HB 355 Maryland House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Education - Sexual Abuse and Assault Awareness and Prevention Program - Human and Sex Trafficking

This bill requires Maryland public and private schools to include human and sex trafficking awareness in their existing sexual abuse and assault prevention education programs for students in grades 6 through 8. The program must be taught by trained instructors as part of the health curriculum, expanding current requirements that already cover sexual abuse prevention. It applies to all schools meeting the definition of "nonpublic school" under Maryland law, including those participating in state textbook and technology grant programs. The changes take effect July 1, 2026.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 19, 2026 Last action Mar 16, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Education - Sexual Abuse and Assault Awareness and Prevention Program - Human and Sex Trafficking Third - Education - Sexual Abuse and Assault Awareness and Prevention Program - Human and Sex Trafficking · 4 edits
MODERATE
This bill version adds procedural status information (Committee Report: Favorable, House action: Adopted, Read second time date) and formatting changes (Chapter placeholder, underlining explanation). The substantive legislative text regarding sexual abuse and assault prevention education in nonpublic schools remains unchanged from the previous version.
TECHNICAL

Added committee report status, house action status, and second reading date to track legislative progress

Changed header from 'A BILL ENTITLED' to 'CHAPTER ______' placeholder for final publication

Added signature lines for Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate

Removed asterisk page header and footnote about strike-through notation

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 1, 2026

How they voted

1285
Passed · 9 other
Total votes 142
Mar 1, 2026
D Democratic103
95 Yea 8
92% Yea
R Republican39
33 Yea 5 Nay 1
84% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Mar 16, 2026
Committee
Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Mar 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Third Reading Passed
lower
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable Report by Ways and Means
lower
Mar 1, 2026
House Of Delegates · Passed
House of Delegates Vote: pass (128-5-9)
house of delegates
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
First Reading Ways and Means
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson
DDemocratic
MD
34A