(Press release from Senator Carozza)
October 1, 2021, marks the day that several Maryland laws go into effect, including key bills that Senator Mary Beth Carozza sponsored this past session. “Wade’s law becoming law is especially meaningful, given the challenges of a COVID-19 session and the five-year push to pass a bill that provides a fair and just penalty for criminally-negligent driving causing a life-threatening injury,” said Senator Mary Beth Carozza.
Wade’s Law, Primary Sponsor
The story of Wade’s Law starts on February 22, 2016, when two Worcester County road workers, Wade Pusey and Scott Tatterson, were struck by a criminally-negligent driver while they simply were doing their job along the highway. The violent crash killed Mr. Tatterson and Wade was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma with several life-threatening injuries, some of which he continues to live with today.
Prior to Wade’s Law, the penalty for criminally-negligent driving causing life-threatening injuries was only $500. Today, the passage of Wade’s Law provides a just penalty by allowing a person who is guilty of criminally-negligent driving causing a life-threatening injury to be imprisoned up to 1 year and/or be fined up to $5,000.
The final passage of Wade’s Law has been a long road with Wade Pusey and former Deputy State’s Attorney Bill McDermott (Wicomico & Worcester) consistently making the extra effort to testify the past five legislative sessions. In 2017, when Senator Carozza was a Delegate, she first introduced Wade’s Law, and it passed the House by a 140-0 unanimous vote but did not receive a committee vote in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. In 2019, Senator Carozza’s first session in the Senate, she reintroduced Wade’s Law and it passed the Senate 46-0 but did not clear the House, and the 2020 session was shut down early due to COVID-19 preventing Wade’s Law from moving forward. The sense of urgency to pass this legislation in 2021 was heightened with more victims telling their stories including Je’ Ani Lyles who suffered a severing of her T8 vertebrae, multiple surgeries, and paralysis from the chest down after a devastating and horrific crash in Harford County caused by a criminally-negligent driver.
“My parents always taught me that if you believe in a just cause or action, then you keep working it, not for yourself, but for people like Wade Pusey and Je’Ani Lyles and their families, and for all the unnamed victims and future victims,” said Carozza.
Interstate Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact, Primary Sponsor
This law establishes an interstate licensure compact for occupational therapists. This means that occupational therapists can work across state lines just as long as they are licensed by a member state of the compact. The Maryland General Assembly already has enacted similar legislation for nurses, physicians, and physical therapists.
“Many of our districts are hard hit by health care workforce shortages, especially in the rural parts of the state. Our hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities, and community providers need more flexibility in recruiting qualified health care providers to provide both in-person and telehealth services,” said Carozza.
Senator Carozza worked with Dorri Gowe-Lambert, occupational therapist and owner of Building Bridges Pediatric Services in Salisbury and Easton, and other members of the Maryland Occupational Therapy Association who made a strong case for this critical legislation which increases access across the state.
Alcohol and Drug Counseling - Practice Through Telehealth, Primary Sponsor
Overdoses in Maryland have spiked since COVID-19, and this alcohol and drug counseling telehealth bill allows for needed services for those with addictions. This law is intended to provide a permanent allowance for alcohol and drug trainees to provide services via telehealth after the current public health emergency declarations were lifted. Last spring, the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists recommended that alcohol and drug trainees – or ADTs – be allowed to provide services via telehealth. This is a life-saving measure as ADTs represent 40 percent of the overall workforce at the certified level.
“Access to alcohol and drug counseling through telehealth is increasingly important especially given the devastating data from the Maryland Health Department and Opioid Operational Command Center. There were 2,025 overdose deaths in Maryland in the first three quarters of 2020. That is a 12 percent increase from the same period in 2019. Also, there are disturbing trends related to the impact of opioid overdose deaths among Black and Hispanic communities,” Senator Carozza noted in her Senate hearing testimony.
Senator Carozza worked with several medical professionals across the state including Chesapeake Behavioral Health Services which provides telehealth treatment to many on the Eastern Shore.
Solid Waste Management – Prohibition on Releasing a Balloon Into the Atmosphere, Primary Sponsor
This law simply prohibits, with specified exceptions, a “person” from knowingly and intentionally releasing, or causing or organizing the release of, a balloon into the atmosphere. The purpose of this law is to educate individuals on the harmful effects that balloons have on our environment including killing wildlife, causing power outages, and polluting our trees and waterways. It does include a civil penalty of no more than $100 for those who intentionally release balloons into the environment.
Senator Carozza worked with her constituent, Director of Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce, Kerrie Jones Bunting, who brought this bill to her and Delegate Wayne Hartman’s attention and made them aware of the local balloon release prohibition in Queen Anne’s County.
“As a member of the Ocean City Surf Club’s “Adopt a Beach” program, I personally can attest to pieces of balloon that I have picked up during our volunteer beach clean-ups,” said Carozza.
During the Senate hearing, Senator Carozza highlighted the extraordinary work of another constituent, Nancy Gaither, the President of the Assateague Island Alliance. This local organization educates on ways to protect horses and other wildlife and to preserve their nature and health. As noted in Ms. Gaither’s testimony, “horses have been seen to ingest balloons, which is beyond troubling, and, of course, the balloons wreak havoc with sea animals.”
This law was endorsed by the Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation, the Assateague Coastal Trust, the Assateague Island Alliance, the Ocean City Surf Club, the Humane Society, the Maryland Farm Bureau, the National Aquarium, the Maryland Zoo, and several local chambers of commerce.
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