HB 1109 Maryland House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Public Health Reform Act

HB 1109 creates the Maryland Medical Reserve Corps, a statewide volunteer network for emergencies like disease outbreaks or disasters, managed by the Maryland Department of Health. It requires the Department to notify county health officers about procurement opportunities for electronic health records systems, allowing counties to join without state approval if fully funded locally. The bill establishes a Public Health Workforce Development Fund (using interest earnings and transfers from another fund) and mandates the Department of Legislative Services to assess health equity impacts of new legislation. These changes directly affect county health departments, the Department of Health, and public health workforce planning.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Feb 11, 2026 Signed Apr 28, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Third - Public Health Reform Act → Enrolled - Public Health Reform Act · 3 edits · Apr 28, 2026

MINOR

The bill transitioned from a House draft to an Enrolled version, incorporating final formatting updates and a significant consolidation of legislative instructions. The primary substantive change is the removal of a specific clause regarding the delegation of contract approval authority to the Deputy Secretary for Public Health, while retaining the core mandate for the Secretary of Health to approve contracts. The document also streamlined the list of repealed and reenacted statutes, removing duplicate entries and correcting citation errors to prepare the bill for the Governor's signature.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains unchanged, but the internal list of affected statutes was cleaned up to remove redundancies and duplicate references.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted a specific provision authorizing the Deputy Secretary for Public Health to delegate contract approval authority, leaving the responsibility solely with the Secretary of Health.

TECHNICAL

Consolidated and corrected the list of repealed and reenacted sections in the Annotated Code of Maryland, removing duplicate entries and fixing citation formatting errors.

Updated the header and footer to reflect the bill's status as 'Enrolled' and added official proofreading and sealing fields for the Governor.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 25, 2026 · House of Delegates Apr 2, 2026

How they voted

34–13

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 49

Mar 25, 2026

D Democratic36

34 Yea 2

94% Yea

R Republican13

13 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 28, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor - Chapter 190

executive

Apr 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Enrolled

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Introduced

House Concurs Senate Amendments

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Introduced

Floor Amendment {

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Finance

upper

Apr 2, 2026

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (96-18-28)

house of delegates

Mar 25, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (34-13-2)

senate

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Referred Finance Budget and Taxation

upper

Mar 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Mar 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

lower

Mar 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Health

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

First Reading Health and Appropriations

lower

14 primary · 0 co-sponsors