---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)"
description: "Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "SB 617"
citation: "Maryland SB 617 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Beidle", "Ferguson", "Hayes", "Hettleman", "Jackson", "Jennings", "Klausmeier", "Lam", "Waldstreicher", "Zucker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2022-02-02"
last_action: "2022-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/86a3ce35-6597-4325-9481-c55cfb39ed86"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0617?ys=2022RS&search=True"
source_hash: "d6ae090863f61527b99a4438b3c3186ce7fac94777355c30de698f0e3ce825bb"
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 617 (2022) — Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/Chapters_noln/CH_215_sb0617e.pdf)
2. **Enrolled - Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/sb/sb0617e.pdf)
3. **First - Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/sb/sb0617f.pdf)
4. **Third - Local School Systems - Equivalent Access Standards - Digital Tools (Equivalent and Nonvisual Access Accountability Act for K-12 Education)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/sb/sb0617t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **44–0** (pass) · upper
- On third reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- On Third Reading (Amend) — **135–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Beidle — primary (person)
- Ferguson — primary (person)
- Hayes — primary (person)
- Hettleman — primary (person)
- Jackson — primary (person)
- Jennings — primary (person)
- Klausmeier — primary (person)
- Lam — primary (person)
- Waldstreicher — primary (person)
- Zucker — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-02-02** First Reading Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-03** Hearing 2/16 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2022-03-01** Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-02** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-02** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2022-03-04** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2022-03-07** Referred Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-08** Hearing 3/23 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2022-03-09** Hearing canceled
- **2022-03-09** Hearing 3/24 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2022-04-07** Favorable with Amendments Report by Ways and Means `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-04-08** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-04-08** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2022-04-08** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2022-04-09** Senate Concurs House Amendments
- **2022-04-09** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2022-04-09** Passed Enrolled
- **2022-04-21** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 215 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/86a3ce35-6597-4325-9481-c55cfb39ed86`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).