SB 1040 Maryland Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Department of Budget and Management - Expedited Hiring Program (FEDERAL Jobs Act of 2025)

SB 1040 (FEDERAL Jobs Act of 2025) creates an Expedited Hiring Program within Maryland's Department of Budget and Management to recruit former federal employees for state government positions. It directly affects eligible applicants who previously worked for the federal government for at least one year and left after January 15, 2025, as well as state appointing authorities responsible for filling vacancies. Key provisions require appointing authorities to fill eligible vacancies within 40 days, modify job descriptions to appeal to former federal workers, and implement marketing, applicant rating, and referral processes. The program aims to leverage federal expertise for state roles while operating under the State Personnel Management System.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 14, 2025 Last action Apr 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Department of Budget and Management - Expedited Hiring Program (FEDERAL Jobs Act of 2025) → Third - Department of Budget and Management - Expedited Hiring Program (FEDERAL Jobs Act of 2025) · 8 edits

MODERATE

SB 1040 was amended to expand the Expedited Hiring Program by adding more sponsors, reassigning it to the Budget and Taxation Committee, and significantly modifying program requirements. The changes include extending the emergency provision through April 30, 2026, adding former federal contractors as eligible applicants, and requiring the Secretary to implement the program in phases with reasonable timelines.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include former federal contractors as eligible applicants and added provisions for interested county governments to potentially participate in the program.

SCOPE

Added 14 new Senate sponsors to the bill, expanding the coalition supporting the expedited hiring program.

TIMELINE

Extended the emergency provision from indefinite duration to a specific end date of April 30, 2026, with automatic expiration requiring no further legislative action.

ELIGIBILITY

Added eligibility for former federal contractors to the program, expanding beyond just former federal government employees.

REQUIREMENT

Changed recruitment timeline from 'shall complete' to 'shall aim to complete' within 40 days, providing more flexibility.

Added requirement for the Secretary to implement the program in phases, starting with critical and hard-to-fill positions.

Added requirement to explore opportunities for county governments to expand the program.

Changed job title guidance from 'alter' to 'develop guidance on aligning' without requiring substantive changes to descriptions or classifications.

Added requirement to establish reasonable timelines for each phase of implementation.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 21, 2025

How they voted

34–7

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 46

Mar 21, 2025

D Democratic33

28 Yea 5

84% Yea

R Republican13

6 Yea 7 Nay

53% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 7, 2025

Committee

Referred Rules and Executive Nominations

lower

Apr 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Apr 5, 2025

Introduced

Floor Amendment {

upper

Apr 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until Later Today (Senator Kagan) Adopted

upper

Apr 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Apr 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Budget and Taxation

upper

Mar 31, 2025

Committee

Rereferred to Budget and Taxation

upper

Mar 21, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (34-7-5)

senate

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

First Reading Senate Rules

upper

34 primary · 0 co-sponsors