Maryland officially became the first state to ban styrofoam food containers on Thursday. The state law grabbed national headlines, but other laws also went into effect in Maryland on Oct. 1st, the start of the federal government’s fiscal year.

There are actually more than 300 new or revised laws dealing with issues including anti-discrimination, health care, and law enforcement.

Here’s a rundown of some of them:

• Maternal Mortality, HB286 addresses racial disparities in maternal health care and requires the make-up of Maternal Mortality Review Program, a workgroup that examines the disparities in maternal death, to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of women most impacted. According to the group’s 2019 report, Maryland maternal mortality rate had been higher than the national average from 2013 to 2017, but has since dropped to 16% below the national rate. Black women are four times more likely to experience maternal mortality than white women in the state.

• Olivia’s Law, SB329 requires colleges and universities to submit an annual infectious disease outbreak response plan to the Maryland Department of Health, beginning in 2021. The law passed the Maryland State Senate in March but is not directly tied to the pandemic. The legislation is named after Olivia Paregol, a University of Maryland freshman who died due to complications associated with Adenovirus in late 2018.
• The Crown Act, SB531 bans discrimination based on a person’s hair texture or hairstyle. The law protects everyone, but Black people have historically faced discrimination based on their hair.
• The Housing Opportunities Made Equal Act, HB231 prohibits a person from refusing to sell or rent a home to a person based on the renter or buyer’s source of income. The law would prohibit property owners from discriminating against low-income tenants who seek to pay for housing using federal subsidies.
• Firefighting Foam Ban, HB619 bans the training use of fire-fighting foams that contain polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, starting October 2021. Long-term exposure to the chemicals can lead to cancer and harm the immune system, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Highway Signs Suicide Prevention, SB810 authorizes the State Highway Administration to post information about suicide prevention, including hotline numbers, on electronic highway signs that are close to high suicide risk zones like bridges.
• Nursing Homes Identification Tags, HB364 requires all employees at hospitals and nursing facilities to wear personal identification tags. This makes more readily apparent the name and license of those administrating care to a patient. The enacting of the law comes at a time when some nursing homes in the state have come under pressure and scrutiny due to their handling of patients and the coronavirus.
• Minority Business Data, HB 404 mandates the Department of Commerce publicly share information about the number of minority-owned businesses that receive money through economic development programs.
• Sodomy Repeal, SB735 repeals a longstanding and antiquated law in the state that criminalized certain consensual sexual acts. Maryland was one of a number of states with this law still on the books despite the Supreme Court declaring statues like this unconstitutional in 2003. D.C. repealed their sodomy law in 1993 and Virginia theirs in 2014.
• Suspending Registration For Failing To Pay Tickets, SB177 establishes that the Motor Vehicle Administration may not suspend a motorist’s vehicle registration for failing to pay speeding or traffic tickets. Advocates have long argued that penalizing people for minor traffic offenses unfairly targets poor people.

This story has been updated with information about Sodomy Repeal, SB735.