Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced 5 D cosponsors

HB0912 — Local Government - Trap-Neuter-Return Policies for Community Cats - Requirements and Restrictions (Ash's Law)

Last action — Committee Report (House of Origin) — Favorable with Amendments

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced February 05, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Advancing 38% · moderate confidence

  • Introduced

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 7 sponsors

    1 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (5 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Establishing that certain provisions of law prohibiting the abandonment or certain neglect of an animal do not apply to a person who is providing care to a community cat under a trap-neuter-return policy; establishing that a local law that establishes a trap-neuter-return policy is subject to certain requirements and restrictions; and providing that the Act supersedes and preempts any law, ordinance, policy, regulation, or rule of any local government body, person, or corporation that restricts the practice of trap-neuter-return; etc.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB0912 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. Committee Report (House of Origin) — Favorable with Amendments

  2. Third Reading (House of Origin) — Passed

  3. Second Reading (House of Origin) — Passed with Amendments

  4. First Reading (Opposite House)

  5. Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  6. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 181 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (181)

181 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 181 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

On Third Reading

Passed 131 Yea · 0 Nay · 10 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 11003
Democrat 87006
Republican 33001
Total 1310010
% of votes cast 93%0%0%7%
How each member voted (141)
Member Party Vote
Speaker — Yea
Grammer — Yea
Mangione — Yea
Watson — Yea
Guzzone — Yea
Schmidt — Yea
Hinebaugh — Yea
Young — Yea
Conaway — Yea
Jones, D. — Not Voting
Holmes — Not Voting
Jones, A. — Not Voting
Morgan, M. — Yea
Morgan, T. — Yea
Delegate Aaron M. Kaufman Democrat Yea
Delegate Adrian Boafo Democrat Yea
Delegate Aletheia McCaskill Democrat Yea
Delegate Andrea Fletcher Harrison Democrat Yea
Delegate Andrew C. Pruski Democrat Yea
Delegate Anne Healey Democrat Yea
Delegate Anne R. Kaiser Democrat Yea
Delegate Ashanti Martinez Democrat Yea
Delegate Ben Barnes Democrat Yea
Delegate Bernice Mireku-North Democrat Yea
Delegate Bonnie Cullison Democrat Yea
Delegate Brian M. Crosby Democrat Not Voting
Delegate C. T. Wilson Democrat Yea
Delegate Catherine M. Forbes Democrat Yea
Delegate Chao Wu Democrat Yea
Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield Democrat Yea
Delegate Cheryl E. Pasteur Democrat Yea
Delegate Dana Stein Democrat Yea
Delegate Darrell Odom Democrat Yea
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo Democrat Yea
Delegate David Moon Democrat Yea
Delegate Debra Davis Democrat Yea
Delegate Deni Taveras Democrat Yea
Delegate Denise Roberts Democrat Yea
Delegate Derrick Coley Democrat Yea
Delegate Diana M. Fennell Democrat Yea
Delegate Dylan Behler Democrat Yea
Delegate Edith J. Patterson Democrat Yea
Delegate Elizabeth Embry Democrat Yea
Delegate Emily Shetty Democrat Yea
Delegate Eric Ebersole Democrat Yea
Delegate Gabriel Acevero Democrat Yea
Delegate Gabriel M. Moreno Democrat Yea
Delegate Gary Simmons Democrat Yea
Delegate Greg Wims Democrat Yea
Delegate Harry Bhandari Democrat Yea
Delegate Heather Bagnall Democrat Yea
Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Jackie Addison Democrat Yea
Delegate Jamila J. Woods Democrat Yea
Delegate Jared Solomon Democrat Yea
Delegate Jen Terrasa Democrat Yea
Delegate Jennifer White Holland Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Jessica Feldmark Democrat Yea
Delegate Jheanelle K. Wilkins Democrat Yea
Delegate Joe Vogel Democrat Yea
Delegate Jon S. Cardin Democrat Yea
Delegate Julian Ivey Democrat Yea
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr Democrat Yea
