Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced

SB0871 — Civil Actions - Punitive Damage Awards - Surcharge

Last action — Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

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

This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 06, 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

Providing that punitive damages may be awarded in a civil action only if the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with gross negligence; requiring the State Court Administrator to assess a certain surcharge on a defendant against whom a judgment for punitive damages is entered; requiring the Administrator to deposit money collected from the surcharge into the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Fund; applying the Act prospectively; etc.

Bill Text

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

Read SB0871 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  2. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

  • Senator Smith · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

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

Sponsors (1)

  • Senator Smith

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 taxation finance civil-rights labor
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 SB0871 do?
Providing that punitive damages may be awarded in a civil action only if the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with gross negligence; requiring the State Court Administrator to assess a certain surcharge on a defendant against whom a judgment for punitive damages is entered; requiring the Administrator to deposit money collected from the surcharge into the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Fund; applying the Act prospectively; etc.
Who sponsors SB0871?
SB0871 is sponsored by Senator Smith.
What is the current status of SB0871?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 06, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB0871?
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Last checked for changes about 1 hour ago · updated continuously

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