Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced 1 R cosponsors

HB1551 — Department of Agriculture - Regulation of Dog Breeders

Last action — Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  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 13, 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

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

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

Summary

Establishing the Dog Breeder Accountability Fund as a special, nonlapsing fund; requiring, on or before July 1, beginning in 2028, a dog breeder to register annually with the Department of Agriculture and, at the time of registration, pay an annual registration fee of $150; requiring, beginning on July 1, 2029, and within 30 days after the birth of a litter, a dog breeder to apply to the Department for a puppy birth certificate for each puppy born in the litter; etc.

Bill Text

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

Read HB1551 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  2. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 187 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (187)

187 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 187 →

"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

Subjects

public-safety 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 HB1551 do?
Establishing the Dog Breeder Accountability Fund as a special, nonlapsing fund; requiring, on or before July 1, beginning in 2028, a dog breeder to register annually with the Department of Agriculture and, at the time of registration, pay an annual registration fee of $150; requiring, beginning on July 1, 2029, and within 30 days after the birth of a litter, a dog breeder to apply to the Department for a puppy birth certificate for each puppy born in the litter; etc.
Who sponsors HB1551?
HB1551 is sponsored by Delegate Ric Metzgar (Republican).
What is the current status of HB1551?
This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced February 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB1551?
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