---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth"
description: "Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 564"
citation: "Maryland SB 564 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Benson", "Elfreth", "Ellis", "Hester", "Lam", "Patterson", "Washington"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-31"
last_action: "2020-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ee6e6968-2742-4110-a429-15f35de173a2"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0564?ys=2020RS&search=True"
source_hash: "a45b528a365ea9d7f326f61b72c9bfccbf3674c6ceffd34bf862053b63b66471"
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 564 (2020) — Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Chapters_noln/CH_565_sb0564t.pdf)
2. **First - Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0564f.pdf)
3. **Third - Education - High School Graduation Requirements - Students in Foster Care or Homeless Youth** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/sb/sb0564t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **134–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **47–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Benson — primary (person)
- Elfreth — primary (person)
- Ellis — primary (person)
- Hester — primary (person)
- Lam — primary (person)
- Patterson — primary (person)
- Washington — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-31** First Reading Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** Hearing 2/18 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-03-06** Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-09** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-09** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2020-03-11** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Referred Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-17** Favorable Report by Ways and Means `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-17** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-18** Returned Passed
- **2020-05-08** Enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 565 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ee6e6968-2742-4110-a429-15f35de173a2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).