# Maryland SB 0276: Educational Equality for Service Members Act Maryland SB 0276, Educational Equality for Service Members Act, is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Bryan W. Simonaire (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-06 (Approved by the Governor - Chapter 255); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-SB0276-2025RS - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Maryland SB 0276 - State: Maryland - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: Educational Equality for Service Members Act - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-01-10 - Last action: 2025-05-06, Approved by the Governor - Chapter 255 - Sponsor: Bryan W. Simonaire (Republican) - Cosponsors: 5 - Subjects: Education - Miscellaneous, State Government - Agencies, Offices, and Officials, Armed Forces -see also- Military Department; Veterans, Community Colleges, Education -see also- ContEd; DrvEd; HigherEd; etc., Higher Education -see also- Comm Colleges; Med Schools; etc., Licenses -see also- AB Lic; Certifications; DrLic; Permits, Military Families, Rules and Regulations, Scholarships and Student Financial Aid, Veterans - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (184 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 12 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - College scholarships for Afghanistan and Iraq families: benefit, high. Maryland’s conflict scholarship covers qualifying veterans, active service members, reserves activated because of the conflicts, and eligible children and spouses. Applicants must be Maryland residents accepted or enrolled in an eligible undergraduate program or qualifying two-year terminal certifi… - Broader employment coverage for military workers: benefit, medium. County school boards must follow state return-to-work protections for employees returning from uniformed service. The law also expands who counts as a qualified employee with a disability. This includes people discharged or released from active uniformed service because of a service-connected disab… - Easier school moves for military families: benefit, medium. Beginning July 1, 2025, counties must let school-age dependents of active service members relocating on official orders apply before establishing county residence. This covers natural children, stepchildren, adopted children, and financially dependent children. Families must provide dependent-statu… - Faster teaching licenses for military families: benefit, medium. Maryland must speed up educator licensing for active service members, eligible veterans, and eligible spouses. Veterans must have left active duty within one year before applying; eligible surviving spouses face a one-year deadline after the member’s death. Applicants need an out-of-state educator… - In-state tuition access for military families: benefit, medium. Eligible military-connected students are exempt from nonresident tuition at Maryland public colleges. Active service members qualify when stationed in Maryland, living there, or maintaining Maryland as their legal home. Their spouses and financially dependent children must document entering-student… - Military training counts toward emergency credentials: benefit, medium. Maryland’s emergency medical services board must count active service members’ relevant experience toward occupational or professional experience requirements. It must also credit uniformed-services training or education toward licensing or certification when substantially equivalent to required tr… - Scholarships reach more service-connected military families: benefit, medium. Conroy scholarships cover eligible children and surviving spouses of uniformed-services members who died from service or sustained a 100% permanent service-connected disability. The death or disability must have occurred after December 7, 1941. Another category covers children of Vietnam-conflict p… - Active-duty reservists count under veterans trust: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, Maryland Veterans Trust rules count reserve-component members on active-duty orders as active service members. The definition also includes active-duty members of the uniformed services. This applies where the trust’s rules use that term; the provision does not create a sepa… - Broader college-program eligibility for military members: benefit, low. One higher-education provision includes active service members and veterans with an honorable discharge or certificate of satisfactory service. A separate program’s discharge-based eligibility covers people honorably discharged from uniformed service or reserves within 18 months before applying. Th… - Military families get more education-benefit time: benefit, low. Maryland must postpone covered student-aid service obligations for active service members assigned outside Maryland and their spouses. This includes the scholarship service obligation addressed separately by the law. The supplied provisions do not set the deferment’s length. Qualified prepaid colle… - School liaisons help military families settle: benefit, low. Purple Star schools must name a uniformed-services liaison to help newly enrolled or soon-to-enroll military-connected students and their families. The program covers dependents of active-duty members, reserve-component members, and qualifying members killed in the line of duty. These school suppor… - Military scholarships travel, but funding stays capped: mixed, medium. Active service members whose legal home is Maryland can qualify for senatorial scholarships at accredited schools outside Maryland. Eligible study includes undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. Each senator can award no more than 10% of available scholarship funds to applicants attend… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Bryan W. Simonaire (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Jack Bailey (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Jason C. Gallion (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: J.B. Jennings (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Johnny Mautz (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Johnny Ray Salling (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-07 | House | Third Reading Passed | pass | 140 | 0 | | | 2025-03-06 | Senate | Third Reading Passed | pass | 44 | 0 | 1 | ## Actions (17) - 2025-05-06: Approved by the Governor - Chapter 255 - 2025-04-07: Returned Passed (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Third Reading Passed (140-0) (House) - 2025-04-03: Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed (House) - 2025-04-03: Favorable Report by Ways and Means (House) - 2025-03-26: Hearing 3/26 at 2:15 p.m. (Ways and Means) (House) - 2025-03-26: Hearing canceled (Ways and Means) (House) - 2025-03-17: Hearing 3/26 at 1:00 p.m. (Ways and Means) (House) - 2025-03-07: Referred Ways and Means Appropriations (House) - 2025-03-06: Third Reading Passed (44-0) (Senate) - 2025-03-04: Second Reading Passed with Amendments (Senate) - 2025-03-04: Favorable with Amendments {863320/1 Adopted (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment (Senate) - 2025-02-03: Hearing 2/05 at 2:00 p.m. (Senate) - 2025-02-03: Hearing canceled (Senate) - 2025-01-29: Hearing 2/05 at 1:00 p.m. (Senate) - 2025-01-10: First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment (Senate) ## Bill text - Enacted, 2025-05-06: [PDF](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/Chapters_noln/CH_255_sb0276t.pdf) - Third Reading, 2025-03-04: [PDF](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0276t.pdf) - First Reading, 2025-01-10: [PDF](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0276f.pdf) ## Related bills - HB 0384: Maryland Disability Service Animal Program - Established (vetoed) - SB 0227: Workers' Compensation - Payment From Uninsured Employers' Fund - Revisions (vetoed) - HB 0482: Occupational Licensing and Certification - Criminal History - Predetermination Review Process (vetoed) - SB 0157: Maryland Disability Service Animal Program - Established (vetoed) - HB 1294: Commercial Law - Credit Regulation - Earned Wage Access and Credit Modernization (became law) - HB 0228: Maryland Veterans Trust – Assistance to Members of the Maryland National Guard (signed) ## Sources - [Enacted (PDF)](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/Chapters_noln/CH_255_sb0276t.pdf) - [Third Reading (PDF)](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0276t.pdf) - [First Reading (PDF)](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0276f.pdf) ## Related - [HB 0384: Maryland Disability Service Animal Program - Established](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-HB0384-2025RS) - [SB 0227: Workers' Compensation - Payment From Uninsured Employers' Fund - Revisions](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-SB0227-2025RS) - [HB 0482: Occupational Licensing and Certification - Criminal History - Predetermination…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-HB0482-2025RS) - [SB 0157: Maryland Disability Service Animal Program - Established](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-SB0157-2025RS) - [HB 1294: Commercial Law - Credit Regulation - Earned Wage Access and Credit Modernization](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-HB1294-2025RS) - [HB 0228: Maryland Veterans Trust – Assistance to Members of the Maryland National Guard](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-HB0228-2025RS) - [Maryland bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/maryland/bills) - [Maryland state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/maryland) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MD-SB0276-2025RS (as of 2026-10-17).