One of a series of weekly commentaries from Harford County state legislators regarding the 2021 Maryland General Assembly session.
The 2021 session has been quite different without the human interaction. I am not a fan of the public having limited access, however in the interest of safety for the public and legislators it couldn’t be helped. Hopefully, next year we can get back to normal. It has been harder to track bills that are not in your committee, talk over the content of bills and get a good sense of what the bills are trying to achieve. In a COVID-free environment this is done over dinner, in lobbies and by having conversations with colleagues. A lot of the passion and emotion is lost when having all electronic meetings. I will have to say being split up into three locations — the floor, the balcony and the annex in the House building — the electronic voting process has gone smoother than I thought it would.
This year I submitted two bills that I feel strongly about. First is House Bill 138 Human and Sex Trafficking Education. Human trafficking is a pressing public health concern which transcends all races, social classes, demographics and gender. No population is exempt from the threat of traffickers. The average age of entry into the commercial human trafficking trade ranges between the ages of 12 to 14. Education will play a vital role in shaping how our children perceive these dangers. Maryland is gold mine for human trafficking with easy access to airports, main interstates, bus stops and waterways. It is the second-largest grossing criminal activity in the world.
Secondly, House Bill 970 Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact or PSYPACT, is an interstate compact designed to increase access to mental health care services through the use of telepsychology. COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of telehealth in continuity of care for mental health and substance use treatment. PSYPACT allows people who move between states, temporarily or permanently, as a result of illness, family, financial, education, business or other reasons to maintain consistent mental health and substance use treatment. It also benefits residents who live near bordering states and Washington, D.C.; those in rural areas, those who lack access to specialty care, those with transportation or mobility issues and individuals with time constraints such as caregivers and those concerned about seeking treatment due to potential stigma of mental health care. Currently, Maryland is the only jurisdiction in our region which is not yet included in PSYPACT; D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia are all active members. This is an important piece of legislation to assure continuity of care for Marylanders.
Finally, this session, the House of Delegates took a historic step with the bipartisan passage of the Recovery for the Economy, Livelihoods, Industries, Entrepreneurs, and Families (RELIEF) Act, which provides over $1.5 billion in pandemic relief. The RELIEF Act includes additional assistance to help citizens and small businesses through these unprecedented times. The Act will infuse Maryland’s economy with $509 million in spending and provide over $1 billion in tax relief and credits making Maryland the highest state in the nation for its earned income tax credit. Other benefits include the exemption of unemployment insurance payments from the state income tax, as well as forgives Maryland taxes on COVID loans and grants.
There are approximately 30 days left in Session 2021 but it is the busiest 30 days. This week is crossover; a time when the Senate bills come to the House and the House bills go to the Senate. Leadership has already started calling for double floor sessions, double committee hearings and voting sessions and floor sessions on Saturdays. There will be many late nights and long weekends but we stand committed to getting the work done for the citizens of Maryland.
Steve Johnson is a Democrat representing District 34A in the Maryland House of Delegates.
