My two bill hearings today made me aware of that.

House Bill 57 would make permanent certain emergency regulations from last year’s election.

Canvassing of mail-in or absentee ballots would begin after a certain number are received.

If a ballot is unsigned, a local board would be required to attempt to contact a voter to obtain his or her signature.

In addition, the State Board of Elections would be given the authority to require that an additional polling center be established in a county or Baltimore City if the absence of the center is discriminatory on the basis of race, color, religion, or disability.

Under current law, a landlord must meet certain lead safety standards before renting a property.

However, if the landlord seeks to evict a tenant, whether the property owner has a state-issued certificate of lead safety compliance is not “an issue of fact” in Housing Court.

For six years, I’ve introduced bills to change that.

A database system tracking compliance is scheduled to be in operation by October.

My legislation today, House Bill 49, was not opposed by the landlords.

It should pass.