Prince George's County - Alcoholic Beverages - Class A Beer and Class A Beer and Wine Licenses - Retail Grocery Establishments PG 304-26
HB0415 establishes a Family Literacy Pilot Program within the Maryland State Library Agency. The program is designed to strengthen family literacy and parent-child relationships by allowing certain incarcerated individuals to read aloud to their children through a recorded book-reading process. It defines eligible children broadly to include biological or adopted children, stepchildren, grandchildren, and legal wards of incarcerated individuals.
Under the bill, the State Library Agency must administer the program in consultation with the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Correctional Education Council. The agency must select four participating correctional facility libraries or prerelease centers, with representation from the western, central, and eastern regions of the state, and at least one facility serving women and one serving men. The agency also must choose children’s books for the program, including books in languages other than English, and create procedures for parental or guardian permission, book selection, recording, and distribution. Participation must be free for the incarcerated individual, the child, and the custodial parent or guardian.
The bill’s impact on state law is to add a new section to the Education Article creating a time-limited pilot program and authorizing the State Library Agency to adopt regulations to implement it. It also requires a report to the General Assembly by December 1, 2028, on the program’s results. The act takes effect October 1, 2025, and automatically sunsets at the end of 2028 unless further legislative action is taken.
Because no committee transcript or vote history was provided, there is no recorded floor or committee debate to gauge sentiment directly. Based on the bill text, the measure appears policy-oriented and rehabilitative, focusing on literacy, family connection, and correctional education rather than punishment. The absence of recorded opposition or amendments in the provided materials suggests no documented controversy in the supplied context.
Notable points of implementation include the requirement for interagency coordination, the selection of geographically diverse pilot sites, and the inclusion of multilingual children’s books. Potential areas of concern, if raised, would likely involve correctional facility logistics, privacy and permission procedures, and the administrative burden of recording and distributing materials, but those issues are not reflected in the provided discussion record.
HB0415 adds a new pilot-program provision to the Education Article, giving the Maryland State Library Agency authority and responsibility to run a Family Literacy Pilot Program in coordination with correctional agencies. It affects State Library Agency operations, participating correctional facilities and prerelease centers, incarcerated individuals with eligible children, and custodial parents or guardians by creating a free, structured process for recorded read-alouds and book distribution. The law is temporary, requires a legislative report, and sunsets automatically at the end of 2028 unless renewed.
The bill’s apparent sentiment is positive and rehabilitative, emphasizing literacy, family bonding, and educational support for incarcerated parents and their children. In the materials provided, there are no committee transcripts, recorded votes, or amendments indicating opposition or divided views. As presented, the measure reads as a consensus-oriented pilot program with a limited scope and a built-in reporting requirement.
No specific contention is documented in the provided context because there are no committee transcripts or vote records. If concerns were raised, they would most likely center on implementation details such as security and privacy in correctional settings, obtaining written permission from custodial parents or guardians, selecting appropriate books and languages, and the administrative coordination required among the State Library Agency, correctional officials, and the Correctional Education Council.