MFRW Weekly Update 3-3-23
There are lots of important bill hearings this week as well as bills being reported from Committee. Please check the Weekly Update for issues of concern to you and your club. Hearings for this week are highlighted in red.
In particular, below are four issues for your attention this week:
Hearings on the Assisted Suicide bills.:
SB 845 - March 7 at 1 p.m. in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
HB 933 - March 10 at 1 p.m. will be a Virtual Zoom hearing by the Ways & Means Committee. Our MFRW written testimony is attached. Please Oppose.
The House Health and Government Operations Committee will present a Favorable Report Monday, March 6 on HB 705 - Constitutional Amendment to the Declaration of Rights to add a Right to Reproductive Freedom. Now is the time to contact your Delegate(s) to oppose this proposed Constitutional Amendment.
It is also expected that the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee will report out a reworked SB 01 - Firearms bill, perhaps on Tuesday. While we don't have any specifics on the changes, the bill will likely still be very punitive to law-abiding citizens who own a firearm. We will keep you posted as information becomes available. Let the members of the JPC know you oppose the drastic infringement of citizens 2nd Amendment rights contained in SB 01.
Do the Dems really not understand that criminals don't care what the law says about owning or carrying a gun or using it to rob or kill someone? Criminals are more likely to pay attention to a doubling of the term of imprisonment on a mandatory sentence.
Republicans in the House are sponsoring HB 952 - Violent Firearms Offenders Act of 2023 that increases the penalties for using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime or other felony. HB 952 will be heard on March 8 in the Judiciary Committee.
Bills on Voting - Some good and some bad.
HB 926 and HB 1216 - to Require Voter Identification to Vote. That's a good thing. They will be heard in Ways and Means on March 7. Each one is a little different, but the goal is the same that only registered voters should vote.
HB 1104 - Voting Rights Act of 2023 would establish that a member of a protected class defined as "a class of citizens who are members of a race, color, or language minority group" may challenge the system for electing county or municipal legislative bodies or local Boards of Education that are elected at-large, or by district or a combination of at large and district. Instead require officials to be elected through Proportional Ranked Choice voting, cumulative voting and limited voting. This proposed legislation is likely to cause chaos in the elections of many counties and municipalities. It will override county charters enacted by ALL of the voters of those jurisdictions and have the Anne Arundel Circuit Court decide instead. As we stated in our attached testimony HB 1104 will hurt not help voter participation in elections.There are lots of important bill hearings this week as well as bills being reported from Committee. Please check the attached Weekly Update for issues of concern to you and your club. Hearings for this week are highlighted in red.