HB 155

Public Safety - Law Enforcement Officers - Prohibition on Face Coverings

Sponsor: Nicole A. Williams (District 22)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Public SafetyStatus: Hearing 2/24 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission to develop a model policy prohibiting the use of a face covering in the performance of duty; requiring a law enforcement agency to adopt a policy consistent with the model policy developed by the Commission; and prohibiting a certain law enforcement officer from wearing a certain face covering while in the performance of duty in the State, except when actively engaged in an undercover operation.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (119)

MGA witness list

FAV 110FavorableFWA 2Favorable with amendmentsUNF 6UnfavorableINFO 1Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Kouadio, Michele	A Mother's Cry	Position only
FAV	Gobel, Christianlobbyist	AFSCME Maryland Council 3	Written (PDF)
FAV	Shah, Naureen	American Civil Liberties Union	Oral
FAV	RUBIN, ANNA	Anna Rubin	Written (PDF)
FAV	Porter, Phylicia	Baltimore City Council District 10	Oral
FAV	Sharp, Birgit	CANDLE	Written (PDF)
FAV	Manuel, Anne	CCAN Action Fund volunteer	Written (PDF)
FAV	Mascioli, William	CCAN Volunteer	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lopez, Ericlobbyist	Capital Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) Coalition	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Shulman, Kathy	Charm City Indivisible	Written (PDF)
FAV	Benitez, Mayor Celina	City of Mount Rainier	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Searcy, Talisha	City of Takoma Park	Written (PDF)
FAV	Ugo-Akwada, Ihemanma	Common Cause	Written (PDF)
FAV	Trone, David	David Trone for Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hession, Melody	Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCA	Written (PDF)
FAV	Sugarman, Kate	Doctors For Camp Closure	Written (PDF)
FAV	White, Marcelinelobbyist	Economic Action Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Santos, Tatiana	Indivisible Frederick Forward	Written (PDF)
FAV	Estes, Alexandra	Indivisible MoCoWoMen	Written (PDF)
FAV	miller, deborahlobbyist	JCRC of Greater Washington	Written (PDF)
FAV	Boddie-Willis, Cynthia	League of Women Voters of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Dodge, Alison	MD Association for Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	douglass, sharlimar	Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity in Education (MAREE)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Williams, Nicole	Maryland General Assembly	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Plante, Cecilia	Maryland Legislative Coalition	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wolf, Stephanie	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lemle, Paul	Maryland State Education Association	Written (PDF)
FAV	Elrich, Marc	Montgomery County Government	Written (PDF)
FAV	Harper, Shelby	Montgomery County, Maryland Women's Democratic Club	Written (PDF)
FAV	Proctor, Karessa	NASW Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	James, Keisha	National Lawyers Guild - National Police Accountability Project	Written (PDF)
FAV	Zeller, Eileen	None	Written (PDF)
FAV	Jasen, John	One Pasadena	Written (PDF)
FAV	Out For Justice, Member	Out for Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	PERRYMAN, GLENN	Retired	Written (PDF)
FAV	Margorin, Alexandra	SEIU 32BJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Cano, Christopherlobbyist	SEIU Local 500	Written (PDF)
FAV	Elaine, Arndt	SELF	Written (PDF)
FAV	Blaha, Katherine	SURJ	Written (PDF)
FAV	Eckel, Rianna	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kleinman, Jan	SURJ Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Cavanaugh, Jean	Self	Written (PDF)
FAV	Powell, Holly	Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hoffman, Theresa M.	Showing Up for Racial Justice Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Keipper, Lindsay	Showing Up for Racial Justice- Baltimore	Written (PDF)
FAV	Follingstad, Susaanti	Silver Spring Justice Coalition	Written (PDF)
FAV	SWASC, UM	Social Work Advocates for Social Change	Written (PDF)
FAV	Schrock, Ydelka	Together We Will Harford County Indivisible	Written (PDF)
FAV	Caldiero, Jim	UULM-MD	Written (PDF)
FAV	McNair, Lee	Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry	Position only
FAV	Warnken, Heather	University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice Reform	Written (PDF)
FAV	OMalley, Catherine	Women's Law Center	Position only
FAV	Kaplowitz, Richard KAP	Year	Written (PDF)
FAV	Pinard, Michael	Youth, Education and Justice Clinic, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law	Written (PDF)
FAV	McDougal, Mary	n/a	Written (PDF)
FAV	Arndt, Dave	Individual	Position only
FAV	Azrin, Susan	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Beck, Mary	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Benecke, Eileen	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Britton, Anna	Individual	Written (PDF)

Showing 60 of 119

Organizations on record

A Mother's CryFAV 1

AFSCME Maryland Council 3FAV 1

American Civil Liberties UnionFAV 1

Anna RubinFAV 1

Baltimore City Council District 10FAV 1

CANDLEFAV 1

Capital Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) CoalitionFAV 1

CCAN Action Fund volunteerFAV 1

CCAN VolunteerFAV 1

Charm City IndivisibleFAV 1

City of Mount RainierFAV 1

City of Takoma ParkFAV 1

Common CauseFAV 1

David Trone for MarylandFAV 1

Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCAFAV 1

Doctors For Camp ClosureFAV 1

Economic Action MarylandFAV 1

Indivisible Frederick ForwardFAV 1

Indivisible MoCoWoMenFAV 1

JCRC of Greater WashingtonFAV 1

League of Women Voters of MarylandFAV 1

Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity in Education (MAREE)FAV 1

Maryland General AssemblyFAV 1

Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderFAV 1

Maryland State & District of Columbia AFL-CIOINFO 1

Maryland State Education AssociationFAV 1

MD Association for JusticeFAV 1

MD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.UNF 1

Montgomery County CouncilmemberFWA 1

Montgomery County GovernmentFAV 1

Montgomery County, Maryland Women's Democratic ClubFAV 1

n/aFAV 1

NASW MarylandFAV 1

National Lawyers Guild - National Police Accountability ProjectFAV 1

NoneFAV 1

One PasadenaFAV 1

Out for JusticeFAV 1

RetiredFAV 1

SEIU 32BJFAV 1

SEIU Local 500FAV 1

SelfFAV 1

SELFFAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)FAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice BaltimoreFAV 1

Showing Up for Racial Justice- BaltimoreFAV 1

Silver Spring Justice CoalitionFAV 1

Social Work Advocates for Social ChangeFAV 1

SURJFAV 1

SURJ BaltimoreFAV 2

Together We Will Harford County IndivisibleFAV 1

Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice MinistryFAV 1

University of Baltimore School of Law Center for Criminal Justice ReformFAV 1

UULM-MDFAV 1

Women's Law CenterFAV 1

YearFAV 1

Youth, Education and Justice Clinic, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of LawFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVGobel, ChristianAFSCME Maryland Council 3Registered for: AFSCME Council 3

FAVLopez, EricCapital Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) CoalitionRegistered for: Capital Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) Coalition

FAVWhite, MarcelineEconomic Action MarylandRegistered for: Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition DBA Economic Action Maryland; Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition

FAVmiller, deborahJCRC of Greater WashingtonRegistered for: Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington

FAVCano, ChristopherSEIU Local 500Registered for: SEIU Local 500

UNFJackson, SamiraMD Police Chiefs Assoc. and MD Sheriffs Assoc.Registered for: Critical Response Group; Dell Technologies Inc.; Empower; Forward Financing; HDR Engineering, Inc.; Maryland Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs…