2026 Maryland Legislative Session

Updated April 14, 2026

Maryland is at a critical point for the Chesapeake Bay, seeking to continue progress on Bay restoration amid historic budget challenges, changes to key legislative leadership roles, and the impacts of policy and funding decisions made at the federal level. Despite these challenges, CBF continues to lead the way on defending funding and programs that support the Bay watershed. During the 2026 General Assembly session, CBF urged leaders to prioritize restoration efforts that are long-lasting, cost-effective, and targeted to confront climate change, tackle stormwater runoff, and support sustainable management of fisheries resources.

Supporting a Bay-Focused Budget

The agencies and programs that protect and enhance our natural resources are crucial to Maryland’s health, well-being, and economic strength. Once again, CBF members led the way in speaking out in support of environmental funding. During the 2026 session, decision makers closed a budget shortfall of $1.5 billion while largely protecting the agencies and programs that support the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.

Maryland’s ongoing budget challenges mean that even popular and effective programs can face devastating cuts. At the same time, policy changes and budget cuts at the federal level make Maryland’s environmental programs more important than ever. With the support of our partners, CBF worked diligently to defend our Bay-focused agencies and programs, educated decision makers on opportunities to stretch our conservation dollars further, and told the stories of what Maryland’s investment mean for the communities and industries that rely on a healthy Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Thanks to the hard work of CBF members and our allies, the Maryland Fiscal Year 2027 budget package includes a number of environmental wins, including:

• Maintaining consistent funding and staffing within the Departments of the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, as well as the Maryland Energy Administration—the state agencies collectively tasked with protecting the environment, addressing climate change, and conserving our state’s natural resources. These agencies combined comprise only 1.5 percent of total state spending and any additional cuts would have put Maryland at risk of backsliding on commitments to resource protection, land preservation, and climate resilience at a time when these same commitments were just reaffirmed in the most recent Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. These budgets are further supplemented by one-time federal funding allocations.
• Not diverting funds from key programs and funding sources like the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund, the Clean Water Commerce pay-for-performance fund, and the Bay Restoration Fund. These dollars go directly to farmers, watermen, homeowners, and restoration practitioners who are on the ground improving Maryland’s waterways. While there is much work to do in the years ahead to ensure these funding sources and the programs they support are sustainable for the long-term, maintaining funding in this difficult budget environment is something to celebrate.
• Protecting the land preservation programs funded through Maryland’s transfer tax. Program Open Space, the Rural Legacy Program, and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) are long-standing landmark programs that have helped preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of open space in every corner of the state. Conservation of high-quality forests, open spaces, and working lands prevents degradation of natural resources and is one of the most cost-effective approaches to achieving Maryland’s water quality and habitat goals.
• Providing $400 million for climate-related programs funded out of the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF) this year, an increase of nearly $100 million compared to the budget as submitted by the Governor. Maryland has adopted some of the strongest and most ambitious clean energy and climate resiliency goals in the country, and the SEIF primary vehicle to fund progress on these goals. The SEIF is capitalized primarily through the interstate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program and Alternative Compliance Payments from utilities, meaning its critical work is done without drawing on taxpayer dollars.

It was not all good news on the conservation front, however. The budget as adopted still directs hundreds of millions of dollars from the SEIF to general fund relief and the capital budget sees a 41 percent reduction in year-over-year funding for oyster restoration. While there are additional oyster restoration projects programmed in future years, CBF argued that maintaining a consistent level of effort would save money and help Maryland not only meet but exceed our oyster sanctuary commitments.

Defending Our Progress

CBF members helped defend Bay restoration progress and advance responsible management of our fisheries during the 2026 session. Some examples include:

• CBF members and partners mobilized to defeat legislation that would have opened certain oyster sanctuaries to harvest. This would have set a dangerous precedent, undermined historic public investment in oyster populations, potentially put Maryland out of compliance with existing law. While we anticipate this issue may come back in the future, defeating it this session was a conservation win.
• CBF members pushed for adoption of new regulations to protect striped bass (aka, rockfish), a key Bay species that has struggled to maintain population levels. The regulations took effect this month. We also successfully defeated legislation that would have impacted the Department of Natural Resource’s ability to manage striped bass populations moving forward, which could have put Maryland out of compliance with interstate management agreements and resulted in a full moratorium on striped bass fishing.
• CBF successfully defended Maryland’s landmark 2008 Living Shorelines Protection Law, amending legislation that would have weakened the existing living shoreline preference requirement and instead updates the definition of living shorelines to ensure practices like oyster reef creation can be approved by state regulators.

Being a Trusted Partner and Leading Through Science

CBF has been a leader in ensuring that Bay restoration efforts follow the best available science and we continued to play that role during the 2026 session. We reviewed and offered testimony on hundreds of bills covering subjects from poultry house regulations to PFAS in wastewater treatment systems. Some of our other priorities included:

• Supporting legislation to better manage PFAS “forever chemicals” contained in consumer products that end up in wastewater treatment systems. These chemicals are difficult to remove and can end up in biosolid products that may be applied to agricultural lands. Similar legislation advanced during the Virginia General Assembly session, providing a significant step forward in recognizing and controlling PFAS pollution throughout the Bay watershed.
• Working in coalition with other members of the Maryland Community Coalition for the Environment (CCE) to support legislation focused on better aligning Maryland’s long-term transportation planning with state climate resiliency goals, creating a Maryland bottle deposit program, and giving the Maryland Department of the Environment to more fully incorporate environmental justice considerations into permitting decisions. Unfortunately, these priorities did not advance this session but work will continue in the years ahead.

Getting Involved

Defending clean water requires an “all hands on deck” response and the work doesn’t end when the General Assembly adjourns. There are many ways for you to learn more or get involved. Sign up for our Action Network to get the latest clean water news (including opportunities to hone your advocacy skills) throughout the year.