Senate

Legislation to legalize medical marijuana passed the House of Delegates Monday, sending the measure to the Senate. The bill would allow marijuana to be distributed through academic research centers by doctors and nurses. Similar measures have failed in previous years, but this year Gov. Martin O'Malley dropped his opposition and backed the proposal. Currently, 18 other states and the District of Columbia allows for the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The bill's sponsor, Del. Dan Morhaim, a physician and a Baltimore Democrat, has described Maryland's potential program as the tightest and most controlled of any in the country.

The Maryland Senate on Monday overwhelmingly passed a weakened speed camera reform bill that would bar local governments from paying vendors based on the volume of citations but wouldn't ensure motorists had enough information to fact-check their citations. The measure, approved 46-1, goes to the House of Delegates, where lawmakers have been drafting a separate bill. The Senate bill, sponsored by Democrat James Brochin of Baltimore County, would outlaw per-ticket payments to any contractor that "provides, deploys or administers and processes" speed camera tickets.

Maryland could become one of a handful of states that grant special driver's licenses to illegal immigrants under legislation garnering strong support in Annapolis. The bill, passed by the Senate on Monday, would expand and make permanent an existing two-tiered driver's license system to include more than 100,000 people whose immigration status currently prevents them from applying for a license. Gov. Martin O'Malley backs the plan, which now moves to the House of Delegates. "It's a safety issue," said Del. Jolene Ivey, a Prince George's County Democrat who introduced the House version.

A bill inspired by the suicide of a teenage Howard County girl who was a victim of a harassment campaign over social media passed the House unanimously Saturday. The legislation now goes to the Senate. The measure seeks to outlaw the use of Internet-based sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the practice known as "cyber-bullying. " The bill is named "Grace's Law" after 15-year-old Grace McComas, whose family testified in support of the bill at its hearing this month. The Glenelg High School student took her life last Easter Sunday after months of malicious postings about her on social media sites.

The House of Delegates voted Friday to raise taxes on gasoline for the first time since 1992, heeding Gov. Martin O'Malley's call for an infusion of money to pay for roads, mass transit and other transportation priorities. House passage, by an unofficial vote of 76-63, sends the legislation to the Senate, where it has the strong support of President Thomas V. Mike Miller. The bill's passage was driven primarily by the votes of Democrats from Baltimore and the large urban counties.

The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a $1.1 billion plan Friday to rebuild Baltimore's deteriorated school buildings, sending the bill to the Senate. The vote was 107 to 30, with about a dozen Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the bill. The legislation is a modified version of a plan conceived by city schools chief Andres Alonso and supported by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. In its current form, the bill would allot $20 million a year in state lottery funds to match like amounts from both Baltimore and the city school system.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget for next year was approved by the Senate after an unusually brief debate Wednesday in a sign of the state's improved fiscal condition. Senators voted 42-5 to pass the $36.8 billion budget and send it to a conference committee with the House. All 35 Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favor of the budget, which comes close to eliminating what was once a nearly $2 billion long-term revenue shortfall. "I can't remember any time the budget was adopted by a larger margin.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget for next year was approved by the Senate after an unusually brief debate Wednesday in a sign of the state's improved fiscal condition. Senators voted 42-5 to pass the $36.8 billion budget and send it to a conference committee with the House. All 35 Democrats and seven Republicans voted in favor of the budget, which comes close to eliminating what was once a nearly $2 billion long-term revenue shortfall. "I can't remember any time the budget was adopted by a larger margin.

A state senator told colleagues Wednesday that a bill to prohibit school systems from suspending children who make gun gestures or have objects that look like a gun is needed because "this has gotten out of hand. " Sen. J.B. Jennings filed his bill after the recent two-day suspension of 7-year-old Joshua Welch at Park Elementary School in Anne Arundel County for nibbling a pastry into what a teacher believed was a shape of a gun. B.J. Welch, the boy's father, was in Annapolis to testify in support of Jennings' bill before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.