July 1 is when a lot of new Maryland laws take effect. These are the new laws passed by the General Assembly, and signed into law, in the 2025 legislative session. There are a lot of them, but most of the new laws establish commissions or departments or studies. Only a few of the new Maryland laws directly affect you the individual. Here they are:
Revenge Porn: The state passed new laws to clarify what is defined as “revenge porn” to include AI manipulated images. The state’s revenge porn statute prohibited people from putting their ex partner’s nudes online, but lawmakers worried it may not technically cover AI images (since AI didn’t exist when they wrote the law) so they fixed that. You can sue in civil court for damages if your ex puts nudes, even AI generated nudes, of you online.
Tenant’s Bill of Rights: All Maryland landlords must attach the latest version of a “tenant’s bill of rights” to every new lease after today. This law does not actually create any new rights. It just makes sure tenants are informed of those rights when they sign a lease. Here is a direct link to the 2025 version of that Tenant’s Bill of Rights.
New Taxes: Maryland is hiking lots of taxes this year. And most take effect today. There are new car sales taxes, vehicle emission fee taxes, new taxes on sports betting, etc. If you are blessed enough to make $350,000 per year or more, you may have to pay new taxes. There is a 2% capital gains tax on those making $350,000. And new higher tax brackets if you make over $500,000 per year. It is 6.25% for income over $500,000, and 6.5% for incomes over $1 million. And if you don’t make that much money, but you partake in sales of legal cannabis, you will also be paying an extra 3% sales tax for that particular product, which is now a total of 12% sales tax on cannabis products. Bummer dude!
Hiring Freeze: In case you didn’t know, the state is having a major budget crisis. That is the reason for the new taxes, and it is also the reason for a statewide hiring freeze. No new state jobs are available as of July 1.
GED Test in Spanish: The GED test will now be offered in Spanish and English, and the Department of Education is looking at offering other languages.
Bitcoin ATM’s: Maybe I am old, but I cannot understand why someone would need an ATM (old tech) for Bitcoin (new tech). Why not just manage it on your phone or laptop? I don’t know, but Maryland has come up with some system to manage and regulate Bitcoin ATM’s, so you will be seeing them soon.
More laws to come October 1, the other big day that new Maryland laws take effect. We will update you then.