Delegate Karen Simpson Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Karen Toles Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Kenneth Kerr Democrat Yea
Delegate Kent Roberson Democrat Yea
Delegate Kim Ross Democrat Yea
Delegate Kris Fair Democrat Yea
Delegate Kriselda Valderrama Democrat Yea
Delegate Kym Taylor Democrat Yea
Delegate Lesley J. Lopez Democrat Yea
Delegate Lily Qi Democrat Yea
Delegate Linda Foley Democrat Yea
Delegate Lorig Charkoudian Democrat Yea
Delegate Luke Clippinger Democrat Yea
Delegate Malcolm P. Ruff Democrat Yea
Delegate Marc Korman Democrat Yea
Delegate Mark Edelson Democrat Yea
Delegate Mark S. Chang Democrat Yea
Delegate Marlon Amprey Democrat Yea
Delegate Mary A. Lehman Democrat Yea
Delegate Matthew J. Schindler Democrat Yea
Delegate Melissa Wells Democrat Yea
Delegate Michele Guyton Democrat Yea
Delegate Mike Rogers Democrat Yea
Delegate N. Scott Phillips Democrat Yea
Delegate Natalie Ziegler Democrat Yea
Delegate Nick Allen Democrat Yea
Delegate Nicole A. Williams Democrat Not Voting
Delegate Pam Queen Democrat Yea
Delegate Regina T. Boyce Democrat Yea
Delegate Robbyn Lewis Democrat Yea
Delegate Ryan Spiegel Democrat Yea
Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg Democrat Yea
Delegate Sarah Wolek Democrat Yea
Delegate Sean A. Stinnett Democrat Yea
Delegate Sheila Ruth Democrat Yea
Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes Democrat Yea
Delegate Stephanie Smith Democrat Yea
Delegate Steve Johnson Democrat Yea
Delegate Steve Johnson Democrat Yea
Delegate Teresa Woorman Democrat Yea
Delegate Terri L. Hill Democrat Yea
Delegate Tiffany T. Alston Democrat Yea
Delegate Vaughn Stewart Democrat Yea
Delegate Veronica Turner Democrat Yea
Delegate April Miller Republican Yea
Delegate April Rose Republican Yea
Delegate Barrie S. Ciliberti Republican Yea
Delegate Barry Beauchamp Republican Yea
Delegate Brian Chisholm Republican Yea
Delegate Chris Tomlinson Republican Yea
Delegate Christopher Eric Bouchat Republican Not Voting
Delegate Christopher T. Adams Republican Yea
Delegate H. Kevin Anderson Republican Yea
Delegate Jason C. Buckel Republican Yea
Delegate Jay A. Jacobs Republican Yea
Delegate Jefferson L. Ghrist Republican Yea
Delegate Jesse T. Pippy Republican Yea
Delegate Joshua J. Stonko Republican Yea
Delegate Kathy Szeliga Republican Yea
Delegate Kevin B. Hornberger Republican Yea
Delegate LaToya Nkongolo Republican Yea
Delegate Lauren Arikan Republican Yea
Delegate Mark N. Fisher Republican Yea
Delegate Mike Griffith Republican Yea
Delegate Nicholaus R. Kipke Republican Yea
Delegate Ric Metzgar Republican Yea
Delegate Robert B. Long Republican Yea
Delegate Robert B. Long Republican Yea
Delegate Ryan Nawrocki Republican Yea
Delegate Seth A. Howard Republican Yea
Delegate Steven J. Arentz Republican Yea
Delegate Susan K. McComas Republican Yea
Delegate Teresa E. Reilly Republican Yea
Delegate Terry L. Baker Republican Yea
Delegate Thomas S. Hutchinson Republican Yea
Delegate Wayne A. Hartman Republican Yea
Delegate William J. Wivell Republican Yea
Delegate William Valentine Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety environment agriculture
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB0912 do?
Establishing that certain provisions of law prohibiting the abandonment or certain neglect of an animal do not apply to a person who is providing care to a community cat under a trap-neuter-return policy; establishing that a local law that establishes a trap-neuter-return policy is subject to certain requirements and restrictions; and providing that the Act supersedes and preempts any law, ordinance, policy, regulation, or rule of any local government body, person, or corporation that restricts the practice of trap-neuter-return; etc.
Who sponsors HB0912?
HB0912 is sponsored by Delegate Lewis, Delegate Michele Guyton (Democrat), Palakovich Carr, Delegate Sheila Ruth (Democrat), Delegate Jen Terrasa (Democrat), Delegate Anne Healey (Democrat), and Delegate Natalie Ziegler (Democrat).
What is the current status of HB0912?
This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced February 05, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB0912?
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