---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program"
description: "Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 623"
citation: "Maryland HB 623 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Johnson", "A. Jones", "Allen", "Arentz", "Bagnall", "Behler", "Boafo", "Buckel", "Coley", "Crutchfield", "Fair", "Feldmark", "Griffith", "Hartman", "Healey", "Holmes", "Hornberger", "Howard", "Ivey", "J. Long", "Kaufman", "McComas", "Miller", "Odom", "Pasteur", "Patterson", "Pruski", "Queen", "Reilly", "Roberts", "Rogers", "Rose", "S. Johnson", "Sample-Hughes", "Schmidt", "Simmons", "Simpson", "Spiegel", "Stinnett", "T. Morgan", "Taveras", "Taylor", "Turner", "Wims", "Wolek", "Woods"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-01-30"
last_action: "2026-05-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/26d591f4-3d10-4fa4-8b74-15c6a476bbcc"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0623?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "1b92e8e7754938be330065b333184e5d8abf4de674aea1963e47d979c86f04b0"
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 HB 623 (2026) — Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_670_hb0623t.pdf)
2. **First - Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0623f.pdf)
3. **Third - Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0623t.pdf)

## Votes

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

## Sponsors

- A. Johnson — primary (person)
- A. Jones — primary (person)
- Allen — primary (person)
- Arentz — primary (person)
- Bagnall — primary (person)
- Behler — primary (person)
- Boafo — primary (person)
- Buckel — primary (person)
- Coley — primary (person)
- Crutchfield — primary (person)
- Fair — primary (person)
- Feldmark — primary (person)
- Griffith — primary (person)
- Hartman — primary (person)
- Healey — primary (person)
- Holmes — primary (person)
- Hornberger — primary (person)
- Howard — primary (person)
- Ivey — primary (person)
- J. Long — primary (person)
- Kaufman — primary (person)
- McComas — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)
- Odom — primary (person)
- Pasteur — primary (person)
- Patterson — primary (person)
- Pruski — primary (person)
- Queen — primary (person)
- Reilly — primary (person)
- Roberts — primary (person)
- Rogers — primary (person)
- Rose — primary (person)
- S. Johnson — primary (person)
- Sample-Hughes — primary (person)
- Schmidt — primary (person)
- Simmons — primary (person)
- Simpson — primary (person)
- Spiegel — primary (person)
- Stinnett — primary (person)
- T. Morgan — primary (person)
- Taveras — primary (person)
- Taylor — primary (person)
- Turner — primary (person)
- Wims — primary (person)
- Wolek — primary (person)
- Woods — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-30** First Reading Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02** Hearing 2/10 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-02-23** Favorable Report by Appropriations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-24** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-24** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-02-26** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-02** Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-03** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-08** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-08** Returned Passed
- **2026-05-26** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 670 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/26d591f4-3d10-4fa4-8b74-15c6a476bbcc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).