Maryland's Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics voted 10-2 to recommend that an amended version of Senate Bill 618 could pass ethical muster. The bill would allow General Assembly members who have served one term to take government second jobs if they meet standard requirements. The bill would not go into effect until January 13, 2027.

Senate Bill 618 would allow a legislator to work for a state, county or local government if that person had served one elected term in the General Assembly and met standards including objectively satisfying the minimum education, licensure and experience requirements of the job. A House version of the bill is sponsored by Del. Andrea Fletcher Harrison.

Both the Senate and House versions of the bill were heard last month before the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee and the House Government, Labor and Elections Committee. Neither committee has voted on its respective bill, with the legislature's crossover day deadline on Monday.

State Sen. Ron Watson drafted the bill after the ethics committee determined in an October letter that state law prohibited him from holding the job. Watson resigned in December as an interim senior adviser to the Prince George's County schools superintendent. "Many of us had to forgo pension plans and take alternative small-time jobs in an effort to serve the public and to do the public's work," Watson said.

Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey Jr. asked that the ethics committee meeting remain open. "We're specifically talking about legislation, I believe it should be the same as any other piece of legislation," Hershey said. His colleagues voted unanimously to keep the nearly one-hour meeting open.

Del. April Rose and Del. Nic Kipke voted against recommending approval of the amended bill.

The ethics committee asked the legislature's ethics counsel, Deadra Daly, to draft a letter to the presiding officers before the 90-day session ends on April 13. The committee wants the General Assembly to include additional guardrails in the state's ethics guide when it deals with employment by a government entity.

Legislators receive about $56,000 annually. Lawmakers who held a government job before being elected or appointed, those who work in a human services position, and those in positions subject to a merit system hiring process are currently exceptions that allow holding a government job.