House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson announced in a statement that a new hybrid system for meetings of standing committees in the General Assembly aims to eliminate barriers to public participation in the legislative process while nodding to continuing health concerns. The 2023 session begins tomorrow (Wednesday, January 11). Conduit Street, the Maryland Association of Counties newsblast, has the early details.By Kevin Kinnally<>Conduit Street
Each standing committee in the Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland Senate will implement a hybrid system for public testimony to allow for in-person and virtual testimony for the 2023 legislative session.
According to a joint statement from House Speaker Adrienne Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson, the new hybrid system aims to eliminate barriers to public participation in the legislative process and furthers the General Assembly’s commitment to limiting the spread of COVID-19, RSV, the flu, and other viruses.
Each committee will post testimony guidelines in the days ahead.
According to the joint statement: "The pandemic has shown that we can improve our protocols to encourage more public participation in the legislative process ... Democracy requires community engagement. We are confident that this improvement to committee hearings will allow Marylanders to have a greater voice in their government and continue to build transparency, accessibility and confidence in their State lawmakers.
The 2023 Maryland General Assembly session kicks off at noon on Wednesday, January 11.
The PM BlogSpace will provide more details as they emerge.