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MarylandSB 00262025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act

Sponsored By: Benjamin F. Kramer (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

Private Sector Labor and IndustryLocal Government - GenerallyMunicipalitiesCorrectionsAttorney GeneralCitationsCivil OffensesCommittees and CommissionsCommunications -see also- ElecComm; Intergov; Telecom; etc.Contracts -see also- ProcurementCorrectional Institutions -see also- Patuxent InstitutionCorrectional OfficersElectronic CommunicationElectronic GovernmentElectronic Surveillance -see also- WiretappingFines -see also- Penalties and SentencesHealth -see also- COVID19; EnvHlth; MedCon; etc.Inspections -see also- Motor Vehicle InspectionJob Training -see also- Continuing Ed; Vocational RehabLabor and Industry, Division ofMeetings -see also- Hearings; Open GovernmentMotor Vehicles -see also- Aband Veh; Ambulances; Buses; etc.NoticesOccupational SafetyPenalties and Sentences -see also- Death PenaltyPrivacyPublic Buildings and Facilities -see also- Stadiums; St HsePublic Employees -see also- State EmployeesPublic Officials -see also- Atty Gen; Compt; Coun Admin; etcRecordings -see also- VideoRecords -see also- Land Records; Vital RecordsReportsRevenue and Taxes -see also- (specific tax)Rules and RegulationsSafety -see also- Occupational SafetyStandards and Best PracticesState EmployeesStorageTelecommunications and Information TechnologyThreatsVideoViolence -see also- Domestic Violence; Hate CrimesWarrantsWeapons -see also- GunsWork, Labor, and Employment -see also- JobTrn; Leave; etc.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

10 provisions identified: 5 benefits, 1 costs, 4 mixed.

Stronger safety oversight for public workers

Beginning October 1, 2025, Maryland expressly covers public employers and workers under its workplace safety law. A new Public Employees’ Safety and Health Unit oversees inspections, including routine and random unannounced visits. Public employers must keep workplaces safe, run approved self-inspections, keep records, and submit required reports. Written agreements can delegate inspection powers to public bodies. With consent, the Commissioner can also use their staff, facilities, or services, with or without reimbursement.

Violence prevention rules for public workplaces

Beginning October 1, 2025, the law requires workplace violence standards for employees of public bodies. The Commissioner must adopt rules by October 1, 2026, after consulting Maryland’s workplace safety advisory board. The process must review federal safety recommendations and include at least four meetings seeking input from certified employee representatives. Meetings must take place in at least four geographically diverse Maryland locations. The board must consider public workers’ safety concerns and recommend higher standards when needed.

Statewide body camera rules for corrections

The Correctional Training Commission must adopt officer body-camera rules by January 1, 2026. Rules must cover training, issuance, testing, failures, and when recording is required, forbidden, optional, or can end. They must address consent, notices, privacy, review, access, release, retention, confidentiality, and secure storage. Correctional units must maintain written policies consistent with these rules. Local facilities do not have to adopt cameras, but those using them must maintain a consistent written policy.

Public workers get safety enforcement notices

Beginning October 1, 2025, public employers must annually make the safety report and prior-year citations available to every employee. Public bodies outside State government must also share citations with affected workers and post them near the violation. The Commissioner must send those citations to the chief executive and any legislative body with oversight. When asked to enforce an order or collect a public-body penalty, the Attorney General must notify workers, their representatives, the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker. The Attorney General must also prioritize and speed review of workplace safety search-warrant applications.

Public workplace fines support apprenticeship training

Beginning October 1, 2025, public bodies lose their general exemption from the specified workplace safety penalties. Applicable penalties now support enforcement against public employers, subject to specific exceptions. Civil penalty revenue from public bodies goes into a special fund used only for Maryland’s Apprenticeship and Training Program. The law does not set a revenue amount.

