---
type: "Bill"
title: "Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service - Study and Extension"
description: "Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service - Study and Extension"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 968"
citation: "Maryland SB 968 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["State Government - Agencies", "Offices", "and Officials", "Committees and Commissions", "Counties", "Electronic Communication", "Maps and Charts", "Reports", "Sunset", "Telecommunications and Information Technology"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eckardt"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-02-05"
last_action: "2018-04-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4b18be78-c1c9-412a-822c-1bf7a787847c"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=SB968&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2018rs"
source_hash: "245c365aa0771655b4afaf613e26b3550d1ab7d72897c16e6916b0c060ab9712"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland SB 968 (2018) — Task Force on Rural Internet, Broadband, Wireless, and Cellular Service - Study and Extension

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2018RS/bills/sb/sb0968f.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **136–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **44–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Eckardt — primary (person)
- Astle — cosponsor (person)
- Benson — cosponsor (person)
- Feldman — cosponsor (person)
- Hershey — cosponsor (person)
- Jennings — cosponsor (person)
- Klausmeier — cosponsor (person)
- Mathias — cosponsor (person)
- Middleton — cosponsor (person)
- Reilly — cosponsor (person)
- Rosapepe — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-05** First Reading Finance `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-07** Hearing 2/22 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2018-03-12** Favorable with Amendments Report by Finance `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-13** Favorable with Amendments {647970/1 Report Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-13** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2018-03-15** Third Reading Passed (44-0) `passage`
- **2018-03-15** First Reading Economic Matters `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-28** Favorable Report by Economic Matters `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-28** Favorable Report Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-28** Second Reading Passed
- **2018-03-29** Third Reading Passed (136-0) `passage`
- **2018-03-30** Returned Passed
- **2018-04-24** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 178 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4b18be78-c1c9-412a-822c-1bf7a787847c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).