There are a few new laws in Maryland that are now part of Maryland which were instituted on July the 1st. The first of these is Planned Parenthood, the Maryland legislature is backfilling potential federal cuts to Planned Parenthood. It will redirect $2 million from Maryland’s Medicaid budget, and $700,000 from the state general fund to Planned Parenthood. The legislation believes this will help protect access to women’s healthcare and family planning for Marylander across the state.
The next law put into order, is the Hometown Heroes law. Which will give a state tax break to retirement of law enforcement, firefighters, rescue, and emergency services personnel, 55 years and older. It will exempt the first $15,000 of retirement income from state taxes.
Staying on the tax paying topic, there will be a new taxpayer protection law. This will increase the ability of the comptroller's office to prevent tax fraud, hold fraudulent flyers, and tax preparers accountable and protect taxpayer information.
The next is something that could affect your weekend activities, which is the allowance of increased barrel sales in the state of Maryland. Maryland breweries will now be able to sell 2,000 barrels of beer a year. This was lead by the company Diageo, who owns the famous beer company Guinness, which is opening a new brewery in Baltimore County. They would be the largest brewery in Maryland, and believed they could sell more than the 500 barrels, which was the limit previously.
The next new law is the raising of the minimum wage here in Maryland. It was previously $8.75, and now will be raised to $9.25, increasing the minimum wage by 50 cents.
We also have a new law to protect the bees! An integral part of our eco-system, there are many pesticides that are harmful to bees, and this law will prevent people and farmers from using certain pesticides that may hurt bees. Maryland is one of the first states to implement this act, and hopefully more will follow suit.
And lastly, and perhaps most excitedly, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will change its name to the Maryland Health Department. Riveting final law!