HB 980 — Family Law and Human Services - Guardianship Assistance Program and State Foster Youth Ombudsman - Establishment (Kanaiyah's Law)
MD 2026RS session · introduced 2026-02-06
Requiring the Secretary of Human Services to establish and maintain a Guardianship Assistance Program to promote the placement and maintenance of children in permanent guardianship homes by providing guardianship assistance to guardians of minor children; establishing the State Foster Youth Ombudsman in the Department of Human Services; requiring the Ombudsman to provide legal expertise in child welfare, custody and guardianship matters, and appeal and due process; etc.
Latest action: — Approved by the Governor - Chapter 158
Sponsors (60)
- Mike Griffith (R, MD-35) — sponsor · 2026-02-06
- Gabriel Acevero (D, MD-39) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Christopher T. Adams (R, MD-37) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jackie Addison (D, MD-45) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- H. Kevin Anderson (R, MD-38) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Steven J. Arentz (R, MD-36) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Lauren Arikan (R, MD-7) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Terry L. Baker (R, MD-1) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Barry Beauchamp (R, MD-38) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Regina T. Boyce (D, MD-43) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jason C. Buckel (R, MD-1) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Brian Chisholm (R, MD-31) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Barrie S. Ciliberti (R, MD-4) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Derrick Coley (D, MD-24) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Eric Ebersole (D, MD-44) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Mark Edelson (D, MD-46) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Elizabeth Embry (D, MD-43) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Kris Fair (D, MD-3) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jessica Feldmark (D, MD-12) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jefferson L. Ghrist (R, MD-36) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Wayne A. Hartman (R, MD-38) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jim Hinebaugh (R, MD-1) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Kevin B. Hornberger (R, MD-35) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Thomas S. Hutchinson (R, MD-37) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Julian Ivey (D, MD-47) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jay A. Jacobs (R, MD-36) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Nicholaus R. Kipke (R, MD-31) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Nino Mangione (R, MD-42) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Susan K. McComas (R, MD-34) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Ric Metzgar (R, MD-6) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- April Miller (R, MD-4) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Bernice Mireku-North (D, MD-14) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- LaToya Nkongolo (R, MD-31) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Julie Palakovich Carr (D, MD-17) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Cheryl E. Pasteur (D, MD-11) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Edith J. Patterson (D, MD-28) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jesse T. Pippy (R, MD-4) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Teresa E. Reilly (R, MD-35) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Kent Roberson (D, MD-25) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Mike Rogers (D, MD-32) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- April Rose (R, MD-5) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Malcolm P. Ruff (D, MD-41) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Stuart Michael Schmidt (R, MD-33) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Sean A. Stinnett (D, MD-41) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Joshua J. Stonko (R, MD-42) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Chris Tomlinson (R, MD-5) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- William Valentine (R, MD-2) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Joe Vogel (D, MD-17) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jennifer White Holland (D, MD-10) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D, MD-20) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- C. T. Wilson (D, MD-28) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- William J. Wivell (R, MD-2) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jon S. Cardin (D, MD-11) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- N. Scott Phillips (D, MD-10) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Gary Simmons (D, MD-12) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Gabriel M. Moreno (D, MD-13) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Kym Taylor (D, MD-23) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Karen Simpson (D, MD-3) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Frank M. Conaway (D, MD-40) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
- Jamila J. Woods (D, MD-26) — cosponsor · 2026-02-06
Action timeline (10)
- · house — First Reading
- · house — Hearing — Judiciary
- · house — Second Reading — Passed with Amendments
- · senate — First Reading (cross-filed)
- · house — Third Reading — Passed
- · house — Committee Report — Favorable with Amendments
- · senate — Second Reading — Passed
- · senate — Third Reading — Passed
- · senate — Hearing — Judicial Proceedings
- · senate — Committee Report — Favorable
Text versions (0)
No text versions on file yet — same ingest as the action timeline populates these. Each version has direct links to the XML / HTML / PDF at govinfo.gov.
Bill text (extracted)
Amendments
Congressional Research Service briefs (0)
CRS reports that cite this bill in their relatedMaterials — what Congress was reading on the topic. Click any report for its summary, formats, and bill-citation walk.
No CRS reports cite this bill yet.
Connected on the graph
2 typed relationships in the influence graph — 0 inbound, 2 outbound, grouped by type.
referred to committee (2)
| date | dir | entity | amount | role | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | → | Senate judicial proceedings | — | md-leg | |
| — | → | House judiciary | — | md-leg |
Who matters on this bill
Who matters
Members ranked by combined influence on this bill: role (sponsor 5 / cosponsor 1), capped speech count from the Congressional Record, and recorded-vote engagement.
| # | Member | Role | Speeches | Voted | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Griffith (R, state_lower MD-35) | sponsor | 0 | — | 5 |
| 2 | April Miller (R, state_lower MD-4) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 3 | April Rose (R, state_lower MD-5) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 4 | Barrie S. Ciliberti (R, state_lower MD-4) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 5 | Barry Beauchamp (R, state_lower MD-38) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 6 | Bernice Mireku-North (D, state_lower MD-14) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 7 | Brian Chisholm (R, state_lower MD-31) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 8 | C. T. Wilson (D, state_lower MD-28) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 9 | Cheryl E. Pasteur (D, state_lower MD-11) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 10 | Chris Tomlinson (R, state_lower MD-5) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 11 | Christopher T. Adams (R, state_lower MD-37) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 12 | Derrick Coley (D, state_lower MD-24) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 13 | Edith J. Patterson (D, state_lower MD-28) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 14 | Elizabeth Embry (D, state_lower MD-43) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 15 | Eric Ebersole (D, state_lower MD-44) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 16 | Frank M. Conaway (D, state_lower MD-40) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 17 | Gabriel Acevero (D, state_lower MD-39) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 18 | Gabriel M. Moreno (D, state_lower MD-13) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 19 | Gary Simmons (D, state_lower MD-12) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 20 | H. Kevin Anderson (R, state_lower MD-38) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 21 | Jackie Addison (D, state_lower MD-45) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 22 | Jamila J. Woods (D, state_lower MD-26) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 23 | Jason C. Buckel (R, state_lower MD-1) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 24 | Jay A. Jacobs (R, state_lower MD-36) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
| 25 | Jefferson L. Ghrist (R, state_lower MD-36) | cosponsor | 0 | — | 1 |
Stance (positions taken)
Predicted vote
Aggregated from: actual roll-call votes (when present) → sponsor → cosponsor → party median (predicts YES when ≥25% of the caucus sponsored/cosponsored). Each row labels its confidence tier so you can see why a position was predicted.
0 predicted yes (0%) · 543 predicted no (100%) · 0 unknown (0%)
By party: · R: 0 yes / 277 no · D: 0 yes / 263 no · I: 0 yes / 3 no
Timeline
Every typed-graph event involving this entity, newest first. Each row is one edge in the influence graph; the inline strip under the row shows the counterpart's own context (a bill's latest action, a hearing's chamber + date, a filing's form type + filed date, a clip's source + excerpt) so the timeline reads like a Wikipedia citation rail.
- 2026-05-24 · was referred to Senate judicial proceedings · md-leg
- 2026-05-24 · was referred to House judiciary · md-leg