Public worker fieldwork inspection powers narrowed

Beginning October 1, 2025, the Commissioner and authorized staff lose a specific fieldwork inspection power. They no longer have express authority to follow public employees to fieldwork sites and enter places while accompanying them. This removes that inspection tool, not the Commissioner’s other inspection powers.

Correctional officers gain limited recording authority

On regular duty, correctional officers can record conversations using body-worn devices or qualifying electronic control devices. Officers must wear a uniform or prominently display a badge or insignia and make reasonable efforts to follow device standards. They must join the conversation and capture its audio as part of a video or digital recording. Notice is required as soon as practicable unless unsafe, impractical, or impossible. Once proper notice is given, failing to notify someone who joins later does not affect the recording’s admissibility in court.

Employers face fewer safety reporting duties

Beginning October 1, 2025, the law removes the specific duty to make required safety records available to the Commissioner. It also removes the eight-hour oral reporting duty for accidents causing a worker’s death or hospitalizing at least three workers. This does not eliminate other reporting duties. The law also repeals the specific misdemeanor and penalties for knowingly false statements in safety applications, plans, records, reports, or other covered documents.

Public employers gain specific penalty relief

Beginning October 1, 2025, public bodies lose specific citation-posting fines: $500 daily for 30 days, then $1,000 daily from day 31. The posting duty remains. For unpaid final penalties, the law removes notice to state leaders after 30 days. It also removes authority, exercisable within 75 days, to increase a penalty by up to five times its initial amount; the underlying penalty remains. Publicly owned elevators are exempt from the specified elevator and workplace safety penalties, reducing penalty exposure but limiting financial enforcement.

Public employers keep records, drop quarterly reports

Beginning October 1, 2025, the Commissioner must require public employers to keep accurate workplace death, illness, and qualifying injury records. Regulations can also require other records the Commissioner finds necessary. Minor injuries needing only first aid are excluded when they cause no unconsciousness, medical treatment, work or motion limits, or job transfer. The law removes the former quarterly reporting requirement but keeps the recordkeeping duty.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Benjamin F. Kramer

    Democratic • Senate

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 226 • No: 0

House vote • 4/7/2025

Third Reading Passed

Yes: 139 • No: 0

Senate vote • 4/7/2025

Third Reading Passed

Yes: 43 • No: 0 • Other: 1

Senate vote • 3/6/2025

Third Reading Passed

Yes: 44 • No: 0 • Other: 1

Actions Timeline

  1. Approved by the Governor - Chapter 608

    5/20/2025

  2. Passed Enrolled

    4/7/2025Senate

  3. Third Reading Passed (43-0)

    4/7/2025Senate

  4. Senate Concurs House Amendments

    4/7/2025Senate

  5. Third Reading Passed (139-0)

    4/7/2025House

  6. Second Reading Passed with Amendments

    4/5/2025House

  7. Favorable with Amendments {173928/1 Adopted

    4/5/2025House

  8. Favorable with Amendments Report by Appropriations

    4/5/2025House

  9. Hearing 3/26 at 2:30 p.m.

    3/26/2025House

  10. Hearing canceled

    3/26/2025House

  11. Hearing 3/26 at 1:00 p.m.

    3/19/2025House

  12. Referred Appropriations

    3/7/2025House

  13. Third Reading Passed (44-0)

    3/6/2025Senate

  14. Second Reading Passed with Amendments

    3/4/2025Senate

  15. Favorable with Amendments {323129/1 Adopted

    3/4/2025Senate

  16. Favorable with Amendments Report by Finance

    3/3/2025Senate

  17. Hearing 1/29 at 1:00 p.m.

    1/14/2025Senate

  18. First Reading Finance

    1/8/2025Senate

  19. Pre-filed

    10/23/2024Senate

Bill Text

  • Enacted

    5/20/2025

    PDF

  • Enrolled

    4/7/2025

    PDF

  • Third Reading

    3/4/2025

    PDF

  • First Reading

    1/8/2025

    PDF

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