---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers"
description: "Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "SB 296"
citation: "Maryland SB 296 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Augustine"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-10"
last_action: "2025-05-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f094a6e7-1bd0-42ad-9093-78531f2c18b5"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0296?ys=2025RS&search=True"
source_hash: "fc43ae3ba9509eadf9c5a23567fa11abe22401dafffd632c8a5fbacb181b7a70"
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 296 (2025) — Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/Chapters_noln/CH_665_sb0296t.pdf)
2. **First - Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0296f.pdf)
3. **Third - Public Information Act – Public Access Ombudsman – Delegation of Powers** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2025RS/bills/sb/sb0296t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **133–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **46–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Augustine — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-10** First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2025-01-21** Hearing 2/06 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2025-02-24** Favorable with Amendments Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-25** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-02-25** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2025-02-27** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2025-02-28** Referred Health and Government Operations `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-11** Hearing 3/18 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2025-03-28** Favorable Report by Health and Government Operations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-28** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-31** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2025-03-31** Returned Passed
- **2025-05-20** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 665 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f094a6e7-1bd0-42ad-9093-78531f2c18b5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).