SB 267 Maryland Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Land Use - Residential Housing - Oversight and Approval (Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act)

SB 267, the "Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act," aims to increase residential housing development by changing oversight, regulation, and tax policies. It requires property owners to certify contact information to the housing department, empowers local governments to streamline approvals for housing projects, and sets housing production targets. The bill allows counties to reduce certain taxes or fees for affordable housing projects while increasing them for non-affordable developments, and permits local tax adjustments for different property types. These changes directly affect property owners, local governments, and housing developers across Maryland.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 19, 2026 Last action Apr 2, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Land Use - Residential Housing - Oversight, Regulation, and Taxation (Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act) Third - Land Use - Residential Housing - Oversight and Approval (Building Affordably in My Back Yard Act) · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to expand its scope by adding 'Approval' to the title, reflecting new administrative processes for reviewing housing projects. The text was reorganized to include previously omitted sections regarding transfer taxes and downsizing incentives, while clarifying that the contact information certification requirement applies to entities renting or intending to rent residential property.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include approval processes for housing development projects and to cover entities that rent or intend to rent residential property for the certification requirement.
SCOPE

The bill title was updated from 'Oversight, Regulation, and Taxation' to 'Oversight, Regulation, and Taxation and Approval' to reflect new administrative review powers.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for property owners to file contact certificates was clarified to apply specifically to entities that rent or intend to rent residential property.

An exemption was added for entities that already provide contact information to local governments at least once per year via local ordinances or programs.

TECHNICAL

Substantive text regarding transfer taxes, downsizing incentives, and housing infrastructure studies was reintegrated into the bill's explanatory section.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

443
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 49
Mar 3, 2026
D Democratic36
34 Yea 2
94% Yea
R Republican13
10 Yea 3 Nay
76% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
12
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Mar 20, 2026
Committee
Referred Economic Matters
lower
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Third Reading Passed
upper
Mar 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Favorable with Amendments {
upper
Mar 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (44-3-2)
senate
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment and Budget and Taxation
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Ben Brooks
Ben Brooks
DDemocratic
MD
10