Purpose: The bill aims to regulate the calculation and use of interchange fees in electronic payment transactions, ensuring that taxes and gratuities are excluded from the amount on which these fees are charged.

Key Changes:

Requires entities processing electronic payment transactions to exclude the amount of tax and gratuity from the interchange fee calculation.

Mandates credit and debit card issuers to credit merchants with the amount of interchange fees charged on the tax and gratuity portion of transactions, provided the merchant submits the necessary documentation.

Prohibits the use of electronic payment transaction data for purposes other than facilitating the transaction, preventing fraud, supporting loyalty programs, tailoring products and services, or as required by law.

Establishes civil penalties for non-compliance with the provisions of the bill.

Regulations: The bill outlines the responsibilities of issuers, payment card networks, acquirer banks, and processors in implementing these changes, including the exclusion of tax and gratuity amounts from interchange fee calculations and the crediting of merchants.

Purpose: The bill aims to prohibit the theft of mail or packages and ensure that victims are notified about court proceedings related to such thefts.

Key Changes:

Prohibits knowingly or willfully obtaining or exerting control over mail or packages delivered to another person with the intent to deprive the owner.

Classifies the theft of mail or packages as a felony, with a penalty of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years.

Requires prosecuting attorneys to notify victims or their representatives about court proceedings, the right to submit a victim impact statement, and any post-trial court proceedings, appeals, or sentence reviews related to the case.

Purpose: The bill aims to regulate automatic renewal offers to consumers, ensuring transparency and ease of cancellation.

Key Changes:

Requires clear and conspicuous presentation of the terms of the automatic renewal offer before the subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled.

Mandates that consumers be provided with an easily accessible disclosure of the methods to cancel the automatic renewal.

Prohibits automatic charging of a consumer's credit card without clear and conspicuous notice.

Establishes that compliance with certain state or federal regulations is considered compliance with this Act.

Classifies violations of this Act as unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices.

Purpose: The bill aims to address organized retail theft by providing legal provisions for the prosecution of multiple thefts committed by the same person in multiple counties under one scheme or continuing course of conduct.

Key Changes:

Allows multiple thefts committed by the same person in multiple counties under one scheme to be joined and prosecuted in any county where one of the thefts occurred.

Defines "organized retail theft" as the commission of a series of thefts of retail merchandise from one or more retail merchants over a 90-day period with the intent to permanently deprive the merchant of the merchandise, return the merchandise for monetary gain, or resell, trade, or barter the merchandise for monetary gain.

Establishes penalties for organized retail theft based on the aggregate value of the stolen property, with varying degrees of imprisonment and fines.

Requires courts to make a finding of fact as to whether a crime is organized retail theft for reporting purposes

Purpose: The bill aims to ensure that consumers are reimbursed for shipping costs when they receive incorrect items from merchants.

Key Changes:

Requires merchants to refund the full amount of shipping costs incurred by consumers to return incorrect items within 30 days of receiving a refund request.

Defines "consumer" as the purchaser of consumer goods, services, or credit, excluding resale purposes.

Defines "merchant" and "retail sale" for the purposes of the bill.

Classifies violations of this requirement as unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices subject to enforcement and penalties under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

Effective Date: The Act shall take effect on October 1, 2025

Purpose: The bill aims to prohibit false advertising related to digital goods and ensure that consumers are fully informed about the nature of their purchases.

Key Changes:

Prohibits advertising or offering for sale a digital good using terminology that implies unrestricted ownership unless certain acknowledgments are received from the purchaser and clear statements are provided by the seller.

Requires sellers to receive an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser that they are receiving a license to access a digital good, along with a complete list of restrictions and conditions of the license.

Mandates that sellers provide a clear and conspicuous statement that the purchaser is buying a license for the digital good and includes a digital method to access the license details, terms, and conditions.

Purpose: The bill aims to increase the maximum penalty for violating the prohibition against false advertising.

Key Changes:

Increases the maximum penalty for false advertising from $500 to $1,000 for each violation.

Allows the Attorney General to recover the penalty for the State in a civil action.

