Things won’t be business as usual today, as several new laws take effect around the Washington area.
The annual sales tax holiday in the District is history. In Maryland, foster kids could have a quicker path to being permanently placed. In Virginia, local governments can keep a closer eye on foreclosed homes.
In D.C., the traditional sales tax vacations for items less than $100 will be eliminated. Previously, shoppers did not have to pay sales tax during a several-day period for back-to-school shopping or on the day after Thanksgiving.
The two tax holidays cost the District $1.1 million. D.C.’s sales tax rate is 5.7 percent.
Maryland’s Citizens Review Boards for Children are now able to review all foster child cases with greater flexibility, thanks to a new state law.
The boards will not only have a better ability to review and help close cases, they record their findings in more detail, said Maryland Department of Human Resources spokeswoman Elyn Jones
.
“They have to do it in a different way that will allow adoption agencies to tell more about the cases they review,” Jones said.
The goal of the new law is to ensure that the board has a permanent plan for a child in the system, she added.
“The review board must provide information about moving the child into a permanent place and make efforts towards doing that,” Jones said.
In Virginia, a new law allows local governments in Northern Virginia to require authorities handling foreclosures to give them their name and contact information.
“The main reason for this is that there are so many homes in foreclosure, and the lending institution could be [elsewhere] and the house deteriorates,” said Del. Thomas Rust, who sponsored the bill. “The local government didn’t know who owned it or how to get in touch with them.”
Also beginning today:
» The Maryland Transportation Authority is going to start charging E-ZPass customers a monthly fee to use the service, which allows drivers to pass more quickly through toll stops on highways and bridges.
» Virginia landlord and tenant laws were updated, including the elimination of a tenant’s right to repair, replace or clean a damaged item and instead allows the landlord to repair it and charge all costs to the tenant.
» D.C. residents won’t have to endure the smell of tar during street paving, thanks to a new law that bans all coal-tar products to limit pollution in area streams and rivers.
