New Maryland Laws Take Effect July 1: Planned Parenthood Funding, Opioid Education

ANNAPOLIS, MD — New laws taking effect in Maryland July 1 include measures to provide Planned Parenthood funding, an increase in minimum wage and school requirements for teaching the dangers of opioid education.

Maryland's legislature, controlled by the Democrats, was the first in the nation to pass legislation this year to backfill potential federal cuts to Planned Parenthood, according to The Associated Press. This law directs $2 million from Maryland's Medicaid budget and $700,000 from the state's general fund to Planned Parenthood.

Supporters believe the measure will help protect access to women's healthcare and family planning for the nearly 25,000 Marylanders that visit the nine Planned Parenthood centers in the state. The legislature passed the bill with enough votes to override a veto from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

A new law that increases the minimum wage will bump the hourly pay from $8.75 to $9.25, The Baltimore Sun reports. This change is part of the incremental increases approved in 2014.

In the wake of the nation's opioid crisis and Gov. Hogan's new legislation to fight the epidemic in Maryland, Maryland schools will be required to have specific education programs on opioid addiction. Public schools must address the dangers of heroin and opioids in drug education starting as early as third grade, The Baltimore Sun reports, as well as have the overdose reversal drug naloxone on hand and staff trained to use it.

According to the Associated Press, other new laws taking effect in Maryland July 1 include:

• Hometown Heroes: A state tax break on retirement income of law enforcement, fire, rescue or emergency services personnel 55 years or older. The law exempts the first $15,000 of retirement income from state taxes.
• Taxpayer Protection: This law will strengthen the ability of the comptroller's office to prevent tax fraud, hold fraudulent filers and tax preparers accountable and protect taxpayer information.
• Craft Breweries: Breweries will now be able to sell up to 2,000 barrels of beer annually, instead of 500 barrels. The change in the law was made to pave the way for Diageo to start a Guinness brewery in the former Seagram's bottling plant in Baltimore County. The estimated $50 million project will open the only Guinness brewery in the U.S.
• Pollinator Protection: Pesticides known to harm bees will be prohibited on state land designated as pollinator habitat in order to help bees. The law allows exceptions for public health emergencies.
• Health Department: The state health department will change its name from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to the Maryland Health Department.

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