---
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: "SB 709"
citation: "Maryland SB 709 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brooks", "Carozza", "Harris", "Salling", "Simonaire", "Watson"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-02-06"
last_action: "2026-05-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c30bf864-057b-4c95-bfd5-b94f419da7f5"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb0709?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "96dac7241b652b08e66733b7a006bd4b18021c6a993af00d3b20453d88140824"
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 709 (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_671_sb0709t.pdf)
2. **First - Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0709f.pdf)
3. **Third - Education - Purple Star Schools Program and Purple Star Colleges Program** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/sb/sb0709t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **135–0** (pass) · lower
- On Third Reading — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Brooks — primary (person)
- Carozza — primary (person)
- Harris — primary (person)
- Salling — primary (person)
- Simonaire — primary (person)
- Watson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-02-06** First Reading Education, Energy, and the Environment `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Hearing 3/04 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-18** Favorable Report by Education, Energy, and the Environment `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-19** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-03-20** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-21** Referred Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-26** Hearing 4/01 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-30** Hearing canceled
- **2026-03-30** Hearing 4/02 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-04-07** Favorable Report by Appropriations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-07** 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 671 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c30bf864-057b-4c95-bfd5-b94f419da7f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).