2025 Maryland General Assembly: Moore than just Energy

If you have listened to any legislative briefings or skimmed a headline, you know it is the year of energy in the 2025 Maryland General Assembly. But, there is much more than that awaiting us, namely, how Maryland is going to balance the budget. Given the many different moving parts of Assembly, I will be working hard to keep this post evergreen but please feel free to email me at [email protected] if you find an incongruent item.

Get Involved with Lobby Days:

Lobby days are a great way for organizations and individuals to make the case for a more equitable and clean environment to our legislators. As you register, make sure to note if you have to be a registered group or a resident of a certain area to participate.

I am signed up for CCAN Lobby Night on February 19th but there are many more available:

Outside of the Conservation team and our lobbying efforts, Nature Forward does an incredible amount of work in the outdoor education and STEM fields. You can find Lobby Days related to education here:

How to Participate on Individual Bills:

In order to sign up to testify or to “vote” for a bill, you will need to create a Maryland General Assembly Account. From here, you can also track bills. You can learn how to submit written or oral testimony for Witness Sign Up here. If you are a wonk like me, you can also create lists of bills that you are tracking using the “Bill Tracking Lists” function. Please note that in order to sign up to testify for a bill, you can only sign up or “approve/disapprove” of it two days before the hearing; more information on that here.

Nature Forward’s Priority Bills

While I want to submit testimony and weigh in on every bill, with limited capacity, I need to focus on data centers, renewable energy, and protecting our residents from both climate change and rate hikes alike. The State budget is facing a $2.7 billion deficit, which unfortunately means that many environmental programs are on the chopping block. In order to survive “Crossover Day,” lawmakers and advocates alike will have to be more budget-conscious than usual. In all of this, I am looking to support bills that center and uplift environmental justice — the human impact of these bills is paramount to understand as we move deal with dual crises of climate and cost of living.

Thank you to Nature Forward volunteers: Lisa, Debra, Craig, and Andrew for helping me track these bills! I couldn’t do it without you.

Data Center Impact Analysis and Report (SB0116, HB0270)

Bill Sponsors and Official Bill Language: Senator Lewis Young – SB0116, Delegate Crosby – HB0270
Summary: This study bill will look into the environmental, energy, and economic impacts of data centers in Maryland. It will be very similar in function to Virginia’s JLARC bill. Maryland, and in particular, Montgomery and Prince George’s County, are being targeted by large tech companies as the place to build more data centers. Government officials have welcomed the first of these for their tax revenues, but they have huge power and water needs and can have adverse environmental impacts on the surrounding communities. We need to learn from Virginia and others’ experiences. This study bill will provide the answers legislators and community members need to make better informed decisions regarding management of data centers’ growth.
Fiscal Note: 2025 fiscal note is available here; would cost $502,000 in FY26 only.

RENEW aka the Responding to Emergency Needs From Extreme Weather Act of 2025 (HB0128, SB0149)

Bill Sponsors and Official Bill Language: Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo – HB0128, Senator Hester – SB0149
Summary: This bill would protect Marylanders from bearing the brunt of climate change related events that are occurring all over the state, by levying penalties on the top emitters of green-house gases in Maryland from the past two decades. This would look like about 40 companies paying a one time fee. The penalties would create a $9 billion fund that would pay for efforts to mitigate damage and reduce health disparities that have been aggravated by climate change, including grants to support local efforts.
Fiscal Note: 2025 Fiscal note is available here. This bill is likely to starting generating billions of dollars as early as FY2025 From the first iteration of this bill in 2024, the revenues from the payments would come out to the tune of $9 billion; many advocates have said that this number is the floor not the ceiling.
Resources:

Senator Van Hollen’s Podcast
CCAN’s Two Pager on the RENEW Act
$27.4 billion is the minimum cost of short-term defense against rising seas in Maryland

CHERISH aka the Cumulative Harms to Environmental Restoration for Improving Shared Health

Bill Sponsors and Official Bill Language: Senator Lam and Delegate Jazz Lewis – no bill number as of 1/31
Summary: Using the Maryland Environmental Justice Screen, CHERISH would ensure that communities who have been disproportionately impacted by environmental racism will not have continued pollution perpetrated. This bill would address a critical gap in Maryland’s environmental protection system. Currently, when considering new permits to pollute, Maryland does not evaluate how multiple pollution sources in one area combine to affect public health. This means new permits are reviewed in isolation, without considering the total (or cumulative) impact on immediate residents’ health.
Fiscal Note: Not available as of 1/31

Other Important Bills to Follow
Bay Legacy Act aka the Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act (HB0506/SB0428)

Bill Sponsors and Official Bill Language: Governor Moore – HB0506/SB0428
Summary: This bill would allow the Department of Natural Resources to lease out land for agricultural practices easier; these statutory changes would support regenerative agriculture and cultural significant foods. Additionally, the bill would establish the LEEF (Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming) Program that would support healthy soils, establishing water quality monitoring programs, and create a more accessible agricultural opportunities.
Fiscal Note: Not available as of 1/27

Food Forests and Foraging Program (SB0317, HB0257)

Bill Sponsors and Official Bill Language: Senators Lewis Young and Love (SB0317),
Delegate Charkoudian (HB0257)
Summary: This bill would create a program for food forests/foraging opportunities on DNR land
As part of the bill, a permit would be needed to forage on State-owned land with exemptions for low-income residents.
Fiscal Note: Available here. DNR estimates that the cost to establish a food forest plot on State land is approximately $10,000 per acre for site preparation, tree/shrub installation, and initial maintenance.