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Bill 36-23, Sale of Firearms or Ammunition - Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education (SAFE) Act
Introduction: Lead sponsor Council President Glass will introduce Bill 36-23, Sale of Firearms or Ammunition - Suicide Awareness and Firearm Education (SAFE) Act, which would require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to develop literature about firearm safety, suicide prevention and conflict resolution. The bill would require sellers of firearms or ammunition to display and distribute the literature at points of sale and enable DHHS to enforce the display and distribution requirements.
Councilmembers Albornoz, Stewart, Sayles, Katz, Balcombe, Jawando and Vice President Andrew Friedson are cosponsors. A public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2023.
Bill 37-23, Contracts and Procurement - Minority Owned Businesses - Sunset Date - Amendments
Introduction: Lead sponsors Councilmembers Jawando and Sayles will introduce Bill 37-23, Contracts and Procurement - Minority Owned Businesses - Sunset Date – Amendments, which would extend the sunset date for the County’s minority-owned business purchasing program by one year. All other Councilmembers are cosponsors of Bill 37-23.
Article XIV of the County Code, Purchases from Minority Owned Businesses, provides procurement procedures to address the fact that minority-owned businesses have experienced the effects of discrimination in the awarding of County contracts and subcontracts. The article is scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2023.
In the meantime, the County has engaged a consultant to conduct a disparity study to assess this program and the County’s contracting practices relative to minority-owned businesses. Expedited Bill 37-23 seeks to extend the sunset date of Article XIV by one year to Dec. 31, 2024, to prevent the program from expiring while waiting for completion of the disparity study.
A public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2023.
Expedited Bill 38-23, Tenant Displacement - Right of First Refusal to Buy Rental Housing - Amendments
Introduction: The Council will introduce Expedited Bill 38-23, Tenant Displacement - Right of First Refusal to Buy Rental Housing - Amendments and Executive Regulation, which would amend County Code to allow the County Executive to designate a qualified entity that may exercise the right of first refusal. The purpose of the bill is to increase access to affordable housing and enable the County to more effectively evaluate and exercise the right of first refusal on the purchase of rental housing by delegating the ability to qualified entities.
The lead sponsor is the Council president at the request of County Executive Elrich. A public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10, 2023.
Bill 18-22, Noise Control - Leaf Removal Equipment - Amendments
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Bill 18-22, Noise Control - Leaf Removal Equipment – Amendments, which would prohibit the sale and use of combustion engine-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums by a certain date; authorize a grant program to partially offset the cost of replacing a combustion engine powered leaf blower or leaf vacuum with an electric leaf blower or leaf vacuum; exempt the use of gas leaf blower equipment for agricultural producers; and require an annual report by the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.
A motion under Rule 10(d) to take the bill from the table must be made prior to a motion and roll-call vote to adopt the bill. If the Council votes to take Bill 18-22 from the table, then the issue before the Council is whether to enact Bill 18-22, as amended by the Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee. The TE Committee unanimously recommended enactment with amendments.
The lead sponsor is former Council President Albornoz, at the request of the County Executive.
Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 Capital Improvements Program
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP). These guidelines limit certain types of debt that may be programmed for expenditures in the CIP and set the Council’s voting thresholds for the capital budget each year.
The Council must adopt spending affordability guidelines for the aggregate capital budget by the first Tuesday in October of every odd calendar year. By evaluating and setting appropriate debt levels every two years, the Council preserves the County’s fiscal health and manages the amount of general funds required for debt service.
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee voted unanimously to approve the guidelines. The GO Committee recommendation for County General Obligation Bonds is $280 million per year, or $1.68 billion in total, for the FY25-30 period. For the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Bonds, the recommendation is $8 million per year, or $48 million, in total for the FY25-30 period.
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