Senator Richard F. Colburn - 2006 Legislative Agenda


Paid for by Citizens for Colburn Committee. Authority John W. Phillips, Jr., Treasurer		Below is Rich's Agenda for The 2006 Legislative Season, in addition to a list of the bills that Rich introduced, co-sponsored or supported. The lists speak for themselves in terms of Rich's continued dedication to his constituents of the Eastern Shore. To view a list of all of the bills sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Colburn since 1999, click this link.
		Senator Colburn Prefiles Bills for the 2006 Legislative Session December 16, 2005 Senator Richard Colburn announced today that he has prefiled several bills for this upcoming session, most as requested by the counties that he represents. Below are 'reader friendly' descriptions of some of the bills that were introduced. 1. Senate Bill 37 - This bill applies to all counties of Maryland and would require that an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment for first-degree murder not be eligible for parole until the inmate has served at least 25 years. Also this bill will not allow time credit for good behavior, or diminution credits, to be subtracted from that sentence. 2. Senate Bill 38 - This bill relates to the unauthorized possession of contraband in places of confinement. Again, this bill applies to all counties. The legislative intent is to reduce the introduction of contraband into places of confinement. This legislation will carry penalties and/or imprisonment and will give managing officials at places of confinement the increased authority to crack down on those trying to smuggle dangerous contraband into those facilities. 3. Senate Bill 39 - This bill concerns Camp Todd in Caroline County. If passed, this matching $50,000. Bill Bond would be used by the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay for improvements to Camp Todd at Williston which is near Denton, MD. 4. Senate Bill 40 - This bill concerns Talbot County and relates to dog and kennel licenses and tags. Talbot County officials would determine fees for the licenses. Either a metal tag or a surgically implanted microchip could satisfy the requirement for a dog tag. 5. Senate Bill 41 - This bill concerns volunteer fire, rescue, or emergency personnel. The law currently allows a tax credit for these volunteer emergency workers if they meet certain criteria. This bill will waive the credit cap on point credits earned in the various activity areas in the Service Award Program for those 65 years of age and older. Those in this bracket will be allowed to accrue the required 50 service points in any of the activity areas. Anyone who is 75 years of age or older with at least 40 years of service will automatically receive the tax credit. 6. Senate Bill 42 - Voters will have a chance to let their voices be heard in the next general election on the issue of video lottery terminals in Maryland. If passed, SB 42 will place a question on the ballot which asks, "Do you support locating video lottery terminals licensed by the state for commercial gaming purposes at up to three licensed horse racetracks in the State and at up to three nonracetrack destination locations?". This would allow for a nonbinding straw ballot and will be the best assessment of exactly how all Marylanders feel about this controversial issue.	Bills Sponsored OR Co-sponsored by Senator Colburn during 2006 Legislative Session in Annapolis (Please note this is only an abbreviated list - to read the complete list, click this link to view the State Senate list) To view the details of each of the Bills below, left click once on the Bill Title to open and read it, then left click once again to close it. Or, click Contract All/Expand All to read all Bills and their information. Contract All \| Expand All SB5 Status as of April 8, 2006: Bill is in the House - House Conference Committee Appointed - Entitled Agricultural Stewardship Act of 2006 Synopsis: Requiring the Governor to appropriate specified funds to the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation for rural business development and assistance; establishing an Agriculture and Natural Resources Internship Program at the University of Maryland, College Park; encouraging the Governor to make specified appropriations to specified agricultural programs; altering the distribution of specified fees from the Bay Restoration Fund; etc. SB 5 details SB 37 Status as of February 15, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Corrections - First Degree Murder - Minimum Sentence Synopsis: Requiring that a person convicted of first degree murder serve a specified minimum term before being eligible for parole consideration; prohibiting the deduction in advance from a term of confinement of an inmate if the inmate has been convicted of murder in the first degree until the inmate has served a specified term; providing for the application of the Act; etc.SB 37 details SB 38 Status as of April 6, 2006: Bill is in the House - Crimes - Unauthorized Possession of Contraband - Place of Confinement Synopsis: Prohibiting a person from knowingly possessing specified contraband to effect an escape, a weapon, an alcoholic beverage, a controlled dangerous substance, or a telecommunication device in a place of confinement without authorization by a managing official; defining "telecommunication device"; and establishing penalties for a violation of the Act.SB 38 details SB 39 Status as of February 27, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Creation of a State Debt - Caroline County - Camp Todd Synopsis: Authorizing the creation of a State Debt not to exceed $50,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, Inc. for the planning, design, and construction of a program center, located in Denton; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds, subject to a requirement that the grantee provide and expend a matching fund; establishing a deadline for the encumbrance or expenditure of the loan proceeds; etc. SB 39 details SB 40 Status as of April 3, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Returned Passed - Talbot County - Dog and Kennel Licenses and Dog Tags Synopsis: Excluding Talbot County from provisions of law relating to dog licenses and kennel licenses; providing that the fees, terms, and form of dog and kennel licenses in Talbot County be determined by the County Council of Talbot County; providing that the requirement for a dog tag in Talbot County may be satisfied by either a metal tag or a surgically implanted microchip; excluding Talbot County from a provision of law specifying requirements for dog tags; etc.SB 40 details SB 41 Status as of February 13, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Income Tax - Subtraction Modification for Volunteer Fire, Rescue, or Emergency Personnel - Eligibility Synopsis: Expanding eligibility for a specified subtraction modification available for volunteer fire, rescue, or emergency services members to include individuals who have reached 65 years old and have met specified requirements or who have reached 75 years old and have 40 years of service; requiring volunteer fire, rescue, or emergency medical services organizations to provide a report to members on qualifications for the subtraction modification; and applying the Act to tax years after 2005 SB 41 details. SB 42 Status as of March 15, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Video Lottery Terminals - Statewide Straw Ballot Synopsis: Requiring that a question be placed on the ballot in the next general election of the State to determine the sense of the voters in the State on the issue of locating video lottery terminals licensed by the State for commercial gaming purposes at up to three licensed horse racetracks and up to three nonracetrack destination locations in the State; and providing for the carrying out of the straw ballot.SB 42 details SB 305 Status as of April 7, 2006: Bill is in the House - Veterans Advocacy and Education Act of 2006 Synopsis: Establishing the Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts Scholarship; altering eligibility requirements for the Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship Program; establishing a specified death benefit for Maryland residents serving in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts; establishing the Outreach and Advocacy Program in the Department of Veterans Affairs; requiring the Program to help veterans and their dependents access specified benefits; establishing the Task Force to Study State Assistance to Veterans; etc. SB 305 details. SB 536 Status as of April 7, 2006: Bill is in the House - Land Use - Local Government Planning Synopsis: Requiring a planning commission in a county or municipal corporation to include specified plan elements when developing a comprehensive plan; providing for a specified process when developing a specified plan element; requiring specified plan elements to be reveiwed by the Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources; etc. SB 536 details SB 601 Status as of February 27, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Creation of a State Debt - Caroline County - Denton National Guard Armory Synopsis: Authorizing the creation of a State Debt not to exceed $1,100,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of County Commissioners of Caroline County for the repair, reconstruction, renovation, and capital equipping of the Denton National Guard Armory; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds, subject to a requirement that the grantee provided and expend a matching fund; establishing a deadline for the encumbrance or expenditure of the loan proceeds; etc.SB 601 details SB 606 Status as of February 27, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Creation of a State Debt - Talbot County - Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Synopsis: Authorizing the creation of a State Debt not to exceed $1,125,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of Governors of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Inc., for the planning, design, construction, repair, and capital equipping of improvements to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, including the replacement of the bulkhead along the perimeter of the Museum campus; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds, subject to a requirement that the grantee provide and expend a matching fund; etc.SB 606 details SB 621 Status as of February 8, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Education - Student Absence from School to Participate in Agriculture Programs or Activities Synopsis: Specifying that a student participating in an agriculture program or activity that is sponsored, conducted, or sanctioned by specified organizations may not be deemed absent from school or assessed a penalty for