During a special legislative session Tuesday, Maryland lawmakers voted largely along party lines to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes on several bills that passed the General Assembly earlier this year.

Here is a list of the bills that passed:

Grants for small business along the Purple Line

The bill requires the Maryland Department of Commerce to establish the Purple Line Construction Zone grant program. The program will provide $1 million in both fiscal years 2023 and 2024 to help small businesses affected by construction. Prior to the pandemic, small business owners along the Purple Line were concerned about the decline in customers due to construction taking up parking spaces. There were also concerns about possible rent increases and developers pressuring landlords to sell properties. And during the pandemic, many of these businesses were operating at limited capacity and struggled to make ends meet. When Hogan originally vetoed the bill, he cited the economic recession brought on by the pandemic.

After a number of delays, the Purple Line is slated to open in 2024. When completed, the light rail line will run from New Carrollton Metro in Prince George’s County to the Bethesda Metro in Montgomery County.

Immigration protections

Two immigration bills were also overridden by lawmakers. One would prohibit any state agency from providing personal information about an immigrant to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent without a warrant.

Another bill prohibits state law enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with ICE. It also prohibits state prisons from housing immigrants who are awaiting deportation.

Advocates with the immigrant advocacy organization CASA told DCist/WAMU earlier this year when the bills initially passed that both measures go a long way toward securing much-needed civil protections for immigrants in the state.

When Hogan vetoed these bills, he said he didn’t want to prohibit federal agents from doing their jobs and would not make Maryland a sanctuary state for immigrants.

Possibility of parole for lifetime imprisonment

The bill, which was voted out of both chambers along party lines, removes the authority of the governor to determine parole for those incarcerated with lifetime sentences and gives it to a six member parole commission. Under the measure, people serving lifetime sentences with the possibility of parole become eligible for release after serving the equivalent of 20 years. Baltimore City Sen. Jill Carter (D), one of the bill’s sponsors, told her colleagues on the senate floor earlier this week that the bill was a small step in the right direction.

“This bill is a minor step in the process of criminal justice reforms that are needed and long overdue in Maryland to right these wrongs,” Carter said. “It simply puts us in line with 47 other states that allow a parole commission to be the final arbiters in determining whether a person’s liberty should be restored.”

Republican lawmakers argued that the bill would increase violent crime in the state. Hogan vetoed the bill earlier this year calling it an “unfounded and unnecessary power grab and another instance of the legislative branch seeking to diminish the authority of the governor.”

Implementing COVID-19 response plan

Almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers approved a bill that will require the state’s department of health to implement a plan to address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on underserved and minority communities.  In fiscal year 2022, the bill also requires the department to provide local health departments with $15 million in grants to get their residents vaccinated and $25 million in grants for other pandemic response purposes, $36 million in grants to assisted living programs and home health care agencies to conduct COVID testing, and $22 million for testing in nursing homes.

Based on department data, it was clear that people of color were dying at much higher rates from COVID than their white counterparts. When the vaccine rollout began, many state lawmakers questioned Health Secretary Dennis Schrader about the equity in the vaccine distribution. Across the region, people of color were being vaccinated at lower rates compared to their white counterparts.

Hogan vetoed the bill calling it misguided and said it would revert the state back to the beginning of the pandemic in requiring the department to re-develop its testing, contact tracing, and vaccinate distribution plans.

This story was updated with new information about a bills regarding lifetime imprisonment with the possibility of parole and the state’s COVID-19 response plan.