HB 691 — Maryland
State Government - Procedures - Permitting Efficiency for Housing Development Projects
Requiring each unit in the Executive Branch of State government responsible for issuing a permit related to housing construction to adopt procedures to streamline certain permitting processes for housing projects; requiring the State Housing Ombudsman, to the extent feasible, to ensure consistency between certain permitting processes developed by different units; and authorizing the delegation of certain tasks related to the review or approval of permits related to housing construction to certain local governmental units.
Latest action: Hearing 3/31 at 1:00 p.m. · Mar 20, 2026
Synopsis written by the legislature's own staff, as published on the official bill page. Status label is derived from the recorded actions. The full text below is the record.
Committees: Economic Matters (House of Delegates); Education, Energy, and the Environment (Senate)
Updated Mar 20, 2026
Timeline
First Reading Economic Matters
Feb 2, 2026 · House of Delegates
Hearing 2/19 at 1:00 p.m.
Feb 3, 2026 · House of Delegates
Favorable Report by Economic Matters
Mar 10, 2026 · House of Delegates
Favorable Adopted
Mar 11, 2026 · House of Delegates
Motion Special Order until 03/12 (Delegate Buckel) Adopted
Mar 11, 2026 · House of Delegates
Floor Amendment {
Mar 12, 2026 · House of Delegates
Second Reading Passed
Mar 12, 2026 · House of Delegates
Third Reading Passed
Mar 13, 2026 · House of Delegates
Referred Education, Energy, and the Environment
Mar 16, 2026 · Senate
Hearing 3/31 at 1:00 p.m.
Mar 20, 2026 · Senate
Sponsored by Lesley Lopez, Aaron Kaufman, Ryan Spiegel, Greg Wims
House of Delegates vote — 35–96
FLA Del. Buckel /153520/1 · Feb 28, 2026 · result: fail
35 yea · 96 nay · 10 absent, excused, abstain or not voting
House of Delegates vote — 97–33
On Third Reading · Mar 1, 2026 · result: pass
97 yea · 33 nay · 11 absent, excused, abstain or not voting
Official records. Maryland legislators, bills and roll-call votes from the Maryland General Assembly, imported through Open States on Oct 27, 2026 (partial import — not yet the full session). Accuracy review against the official site is still under way. Campaign-finance records for Maryland are not imported yet.