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Bill 14-24, Vehicle Noise Abatement Monitoring - Pilot Program
Introduction: Lead sponsors Council Vice President Kate Stewart and Councilmember Natali Fani-González will introduce Bill 14-24, Vehicle Noise Abatement Monitoring - Pilot Program. The legislation would establish a pilot program aimed at reducing excessive vehicular noise. Under Bill 14-24, the Vehicle Noise Abatement Monitoring Pilot Program would require the Montgomery County Police Department to implement three automated noise abatement monitoring systems, or noise camera devices, across the County to help enforce existing state noise laws.
Councilmembers Evan Glass, Marilyn Balcombe, Sidney Katz, Dawn Luedtke, Laurie-Anne Sayles, Kristin Mink and Council President Andrew Friedson are cosponsors of Bill 14-24.
Bill 6-24, Property Tax Credit - Disabled Veterans
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Bill 6-24, Property Tax Credit - Disabled Veterans, which would provide a new property tax credit to veterans who are severely disabled. Under Bill 6-24, a property tax credit would be available to an honorably discharged veteran who is at least 50 percent disabled, as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and whose federal adjusted gross income does not exceed $100,000.
The property tax credit granted under the bill would equal 50 percent of the County property tax imposed on the dwelling house if the disabled veteran’s service-connected disability rating is at least 75 percent, but not more than 99 percent; or 25 percent of the County property tax imposed on the dwelling house if the disabled veteran’s service-connected disability rating is at least 50 percent, but not more than 74 percent. Veterans who are 100 percent disabled for service-connected causes are already eligible for an exemption from property taxes.
The lead sponsor of Bill 6-24 is Councilmember Fani-González. Council President Friedson and Councilmembers Balcombe, Luedtke, Gabe Albornoz, Katz and Sayles are cosponsors. The GO Committee recommends approval with amendments.
Bill 8-24, Human Rights and Civil Liberties - Fair Criminal History and Credit Screenings – Amendments
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Bill 8-24, Human Rights and Civil Liberties - Fair Criminal History and Credit Screenings – Amendments. The bill would require posting a notice regarding the use of criminal arrest and conviction information in rental housing decisions, clarify if a certain addendum or statement is required for rental applications and require annual reporting of certain disaggregated data related to rental applications. Additionally, Bill 8-24 would require a landlord to retain a rental application addendum for a certain period and require that a landlord provide to the County, as part of the annual rental housing survey, a completed criminal and credit screening addendum.
The purpose of the bill is to strengthen compliance with the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Law, also known as “ban the box,” and improve renters’ knowledge about the use of criminal background checks or credit screenings during the rental housing application process.
The lead sponsor of Bill 8-24 is Councilmember Sayles. Councilmembers Glass and Katz are cosponsors. The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee recommends approval with amendments.
Bill 10-24, Contracts and Procurement - Local Small Business Reserve Program (LSBRP) - Veteran-Owned Business Preference Points
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Bill 10-24, Contracts and Procurement - Local Small Business Reserve Program (LSBRP) - Veteran-Owned Business Preference Points, which would implement veteran-owned business preference points under the Local Small Business Reserve Program and outlines the eligibility criteria.
Bill 10-24 would enable veteran-owned local small businesses to gain access to more County procurement opportunities by awarding preference points of five percent to certified, veteran-owned local small businesses that submit a proposal in response to a County request for proposal. A small business must have a valid veteran-owned small business (VOSB) or service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) certificate from the U.S. Small Business Administration or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be eligible for the preference points.
The lead sponsor is Council President Friedson, at the request of the County Executive Elrich. Councilmembers Fani-González, Katz and Sayles are cosponsors. The GO Committee recommends approval.
Bill 11-24, Finance - Economic Development Fund - Make Office Vacancy Extinct (MOVE) Grant Program – Established
Vote expected: The Council is expected to vote on Bill 11-24, Finance - Economic Development Fund - Make Office Vacancy Extinct (MOVE) Grant Program – Established, which would create a business incentive grant program under the Economic Development Fund to support eligible businesses with the rental costs of locating, relocating or expanding office space in the County. Additionally, the bill would codify incentives for new businesses relocating to the County currently provided under the MOVE Program, provide incentives to new and existing businesses expanding operations in the County and set eligibility criteria for how businesses qualify for the program incentives.
The bill would also codify and update substantive provisions of the existing MOVE Program, which was introduced as a pilot program by the County Executive in March 2014 to provide relocation grants to businesses to assist with rental costs of moving back to the County. The purpose of the bill is to eliminate office vacancies and make the program law.
The lead sponsors of Bill 11-24 are Councilmembers Glass, Fani-González, Balcombe and Sayles. Council Vice President Stewart and Councilmembers Luedtke, Mink, Albornoz, Katz and Council President Friedson are cosponsors. The Economic Development (ECON) Committee recommends enactment with amendments.
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