Effective Date: The Act shall take effect on October 1, 2025

- Establishing an appeal process for persons subject to the digital advertising gross revenues tax who receive a notice of assessment from the Comptroller.
- Authorizing the Comptroller or the Comptroller's designee to issue an order to correct an erroneous assessment of the digital advertising gross revenues tax, subject to certain conditions.
- Applying the Act to assessments of the digital advertising gross revenues tax made after December 31, 2025.

The act is set to take effect on January 1, 2026.

- Altering the distance restrictions from 2,000 feet to one-half mile applicable to a licensed cannabis dispensary.
- Prohibiting a political subdivision from establishing certain zoning requirements that are more restrictive than those that existed on June 30, 2023.
- Authorizing at least 10 individuals who are residents, commercial tenants who are not holders of or applicants for a license, or real estate owners located within 1,000 feet of the licensed premises to file a protest against a license.

The act was approved by the Governor on April 25, 2024.

• Establish Data Broker Regulations and Tax:

  • Create a registry and impose a gross income tax on certain data brokers.

Key Provisions:

• Privacy Protection:

  • Establish the Privacy Protection and Enforcement Unit within the Division of Consumer Protection in the Office of the Attorney General.

• Data Broker Registry:

  • Require data brokers to register annually with the Comptroller.

  • Include registration details such as data handling practices and options for residents to opt out.

• Gross Income Tax:

  • Impose a 6% tax on the annual gross income of data brokers derived from data brokering activities.

  • Distribute tax revenue to support various initiatives, including digital literacy for K-12 students, artificial intelligence projects, and consumer privacy enforcement.

Reporting and Compliance:

• Annual Reporting:

  • Data brokers must file annual returns and pay the gross income tax.

  • Maintain records of data brokering activities and income calculations.

Effective Dates:

• Varied Effective Dates:

  • Provisions effective from July 1, 2025, and October 1, 2025.

  • Tax applicable for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.

Purpose: The bill aims to address organized retail theft by providing legal provisions for the prosecution of multiple thefts committed by the same person in multiple counties under one scheme or continuing course of conduct.
Key Changes:
Allows multiple thefts committed by the same person in multiple counties under one scheme to be joined and prosecuted in any county where one of the thefts occurred.

Defines "organized retail theft" as the commission of a series of thefts of retail merchandise from one or more retail merchants over a 90-day period with the intent to permanently deprive the merchant of the merchandise, return the merchandise for monetary gain, or resell, trade, or barter the merchandise for monetary gain.

Establishes penalties for organized retail theft based on the aggregate value of the stolen property, with varying degrees of imprisonment and fines.

Requires courts to make a finding of fact as to whether a crime is organized retail theft for reporting purposes.

Purpose: The bill aims to regulate automatic renewal offers to consumers, ensuring transparency and ease of cancellation.

Key Changes:

Requires clear and conspicuous presentation of the terms of the automatic renewal offer before the subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled.

Mandates that consumers be provided with an easily accessible disclosure of the methods to cancel the automatic renewal.

Prohibits automatic charging of a consumer's credit card without clear and conspicuous notice.

Establishes that compliance with certain state or federal regulations is considered compliance with this Act.

Classifies violations of this Act as unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices.

- Prohibiting a person from knowingly and intentionally opening mail addressed to another without permission of the person or an authorized designee.
- Providing certain penalties for violations of the Act.
- Prohibiting the theft of mail under certain circumstances.
- Prohibiting a person from possessing an arrow key under certain circumstances.
- Providing for concurrent jurisdiction in the District Court and circuit court to try a violation of the Act.

The act is set to take effect on October 1, 2025.

- Establishing new procedures for automatic voter registration at the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) and the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange (MHBE).
- Modifying the existing automatic voter registration process to ensure that applicants are informed about their registration status and given the opportunity to decline registration if they are not eligible or do not wish to register.
- Implementing new procedures for verifying citizenship and eligibility for voter registration during applicable transactions at MVA and MHBE.

The act is set to take effect on January 1, 2025.