If it became state law, House Bill 380 would strip a current state law, and drop a $1,000 fine, that bans such machines on school campuses. It passed the Maryland House after several days of vigorous debate among delegates, but the bill lasted only seconds before being killed in a Senate committee.
“We all know what this bill does,” Del. Will Smith, the Democrat chair, said. “There is a motion for an unfavorable. Is everyone comfortable being recorded in the unfavorable?”
The committee then voted unanimously to dispose of the bill, which also helped Democrats run from legislation Republicans had nicknamed the “Condoms for Kindergarteners” bill.
Even though House Bill 308 would reverse the law and allow the vending machines, bill sponsor Del. Nicole Williams insisted her legislation was not responsible for putting the machines on school campuses – just removing the fine for doing so.
“This bill is simply decriminalizing access to contraception. That’s all the bill does,” she said.
The only problem with that claim is Republicans suspected a camel-under-the-tent tactic that began with repealing the $1,000 fine. Republicans offered an amendment to exclude the vending machines from elementary-level schools but Democrats rejected it.
In a Fox News interview, GOP Del. Kathy Szeliga said Republicans were not fooled by Williams’ innocent-sounding claim she was simply removing a fine from state law. Fox News host John Roberts played a clip of Del. Williams saying “the sky is not gonna fall” if the bill becomes law.
“Well, that’s how they start,” Szeliga countered. “As I told them on the House floor, next year you’ll come back to regulate it. I mean, this is how it works.”
