Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced 1 D cosponsors

SB0989 — Child Exploitation Material - Civil and Criminal Actions (Safe Kids Act)

Last action — First Reading (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 18, 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.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

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

Prohibiting certain conduct relating to child exploitation material; establishing a civil action for a certain violation of the Act; authorizing the Attorney General to enforce certain provisions of the Act; defining "computer-generated image" in certain provisions relating to crimes involving child pornography to include an image created through the use of artificial intelligence software; and increasing from 16 to 18 the requisite age of a child considered to be a victim of certain child pornography crimes.

Bill Text

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

Read SB0989 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

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 civil-rights technology
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 SB0989 do?
Prohibiting certain conduct relating to child exploitation material; establishing a civil action for a certain violation of the Act; authorizing the Attorney General to enforce certain provisions of the Act; defining "computer-generated image" in certain provisions relating to crimes involving child pornography to include an image created through the use of artificial intelligence software; and increasing from 16 to 18 the requisite age of a child considered to be a victim of certain child pornography crimes.
Who sponsors SB0989?
SB0989 is sponsored by Senator Shaneka Henson (Democrat).
What is the current status of SB0989?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced February 18, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB0989?
Track SB0989 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on SB0989

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of SB0989

Last checked for changes 1 day ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →