2025 Legislative Review: Del. Brian Crosby

Delegate Brian Crosby

Democrat, 29B

As the Maryland General Assembly’s 2025 legislative session concludes, it’s an opportune time to evaluate the impact of lawmakers in our area. Delegate Brian Crosby (Democrat-29B) centered this year’s work around energy policy, and consumer fairness—while also encountering setbacks in judicial reform. Here's a closer look at what moved, what stalled, and the outcomes for Crosby this session.

District 29B

Delegate Crosby’s most substantive victories came in the energy and public utility sectors—a strategic move as Maryland positions itself as a clean energy leader while grappling with rising energy costs. Crosby was the primary sponsor of 9 bills. Three passed, three stalled in committee, and three were withdrawn. Co-sponsoring 11 bills, Crosby found success with 5 bills passing while 6 did not. 

Some of Crosby’s legislation that passed included:

• HB1037 (Energy Resource Adequacy and Planning Act) –This bill establishes the Strategic Energy Planning Office (SEPO), charging the Office with creating a report every three years to examine wholesale energy market health against the State’s long-term energy needs. The report must also include cost conscious solutions to promote system reliability and meet energy goals of the State. The office is funded through existing assessments imposed on public service companies.

• HB0270 (Data Center Impact Analysis) –The legislation requires several agencies to evaluate the impact of the development of data centers in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Environment will look at impact on natural resources; the Maryland Energy Administration will analyze effects of data center energy requirements on the State’s grid; and the University of Maryland School of Business  will consider economic and fiscal impacts of the data center industry.

• HB0001 (See Someone, Save Someone Act) –Crosby co-sponsored this bill, which requires the Maryland Dept. of Transportation to implement a training program for employees to better identify and report suspected victims of human trafficking.

There were also several pieces of locally focused legislation sponsored by Delegate Crosby that did not pass:

• HB0977 (Jamari’s Law) –The bill, named for Jamari Duckett who was killed by a drunk driver in Great Mills in 2023, would increase the maximum penalties from 10 to 20 years for the first conviction, and from 15 to 30 years for the second conviction of manslaughter by a vehicle.

• HB0125/HB0864 (Fourth Circuit Court Judge) –Originally introduced by Delegate Crosby at HB0125, this bill would add a fourth Circuit Court Judge to St. Mary’s County. HB0125 was withdrawn, and reintroduced by the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, with Delegates Matt Morgan and Todd Morgan as co-sponsors.

• HB0980 (Edward T. and Mary A. Conroy Scholarship Eligibility) –The legislation sought to expand eligibility for survivors and dependents of a veteran, while also permitting the scholarship office to verify eligibility through the student’s postsecondary institution. 

Delegate Crosby got some late-session media attention when he commented on the State’s IT tax proposal, which would add a 3% service tax on data or IT services under certain NAICS codes. Affected services include software publishing, computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services, computer systems design and related services. Revenues generated from the tax will total $482M in FY26. 

As written, the IT service tax would have a devastating effect on small businesses. Attending the St. Mary’s County Democratic Club’s recent meeting, Crosby told the assembled crowd the tax could eclipse business profits, and then some. For example, imagine making a $1 profit but having to pay $2 tax on that profit.

There is major concern about the impact of this tax across the state, particularly in St. Mary’s County where it will have an effect on companies contracted to provide these services for NAS/PAX. Delegate Crosby, who owns a business in the industry, expects business owners will look to move out of state or reduce their contracts with Maryland-based businesses. But the tax will still apply if the business is providing service to a customer in Maryland. 

According to an article from Maryland Matters, “the Maryland Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 15,000 businesses that employ an estimated 100,000 people would be subject to the new tax.”

The General Assembly passed roughly 26% of the bills introduced this session. Delegate Crosby had a success rate of 35%, with 7 out of 20 bills passing into law. He was also responsible for securing $75K for the St. Mary’s County YMCA and $350K for a fuel expansion project at St. Mary’s County Regional Airport to support Sustainable Aviation Fuel which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 94%.