SB 31 Maryland Senate · 2026 Regular Session

School Construction and Housing - School Zones and Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances

SB 31 requires Maryland county boards of education to annually submit detailed school zone and student capacity reports to state agencies starting in 2026. These reports must include school boundary maps, student residence locations, and school capacity metrics. The bill also restricts counties from delaying housing subdivision approvals based on school capacity but allows delays for final permits only. This directly affects county planning departments, school districts, and housing developers by standardizing school data reporting and clarifying housing development timelines. The law aims to balance school planning needs with housing development efficiency.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Sep 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Governor

Introduced Sep 5, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - School Construction and Housing – School Zones and Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances → Third - School Construction and Housing - School Zones and Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add a requirement for county boards to consult with municipalities and use their data when creating school facility plans. Additionally, the rules for housing restrictions based on school capacity were tightened to require a defined maximum time limit and now explicitly allow delays only until the initiation of construction, rather than final permits.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include a new section (4-149) mandating consultation between county boards and municipalities, and the applicability of housing restrictions was modified to require specific time limits.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new requirement for county boards to consult with municipalities and incorporate their data into local educational facilities master plans.

Modified the reporting requirements to include state-rated capacity, student population, and capacity percentage data for each school within census tracts and blocks, rather than just the county.

Clarified that adequate public facilities ordinances can only delay permits until the initiation of construction, removing the previous ambiguity about delaying final permits.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a new eligibility criterion requiring ordinances restricting housing based on school capacity to include a definite maximum length of time for the restriction.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill's status to reflect it was adopted by the Senate and read the second time, with a favorable committee report.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

35–12

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 49

Mar 3, 2026

D Democratic36

34 Yea 2

94% Yea

R Republican13

1 Yea 12 Nay

92% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 20, 2026

Committee

Referred Appropriations

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Mar 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Mar 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (35-12-2)

senate

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

Sep 5, 2025

Introduced

Pre-filed

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors