Maryland Merchant Cash Advance Prohibition Bill Put on Hold After State Abruptly Ended The Legislative Session

The State of Maryland decided to end their 2020 legislative session late last night rather than on the original April 6th deadline, due to COVID-19 concerns. Legislators managed to pass 650 bills in a “3-day sprint” but did not get to everything. Among the bills that did not even make it to the floor were SB913 and HB1478, the bills that called for an outright prohibition on a narrow definition of merchant cash advances.

But it’s not over. Legislative leaders plan to hold a special legislative session at the end of May which they may use to vote on the numerous bills they were not able to pass in time this week.

Senate President Bill Ferguson told the Baltimore Sun, “We want to give enough time for the public health crisis to move past.”

The bills were not exactly on the fast track as it was, having only gone through 1 committee hearing leading up to the deadline.

If the bills do not pass during the special legislative session in May, they might not be picked up again until the normal session resumes in Mid-January 2021.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.