How a Bill Becomes a Law in Maryland

The General Assembly is the official body with the ability to create laws in Maryland.  The General Assembly consists of 47 Senators and 141 Delegates each serving a 4 year term of office.  These representatives are elected from 47 districts across Maryland

Current Members of the General Assembly - Senators, Delegates.

The official Session this year began June 14th, 2006 and will last for 90 days.

Many bill are are introduced each year (this year more then 2300) though most do not become laws. Here is a description on how a bill becomes a law.

Finding Information on specific bills
Information on legislation pending and passed in the Maryland General Assembly can be found on the Maryland General Assembly home page.  The site includes a wealth of information, but it is not always easy to find information.  The search feature is most useful.

• If you know the bill and the year it was passed:
  Go to Prior Session Information.  Click on year and enter the bill number.  The page contains information such as the bill sponsors, title, synopsis, history, subjects and more.

For example, enter bill number sb228 for year 2006 to see the Drunk and Drugged Driving - Young Drivers - License Suspension.

• If you don't know the bill number:
  Use the site search.  Try to think of words which my be included in the bill, avoid slang or vernacular  words instead focus on more precise terms.  Craft your search using words a legislator would use.  An example is you might want to search for "controlled substances" rather and "drugs".

90 Day Report - There is also a summery of the session for the last several years:

More on Making Laws In Maryland