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SB 652

Local Government – Local Personnel – Leave With Pay

2025 Regular Session Introduced by J.B. Jennings

Allows Maryland counties and municipalities to offer paid leave, including disaster-response leave, to local employees at their option.

Hearing 3/26 at 2:30 p.m.
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Bill Summary · SB 652

SB 652 — Local Government – Local Personnel – Leave With Pay (Maryland)

Summary
SB 652 authorizes county and municipal governments in Maryland to provide various types of paid leave to local employees, and creates a limited disaster-service paid-leave option for eligible local employees who volunteer with specified emergency organizations. The bill is permissive (local units “may” provide leave) and leaves implementation details to each county or municipality.

Key purposes and intent
- Expand local governmental authority to offer paid leave for disaster volunteer service and several other purposes (jury duty, certain training, court appearances, administrative removal, etc.).
- Encourage and enable local public-sector employees to participate in approved disaster-response activities without losing pay.
- Give local executives flexibility to provide additional paid leave as needed.

Main provisions / changes
- Disaster service leave with pay (Article – Local Government §1‑207)
- On request, a local employee may be entitled to disaster service leave with pay if either:
- the employee is American Red Cross–certified and the Red Cross requests their services for a disaster designated Level II or higher; or
- the employee is a member of specified volunteer organizations (Civil Air Patrol; U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary; Maryland VOAD; volunteer EMS department; volunteer fire department; volunteer rescue company/squad; or a Community Emergency Response Team).
- Limit: up to 15 days of disaster service leave in any 12‑month period, and use requires approval from the local governmental unit.
- During a prolonged or recurrent disaster, the local unit may waive the approval requirement and may increase the number of leave days if in the public interest.

  • Leave with pay (Article – Local Government §1‑208)
    • Each county/municipality may provide paid leave for:
    • jury service;
    • attendance at employee-organization events approved by the governmental head;
    • up to 30 days for uniformed‑services training or active reserve duty (uniformed services defined by federal law);
    • court, grand jury, administrative proceedings, or deposition in compliance with a subpoena (unless the employee is a party or paid witness);
    • immediate administrative removal from the work site if the employee poses a threat or is incapable of performing duties due to extraordinary circumstances;
    • any other paid leave the head of the governmental unit considers necessary.

Who is affected
- All employees of county and municipal governmental units in Maryland are eligible for the authority created by the bill, but access to leave is discretionary and subject to each local unit’s policies and approval processes.
- Fiscal impacts fall to local governments that choose to adopt and grant paid leave.

Fiscal and administrative impact
- State finances: none (bill applies only to local governments).
- Local finances: potential increase in expenditures (possibly significant) where local units choose to provide additional paid leave. Costs depend on local decisions about approval, frequency of use, overtime or temporary coverage needs, and whether leave caps are exceeded during prolonged disasters.
- The bill is authorizing in nature; any fiscal impact occurs only if local governments act to implement the options.

Procedural status & timeline
- Introduced: January 25, 2025 (Sen. Jennings).
- Assigned to: Senate Finance Committee.
- Hearing scheduled: March 26, 2025 (user-provided status: 3/26 at 2:30 p.m.).
- Effective date if enacted: October 1, 2025.

Notes / considerations
- The bill is permissive — local governments retain discretion to adopt, define, and limit leave benefits.
- During major disasters, the waiver and expanded-leave provisions give local officials flexibility to support emergency response staffing needs.
- Localities evaluating adoption should consider payroll, overtime, temporary staffing, and service‑continuity costs.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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