The 447th session of the Maryland General Assembly began on January 8, 2025 and ended on April 7, 2025.
Health Choice Maryland tracked hundreds of bills and had calls to action for 21 bills. Some bills of note that passed in the Maryland legislature this past session are highlighted below. Pay particular attention to HB1315 which gives pharmacists expanded authority for vaccinating children. You can click on the link to read the bill yourself.
Also click on the bottom link for an interview with RFK,Jr. on the first 100 days of his tenure.
PASSED and was signed by the Governor:
HB0114 Establishing requirements for the commercial application of general use pesticides.
PASSED both houses but is not yet signed by the Governor:
SB0399 Would allow overhead transmission lines to be be constructed in certain protected wild land areas by exempting them from protection but would require the applicant to provide wild land impact mitigation guarantees.
HB0996 Requiring a retailer to disclose certain information about Phenibut products; prohibitions related to the preparation, distribution, and sale of phenibut products; prohibiting the marketing/sale of phenibut to individuals under the age of 21 years.
HB1007 Prohibiting insurance carriers that offer life insurance or disability insurance policies from discriminating against an individual based on certain medical information; prohibiting certain carriers from accessing medical information without consent or mandating genetic testing as a prerequisite for life insurance or disability insurance.
HB1315 This bill allows a pharmacist to vaccinate a child as young as 3 with a flu vaccine, Covid vaccine or in response to a public health emergency. It does not say anything about the need for informed parental consent for vaccination for any child under 18 years of age.
With regard to health issues including vaccines for children, we have linked an interview with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. concerning the first 100 days of his tenure and the plan ahead.