Maryland’s 188 lawmakers will consider thousands of bills starting Wednesday, when they return to Annapolis for their annual 90-day legislative session.

Some of the bills will be minor, tweaking local hunting regulations or adjusting the membership of state boards. But others will be consequential, affecting life for Marylanders and prospects for businesses.

Here’s a look at some of the big issues facing lawmakers this year.

Recreational marijuana

At the ballot box last fall, Maryland voters overwhelmingly approved making marijuana legal for adults to possess and use. Now comes the hard part: The state has to set up a system for producing, selling and taxing the drug when it becomes legal July 1.

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Maryland already has an established medical cannabis program, so will those growers and dispensaries be given the ability to join the recreational market? Will new licenses be created? What will the tax rate be, and where will the money go? Those are some of the key questions on the business side of the issue.

Lawmakers also will consider further tweaks to the criminal justice system, from ensuring that people don’t drive while intoxicated to allowing for people with past marijuana possession convictions to expunge their records. And lawmakers will consider further steps to offer redress to communities — mainly minority communities — that have historically been harmed by the war on drugs.

Abortion

Democratic leaders plan to pass legislation that would allow voters to decide in 2024 whether to amend the Maryland Constitution to protect reproductive choice, including abortion care.

This same measure was approved by the House of Delegates in 2022, but not by the state Senate. It’s taken on renewed urgency after last summer’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down the Roe v. Wade decision that protected abortion rights nationally.

Lawmakers also may consider legislation that would prohibit Maryland medical providers from cooperating with out-of-state investigations into people seeking abortion care in Maryland.

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Child abuse lawsuits

Lawmakers again will wrestle with whether they can make it easier to expand the ability for survivors of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers and the institutions that employed or supervised them. There’s been a renewed interest in the issue after the state compiled an exhaustive report documenting generations of abuse within the Catholic Church’s Archdiocese of Baltimore, even though the report has not been made public.

Education

Maryland has an ambitious program on the books to improve the state’s public schools, called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. But it was approved in 2020 just as the coronavirus was sweeping into Maryland. Lawmakers may consider tweaking or building on the Blueprint after the pandemic revealed additional challenges facing students and teachers.

Gun control

Maryland already has some of the strictest gun ownership laws in the nation, but the requirements for getting a permit to wear and carry a handgun were loosened following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer. In light of that ruling, known as the “Bruen Decision,” some states and local governments have restricted where people can carry concealed handguns. Maryland might consider following that path.

Crime and violence

Violent crime is an ongoing problem both in Baltimore and across the state. Expect lawmakers from both parties to offer a variety of options for preventing crime and holding criminals accountable.

Policing reforms

When people die in incident that involve police officers, independent investigators from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General head up the investigation, under a recent change in state law. But in the first year of operation, local prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against police officers involved in any of the investigations. The new attorney general, Anthony Brown, supports having the ability to prosecute these cases and plans to work with the legislature.

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Lawmakers will again attempt to disqualify police officers from receiving their pensions if they’ve been criminally convicted in connection with their on-the-job conduct. This legislation has failed before, but has been given new attention following The Baltimore Banner’s reporting on Gunpowder Falls State Park, where former park manager Michael J. Browning, a long-time ranger who carried a state-issued gun and badge, is charged with raping employees. He’s set to receive a $94,500 annual pension.

Housing

Some lawmakers will propose limiting the scope of exclusive listing contracts between real estate agents and homeowners. The Baltimore Banner reported on one company, MV Realty, that locked homeowners into agreements to use the company’s services if they ever wanted to sell in the future — up to 40 years — in exchange for a small upfront payment.

There also are proposals to reform the tax sale process, in which investors can buy the rights to collect the debt of homeowners who fall behind on their property tax bills — resulting in many losing their homes. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has three proposals to revamp the process.

pamela.wood@thebaltimorebanner.com