SB 99 Maryland Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Open Meetings Act - County Boards of Education - Enhanced Requirements (Local Boards of Education Transparency Act)

SB 99 requires county school boards and Baltimore City’s school board to live-stream all public meetings on their websites, making them accessible to the public in real time. It mandates posting meeting agendas 48 hours in advance (or as soon as possible for emergencies) and posting minutes from public sessions within two business days. The bill also requires boards to maintain archived video recordings of public meetings for at least one year. These changes apply specifically to Maryland’s local school boards, enhancing transparency around their decision-making processes.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Aug 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Apr 2026

Governor

Introduced Aug 1, 2025 Last action Apr 10, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Open Meetings Act - County Boards of Education - Enhanced Requirements (Local Boards of Education Transparency Act) → Third - Open Meetings Act - County Boards of Education - Enhanced Requirements (Local Boards of Education Transparency Act) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reorganized to apply to County Boards of Education and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, which were previously excluded from the state's open meetings transparency requirements. This change mandates that these local education boards publicly post agendas, minutes, and live video streams of their open sessions online, aligning them with the transparency standards previously required of other state agencies.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include County Boards of Education and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners as public bodies subject to enhanced transparency reporting requirements.

SCOPE

County Boards of Education and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners were added to the list of public bodies required to post meeting agendas, minutes, and live video streams online.

The specific listing of various state authorities and commissions was removed from the bill text, likely because they are already covered by existing statutes or were excluded from this specific amendment.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was restructured and renumbered, moving the definition of 'public body' and the list of covered entities to a different section to clarify that education boards are now included under the General Provisions Article.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 16, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 25, 2026

How they voted

47–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 49

Feb 16, 2026

D Democratic36

34 Yea 2

94% Yea

R Republican13

13 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until 4/13 (Senator Ready) Adopted

upper

Apr 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

lower

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

Favorable with Amendments Report by Ways and Means

lower

Mar 25, 2026

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (135-0-7)

house of delegates

Feb 25, 2026

Committee

Referred Ways and Means

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Third Reading Passed

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Introduced

Floor Amendment {

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Special Order until 2/19 (Senator Ready) Adopted

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Motion Laid Over (Senator Ready) Adopted

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Favorable with Amendments {

upper

Feb 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 16, 2026

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (47-0-2)

senate

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment

upper

Aug 1, 2025

Introduced

Pre-filed

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors