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HB 717 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Natural Resources - Public Lands - Acquisition, Staffing, Operations, and Funding

HB 717 modifies Maryland's natural resources laws to streamline public land management. It exempts certain Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials and employees from ethics law restrictions when working with affiliated foundations, creates a new Land and Property Management Program to handle real property transactions, and allows DNR to establish foundations to solicit private funds for projects. The bill also changes how the Forest or Park Reserve Fund operates, permits the Governor to transfer Program Open Space funds to DNR under specific conditions, and updates rules for acquiring public lands. These changes primarily affect DNR staff, affiliated foundations, and state land management processes.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Jan 27, 2025 Signed May 13, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Third - Natural Resources - Public Lands - Acquisition, Staffing, Operations, and Funding → Enrolled - Natural Resources - Public Lands - Acquisition, Staffing, Operations, and Funding · 3 edits · May 13, 2025
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enrolled, meaning it is ready for the Governor's signature. Substantively, the text was reorganized to consolidate conflict-of-interest rules into a single section (5-501) and update the legal citations to reflect the correct Annotated Code of Maryland volumes. The core policy regarding restrictions on officials participating in matters where they have a financial interest remains unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope of applicability is unchanged; it continues to apply to officials and employees of the Department of Natural Resources.
TECHNICAL

The bill's metadata and legal citations were updated to reflect its final enrolled status and corrected references to the Annotated Code of Maryland volumes.

The structure of the conflict-of-interest provisions was reorganized and renumbered, but the substantive rules prohibiting officials from participating in matters involving personal financial interests remain the same.

Formatting headers and proofreader lines were added to indicate the bill has passed both legislative chambers and is awaiting the Governor's approval.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 21, 2025 · House of Delegates Mar 24, 2025

How they voted

31–10
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 46
Mar 21, 2025
D Democratic33
28 Yea 5
84% Yea
R Republican13
3 Yea 10 Nay
76% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
18
Key actions
11
Committee
6
Amendments
1
May 13, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by the Governor - Chapter 443
executive
Apr 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed Enrolled
lower
Apr 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Reading Passed
lower
Apr 7, 2025
Introduced
House Concurs Senate Amendments
lower
Apr 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Third Reading Passed
upper
Apr 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Favorable with Amendments {
upper
Apr 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Mar 24, 2025
House Of Delegates · Passed
House of Delegates Vote: pass (99-37-3)
house of delegates
Mar 21, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (31-10-5)
senate
Mar 17, 2025
Committee
Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Third Reading Passed
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Favorable with Amendments {
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Favorable with Amendments Report by Environment and Transportation
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Committee
First Reading Environment and Transportation
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.