226 bills have been introduced in the House and 890 in the Senate.  You can browse every House bill here. As I have shared previously, I am the primary sponsor of nine bills as well as one piece of local legislation.  Six of the bills have already had bill hearings and two more will be heard later today.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
 
The bill hearings for four pieces of legislation I have introduced occurred last week.
 

• The Net Metering Flexibility Act would further incentivize the use of solar panels by making the program for compensating solar panel owners for excess generation more consumer friendly.  Watch the hearing here.
• The Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Sunset Act would require a sunset review of this forty year old authority created to build incinerators.  Watch the hearing here.
• The Young Readers Program Expansion Act would build on a program created last year to support county-based programs that send books to young Marylanders.  Watch the hearing here.
• The Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act would add binding arbitration to Maryland's collective bargaining law for state employees.  Watch the hearing here.

 
COMMUNITY NEWS
 
State legislators have the opportunity to award scholarships to our constituents for their higher education.  If you are interested in a scholarship, please visit https://www.marckorman.com/scholarship.html for further information about how to apply.
 
-----
 
In a prior update, I shared information about the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Accountability and Implementation Board.  The Board now has a vacancy and if you are interested in applying, more information is available here.
 
UPCOMING EVENTS

• Montgomery County will hold a virtual meeting on Wednesday, February 15 at 3:30pm (tonight) on a one-year Tuckerman Lane road diet pilot.  Click here to view the pilot plan and get the link to the virtual meeting on February 15. Send any questions and comments to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation at tuckermanlane@montgomerycountymd.gov.  
• Also tonight (Wednesday, February 15, 2023) from 7 – 8:30 p.m, Montgomery County Parks will hold a virtual meeting to present data from traffic studies conducted on Little Falls Parkway between Arlington Road and Dorset Avenue.  Further information is available here.
• On Thursday, February 23 at 7:30am, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club will hear from Chuck Rosenberg, a former FBI and Department of Justice staffer.  Email keller.johnw@gmail.com for more information.
• The Montgomery County Department of Transportation will hold a virtual meeting on March 1 at 7pm to discuss proposed construction of sidewalks on several streets in Bethesda's Kenwood Park community: Durbin Road, Lenox Road, Millwood Road, Kenhill Road, and Highboro Drive.   Online registration is required to attend the virtual meeting. On the morning of March 1, an invitation and link will be sent via email to those who registered. The public is encouraged to review the proposal files on the project website prior to the meeting. 
• On Monday, March 6 at 7:30am, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Democratic Breakfast Club will hear from our local County Councilman, Andrew Friedson.  Email keller.johnw@gmail.com for more information.

If you know of an upcoming District 16 event or a District 16 resident who merits recognition or condolences, please email marc@marckorman.com.