DELEGATE PAT YOUNG'S MARCH UPDATE

Pat Young, Delegate for the 44B District periodically publishes a newsletter informing his constituents of important or interesting updates that affect the district. The following is discussed in the March 24th Edition:

1. Speaking with the Speaker of the Annex

2. It's Crossover!

3. Local business highlight: Oca Mocha

4. Maryland's Vaccine Rollout

5. The Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021 (HB670)

6. 2021-2022 Delegate Scholarship

Speaking with the Speaker of the Annex

The latest edition of Pat's Fireside Chats is now available for your viewing pleasure! Speaker Pro-Tem Sheree Sample Hughes tells us about the COVID precautions being taken in the House of Delegates during this unusual session.

It's Crossover!

Monday March 22nd was “crossover day”! Every session, at approximately the 69th day, the Maryland General Assembly reaches its crossover point. This is the point where legislation passed by the House or Senate is guaranteed a hearing in the other chamber. While it isn’t a death sentence for a bill not to pass one chamber by crossover it does create additional challenges to the legislative process. As you can imagine, the week before crossover is a flurry of activity. Meeting with colleagues, reassuring advocates, and some late nights on the floor. It’s important work and we are not done yet. It’s an honor to serve as your representative in Annapolis and appreciate your willingness to stay involved and engaged.

Local Business Highlight: Oca Mocha

“A bad day with coffee is better than a good day without it ”. Oca Mocha is a shared, multi-purpose space that fosters ongoing engagement between UMBC and its neighboring communities and promotes economic development in southwestern Baltimore County. Oca Mocha currently hosts a coffee shop serving locally roasted coffee and an art gallery.

Their current exhibit, We Make Art, is an exhibition created in collaboration with Make Studio, a non-profit community-based arts organization based in Baltimore that envisions a world of acceptance and inclusion in which art opens doors for everyone. Located at 5410 East Drive in Arbutus, Maryland, the gallery is open free to the public,

with hours 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Oca Mocha is currently preparing their next exhibit titled ART & IDENTITY - which aims to expand on the reasons why artists choose to make art and the artists identity. Overall, the theme of this exhibition is sharing art which helps to identify the artist, and express the reasons why creating art is a significant

experience for them.

For More information about Oca Mocha and their gallery, please click here

Maryland's Vaccine Rollout

The distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine in Maryland is progressing, slowly but surely. The map below displays the number of initial vaccination doses per 100 residents based on where the vaccine was actually administered. This was based on just over 733,000 initial first doses through 2/23. We are currently (as of yesterday’s daily report from MDH) at just over 1,000,000.

The Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021(HB670)

This session, The Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021(HB670) has been introduced to address the rising concern of the lack of accountability and oversight over police forces across the State of Maryland and the United States. HB670 will institute a vast array of reform efforts in the state o, including the full repeal of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights and the instillation of of projects like a Civilian Charging Committee (A committee of all civilians will review the complaint and resulting investigation of misconduct against an officer, providing sunlight on the investigation and charging of an officer, trial boards, and Local Police Accountability Boards in which local jurisdictions must create a body of civilians authorized to review police misconduct. Other important changes under the Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021 include:

• A single individual – the chief or head of a police agency – will no longer control the investigation, charging, and ultimate discipline of officers in a manner that is not transparent and excludes public participation.

• The police disciplinary process will no longer look at just the officer accused of

• misconduct but also the officer’s supervisors to see if their management contributed to the officer’s actions.

• Civilians may file anonymous complaints with their local police accountability board as well as the police department. Complaints no longer need to be sworn and notarized.

• A police officer must be fired upon conviction for felonies and certain misdemeanors. A police officer must be suspended without pay for certain misconduct and criminal charges. Finally. If a police officer is convicted of an egregious crime committed while on the job, the officer loses all rights to receive a pension.

• Police misconduct and disciplinary records are no longer held in secret. These records can be publicly accessed under the Public Information Act, regardless of the outcome or when the record was made.Police agencies can no longer destroy or expunge police misconduct and disciplinary records.

Body Cameras:

• Universal Usage: All police officers in the State must be equipped with and use body-worn cameras no later than January 1, 2025.

• Policies on Recording and Use: Police agencies are explicitly prevented from impeding the use of body-worn cameras through collective bargaining. For agencies that have the technological capability, body cams must retain recordings 60 seconds prior to initiation.

• A police officer may not prohibit or prevent a civilian from recording an officer’s actions.

These are just a few of the many important topics the bill addresses. For access to the full text or to learn more about The Police Reform and Accountability Act of 2021, please visit http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0670

2021-2022 Delegate Scholarship

Every year, our office offers a Maryland Delegate Scholarship to students within my legislative district. If you would like to be considered for this scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year and are a resident of district 44B, please email my office at Pat.Young@House.State.MD.US

The deadline for application is April 30th, 2021