Lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly churned through hundreds of bills Monday as they streaked toward a target date to pass legislation out of one chamber of the legislature and send it to the other.
“Crossover Day,” as it’s known, is the deadline for guaranteeing that a bill passed in one house of the Assembly will be considered in the other house during the final three weeks of the legislative session, which ends on April 10. As a result, the House and Senate each convened in the early afternoon Monday and held lengthy floor sessions that, with breaks, did not end until after 8 p.m.
“It’s been really remarkable,” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) told his colleagues as the final session of the day drew to a close. “We have 21 days left. It’s going to be tight.”
Crossover Day is an important date in the legislative calendar, though meeting the deadline is hardly essential for getting legislation passed before Sine Die. As a practical matter, legislative leaders can muscle through a bill in a matter of hours regardless of the calendar. But Crossover Day is nevertheless a milestone that policymakers and advocates mark and take seriously.
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