Women's caucus pushes access to child care, health care as legislative priorities
Prerelease services for incarcerated women, grant funds for abortion access, cancer screenings and tax credits for child care facilities are just a smattering of the legislative priorities for the Women Legislators of Maryland.
The women's caucus on Monday evening announced a priority list of 15 bills for the 2025 legislative session, with the possibility of more to come. Almost all the bills deal with access to child care or health care, amid potentially disruptive policies from the Trump administration.
'In November, we knew to believe the President-elect, that women's health care would be under attack,' Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel), president of the women's caucus, said Monday evening. 'It became clear to us that the caucus's … priority must be to do everything in our power to support and defend women's health care in Maryland.
'We're not going to sit idly by and watch women get hurt, and we are going to do everything in our power to fight back,' she said.
The caucus is currently comprised only of Democratic lawmakers, as Republican women no longer participate.
The caucus' priorities list includes six bills related to health care access and eight for child care. The priorities also include a bill that would help incarcerated women have an easier transition back into private life.
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One of the top priorities is a renewed effort to tap into funds that are required to be collected by insurance carriers that cover abortion services. The Affordable Care Act requires those insurers to collect $1 premium per member per month and hold it in a 'segregated fund,' according to bill sponsor Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery).
HB 930 would use those dollars to create a Public Health Abortion Grant Program Fund that would be used to expand access to abortion in the state. Lopez said that there is about $25 million available, though the official fiscal analysis has not yet been released.
But it's not just abortion access — the caucus is pushing to improve women's health care overall, prioritizing several bills that call for expanding access to various screenings and testing for cancer. The caucus also supports a bill to do away with the sunset date for a health care subsidy aimed at helping young adults more easily afford health care.
Del. Karen Toles (D-Prince George's) sponsored HB 1251, which would allow certified doulas into the birthing room, in addition to a patient's authorized guests, among other measures. She said that allowing a doula into the birthing room will provide 'extra eyes, ears' during labor, especially as other guests, such as a spouse, may not feel comfortable.
'The men that are the fathers want to be able to … [protect] the mothers that are giving birth to their child, but they may also be a little nervous as well,' Toles said. 'So having that additional person in the room will be extra eyes and ears and protection for the mothers.'
On the child care front, several of the caucus' priority bills would make it easier to start a new child care facility. It comes at a time when families are struggling to find child care.
'Marylanders lack access to affordable, or any, child care services, which has women and families facing serious economic disadvantages,' Jones said.
HB 389, sponsored by Jones and Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery) would let local jurisdictions provide a property tax credit for child day care facilities.
'At the end of the day, this is about money,' Palakovich Carr said. 'Most of these providers are small businesses. They are often women-owned businesses who are struggling, and by providing them some relief on their property taxes, we can help make their businesses viable.'
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Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore County) sponsors a bill aimed to help those starting a new child care facility. She said that 'one of the primary barriers to starting a licensed family child care center is that often landlords prohibit it.'
Under HB 911, landlords would no longer be able to ban or prohibit the operation of a child care facility on their property, so long as the child care center adheres to established state and local regulations to operate the facility. The landlord would be able to require a security deposit up to two months' worth of rent from a tenant who wants to operate a child care facility on the property.
At the end of the news conference, Jones said the 15-bill priority list is still growing, and that other bills could be added as session continues.
'This is our list so far, that doesn't mean this is the end of the list,' she said.
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