---
type: "Bill"
title: "Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes"
description: "Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 228"
citation: "Maryland HB 228 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2025-09-17"
last_action: "2026-04-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a7b45697-f004-46d5-aad7-27bb22187d18"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0228?ys=2026RS"
source_hash: "c734d7a62f20805f7b1714acf7c0283b0e501dfddeeaa618a4d22be4b8408e15"
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 228 (2026) — Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes

## Version chain

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

1. **Chapter - Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Chapters_noln/CH_83_hb0228t.pdf)
2. **First - Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0228f.pdf)
3. **Third - Horse Racing - Prohibited Acts - Slaughter of Racehorses for Commercial Purposes** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/bills/hb/hb0228t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **127–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chair, Appropriations Committee — primary (organization)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-09-17** Pre-filed `introduction`
- **2026-01-14** First Reading Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Hearing 1/27 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2026-03-03** Favorable Report by Appropriations `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-03** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-03** Second Reading Passed
- **2026-03-04** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-03-05** Referred Budget and Taxation `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-01** Favorable Report by Budget and Taxation `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-01** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-08** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2026-04-08** Returned Passed
- **2026-04-14** Approved by the Governor - Chapter 83 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a7b45697-f004-46d5-aad7-27bb22187d18`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).