SENATE

STANDING COMMITTEES

FINANCE COMMITTEE

ORIGIN & FUNCTIONS

The Finance Committee started in December 1831. Originally, it bore responsibility for reviewing all bills concerned with fiscal matters. In 1975, the review of budgetary and tax matters was assigned to a separate committee - the Budget and Taxation Committee.

[photo, Miller Senate Office Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis, Maryland] Today, legislation is considered by the Committee that relates to banks and other financial institutions; commercial law, including consumer protection; credit regulation and consumer financing; economic and community development; and health and welfare matters, including substance abuse. Also reviewed by the Committee are bills concerned with insurance; labor and employment; lotteries and horse racing; State personnel issues; social programs; transportation; unemployment insurance; utility regulation; and workers' compensation.

Miller Senate Office Building, 11 Bladen St., Annapolis, Maryland, December 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

The Committee has eleven members (Senate Rules 18; Code State Government Article, secs. 2-1103 through 2-1105).

SUBCOMMITTEES

Over time the Finance Committee has used subcommittees and work groups to review legislation. In 1976, the Committee had three subcommittees: Consolidation of Services to the Blind; Control and Issuance of Birth Certificates; and Licensing of Professional Counselors. The Health Subcommittee, 1995-97, and the Welfare (later Welfare Reform) Subcommittee, 1995-2000, functioned at the same time that various work groups considered bills. By the 2004 session, the Committee had only one subcommittee: it was concerned with health matters. In 2008, the Transportation Subcommittee formed and, in 2015, the Property and Casualty Subcommittee was added. In 2017, the Committee returned to two subcommittees: Energy and Public Utilities, and Health and Long-Term Care.

ENERGY & PUBLIC UTILITIES SUBCOMMITTEE
In January 2019, the Energy and Public Utilities Subcommittee organized.

HEALTH & LONG-TERM CARE SUBCOMMITTEE
In January 2003, the Health Subcommittee formed to consider issues related to health and health insurance. In January 2019, it was restructured under its present name.

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