the absence.SB 621 details SB 623 Status as of March 20, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Withdrawn Education Health and Environmental Affairs Open Meetings Act - Executive Function - Reporting Requirement Synopsis: Requiring a public body that adjourns an open session to carry out an executive function in a meeting that is not open to the public to include specified information in the minutes of its next open session. SB 623 details SB 624 Status as of May 2, 2006: Became Law - Chapter 264 Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Prescriptions Synopsis: Authorizing a prescription, except a prescription for a prescription drug containing a specified substance, for an enrollee of the Maryland Medical Assistance Program to be written or oral; and prohibiting a pharmacist, when dispensing a drug to a Program enrollee, from dispensing a drug on an oral prescription unless the pharmacist promptly writes out and files the prescription.SB 624 details SB 650 Status as of April 7, 2006: Bill is in the House - Education - Adult Education and Literacy Services - Funding Synopsis: Requiring the Governor to include a specified appropriation in the State budget for fiscal year 2007 for the State Department of Education to distribute as Literacy Works grants for adult education and literacy services; etc. SB 650 details SB 765 Status as of May 2, 2006: Became Law - Chapter 270 Workers' Compensation - Presumptions - Lyme Disease Synopsis: Repealing a requirement that a paid law enforcement employee of the Department of Natural Resources demonstrate that the employee received a specified Lyme disease vaccination in order to qualify for a presumption of a compensable occupational disease under workers' compensation law; and making a conforming change. SB 765 details SB 767 Status as of February 27, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Creation of a State Debt - Dorchester County - YMCA of Dorchester County Synopsis: Authorizing the creation of a State Debt not to exceed $50,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Dorchester County, Inc. for the planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, expansion, and capital equipping of the YMCA of Dorchester County; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds; requiring the grantee to grant and convey an easement to the Maryland Historical Trust; prohibiting loan proceeds or the matching fund from being used for sectarian religious purposes; etc. SB 767 details SB 898 Status as of April 4, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Returned Passed Dorchester County - Transfer Tax Revenues - Use for Costs of School Buildings Synopsis: Authorizing the County Council for Dorchester County to use specified revenues generated from the Dorchester County transfer tax to pay costs associated with school buildings, under specified circumstances and subject to specified conditions.SB 898 details SB 899 Status as of April 4, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Returned Passed Dorchester County - Alcoholic Beverages - Bottle Clubs Synopsis: Prohibiting a bottle club in Dorchester County from selling, giving, serving, dispensing, keeping, or allowing to be consumed alcoholic beverages and specified other beverages; prohibiting an unlicensed business from knowingly allowing customers to bring alcoholic beverages for consumption into an unlicensed building; establishing a maximum fine of $10,000 for a violation of the Act; authorizing the Board of License Commissioners to grant a waiver of the provisions of the Act; etc.SB 899 details SB 1019 Action after passage in Senate and House 5/26 Governor vetoed - Duplicative - State Employees' and Teachers' Retirement Enhancement Benefit Act of 2006 Synopsis: Altering the formula used to calculate the normal service retirement allowances for individuals who are members of the Employees' Pension System or the Teachers' Pension System on or after June 30, 2006; providing for an alternate contributory pension selection for individuals who are members of the Employees' Pension System or the Teachers' Pension System on or after July 1, 2006; etc.SB 1019 details SB 1036 Status as of April 25, 2006: Became Law - Chapter 149 Environment - Sewerage Service - Unpaid Services Synopsis: Extending the period of time after which a political subdivision or private water company may disconnect water service to a property if a bill for sewerage service is unpaid; authorizing a private water company to disconnect water service if a bill for sewerage service is unpaid for 45 days; and authorizing a private water company to charge a reasonable reconnection charge in accordance with specified requirements when it reconnects water service. SB 1036 details SB 1067 Status as of March 8, 2006: Bill is in the Senate - Creation of a State Debt - Caroline County - The Benedictine School Synopsis: Authorizing the creation of a State Debt not to exceed $750,000, the proceeds to be used as a grant to the Board of Trustees of the Benedictine School Foundation, Inc. for the planning, design, repair, renovation, and capital equipping of the fire protection and HVAC systems and infrastructure of the Benedictine School; providing for disbursement of the loan proceeds, subject to a requirement that the grantee provide and expend a matching fund; establishing a deadline for the encumbrance or expenditure of the loan proceeds; etc. SB 1067 details