---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Ethics - Lobbyist Registration and Reporting - Mandatory Electronic Filing"
description: "Public Ethics - Lobbyist Registration and Reporting - Mandatory Electronic Filing"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 79"
citation: "Maryland SB 79 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Ethics", "Data", "Disclosure", "Electronic Communication", "Electronic Government", "Ethics", "Internet", "Lobbying", "Public Information", "Reports", "Rules and Regulations", "Telecommunications and Information Technology"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chair"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-10-02"
last_action: "2019-04-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dfd5c189-6824-4f28-b82d-0f77f3f89c8b"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?id=SB79&stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2019rs"
source_hash: "62a08f092b0ce24df4e8753cd0c83f257f17d58fcfcb4e94f48ef8a46c20ee05"
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 79 (2019) — Public Ethics - Lobbyist Registration and Reporting - Mandatory Electronic Filing

## 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/2019RS/bills/sb/sb0079f.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading — **134–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chair — primary (person)
- Education — cosponsor (person)
- Environmental Affairs Committee (By Request - Departmental - State Ethics Commission) — cosponsor (person)
- Health — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-10-02** Pre-filed `introduction`
- **2019-01-09** First Reading Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-07** Hearing 1/10 at 2:00 p.m.
- **2019-01-07** Hearing canceled
- **2019-01-07** Hearing 1/10 at 2:30 p.m.
- **2019-01-14** Favorable Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-01-14** Favorable Report Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-01-14** Second Reading Passed
- **2019-01-17** Third Reading Passed (45-0) `passage`
- **2019-01-18** First Reading Environment and Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-12** Hearing 3/21 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2019-04-04** Favorable Report by Environment and Transportation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-04** Favorable Report Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-04** Second Reading Passed
- **2019-04-04** Third Reading Passed (134-0) `passage`
- **2019-04-05** Returned Passed
- **2019-04-18** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 149 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dfd5c189-6824-4f28-b82d-0f77f3f89c8b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).