HB 382

Commercial Law - Broadband Access - Low-Income Consumer Programs (Maryland Broadband Opportunity and Fairness Act)

Sponsor: Kris Fair (District 3)Committee: Economic MattersSubject: Housing and Community DevelopmentStatus: First Reading Finance (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring, beginning November 15, 2027, and each November 15 thereafter, certain broadband providers to report certain information to the Office of Statewide Broadband annually; and requiring by December 1, 2027, and each December 1 thereafter, the Office to determine whether the certain programs reported are sufficient to meet the needs of low-income consumers in the State and make any recommendations related to low-income consumer programs in the State.

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Testimony (25)

MGA witness list

FAV 16FavorableUNF 9Unfavorable

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Martinez, Madelinlobbyist	Catholic Charities	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wilson Randall, Claudia	Community Development Network of Maryland	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Bevan-Dangel, Jenniferlobbyist	Economic Action Maryland Fund	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Ball, Calvin	Howard County Exec	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lynott, Nancy	League of Women Voters of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kovacs, Lisa	Maryland Association of Local Management Boards	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wisniewski, Amanda	Maryland Legal Aid	Written (PDF)
FAV	Plante, Cecilia	Maryland Legislative Coalition	Position only
FAV	Themelis, Nina	Mayor's Office of Government Relations	Written (PDF)
FAV	Herrera, Mitsuko	Montgomery County Dept. of Technology & Enterprise Business Solutions	Oral
FAV	Morningstar, Sara	Montgomery County Government	Written (PDF)
FAV	Snyder, Co-Chair, Abby	Poverty Free Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Carter, Alita-Geri	Qualequity Access	Position only
FAV	LeGrand, Gretchen	Robert W. Deutsch Foundation	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Delegate Fair, Delegate Fairlegislator	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Horrigan, John	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Stokes, Meganlobbyist	CCIA	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Crandall, Jeremy	CTIA	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Connelly, Valerielobbyist	Choptank Electric Cooperative	Written (PDF)
UNF	Wiggins, Grasonlobbyist	Maryland Chamber of Commerce	Written (PDF)
UNF	Plymouth, Paul	Verizon	Written (PDF)
UNF	Schwerbel, Steven	WISPA - The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries	Oral + Written (PDF)
UNF	Lang, Alan	Individual	Position only
UNF	Vetter, Drew	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	durkin, margaretlobbyist	Individual	Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

Catholic CharitiesFAV 1

CCIAUNF 1

Choptank Electric CooperativeUNF 1

Community Development Network of MarylandFAV 1

CTIAUNF 1

Economic Action Maryland FundFAV 1

Howard County ExecFAV 1

League of Women Voters of MarylandFAV 1

Maryland Association of Local Management BoardsFAV 1

Maryland Chamber of CommerceUNF 1

Maryland Legal AidFAV 1

Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

Mayor's Office of Government RelationsFAV 1

Montgomery County Dept. of Technology & Enterprise Business SolutionsFAV 1

Montgomery County GovernmentFAV 1

Poverty Free MarylandFAV 1

Qualequity AccessFAV 1

Robert W. Deutsch FoundationFAV 1

VerizonUNF 1

WISPA - The Association for Broadband Without BoundariesUNF 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVMartinez, MadelinCatholic CharitiesRegistered for: Catholic Charities

FAVBevan-Dangel, JenniferEconomic Action Maryland FundRegistered for: Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition DBA Economic Action Maryland; Humane Society of the United States; Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Humane World for Animals

UNFStokes, MeganCCIARegistered for: Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA)

UNFConnelly, ValerieChoptank Electric CooperativeRegistered for: Choptank Electric Cooperative, Inc.

UNFWiggins, GrasonMaryland Chamber of CommerceRegistered for: Maryland Chamber of Commerce; United Way of Central Maryland, Inc.; Madison Marquette Property Investments LLC; Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund; Family Tree, The; OVG Facilities…

UNFdurkin, margaretRegistered for: TechNet