---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)"
description: "Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 856"
citation: "Maryland HB 856 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ebersole"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2026-02-04"
last_action: "2026-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d4e2e447-d311-4521-abc4-1b1bf0d7068c"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0856?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "86802dcc2a2e26884067cc807efd5ea064f49ee76a6deb0231459c6635fde797"
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 856 (2026) — Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_362_hb0856t.pdf)
2. **First - Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0856f.pdf)
3. **Third - Local School Systems - Educator Screening - Educator Identification Clearinghouse (School Personnel Vetting and Hiring Transparency Act)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0856t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **131–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ebersole — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-04** First Reading Ways and Means `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-11** Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-11** Favorable with Amendments Report by Ways and Means `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-12** Favorable with Amendments { `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-12** Second Reading Passed with Amendments
- **2026-03-13** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-16** 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
- **2026-05-12** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 362 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d4e2e447-d311-4521-abc4-1b1bf0d7068c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).