Testimony on HB 548: Maryland Housing Certainty Act
House Economic Matters Committee

Date: February 19, 2026
Position: FAVORABLE

The Coalition for Smarter Growth supports HB 548. CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. 

Maryland has a housing shortage. Residents face high housing costs that are pushing college graduates and young families out of the state. This housing shortage has many causes, and alleviating it will require many solutions—one of which can be fixing rules that raise the cost and uncertainty of building needed homes.

Land use development proposals take time and money to prepare. The longer a development approval process takes and the more complex it becomes, the more it costs. The more it costs, the more the final product—i.e., the home that someone will rent or buy—costs. This problem is amplified if a planned development is ultimately never built at all, elevating the risk of taking on a proposal and discouraging future investment. 

The Maryland Housing Certainty Act will help reduce the uncertainty around changing land use regulations. While revising and updating land use regulations is an ongoing process, a proposal should have certainty that upon completing an application, the rules will not change. 

We need to make it easier and the rules clearer so that we can encourage quality housing and mixed use development to meet our housing needs. This bill helps the state address the problem of shifting regulations that make preparing a development application too risky, or excessively costly. 

The bill also addresses the burden of upfront payment of impact fees by requiring the payment at the end of the process rather than the beginning. 

We ask for a favorable report for HB 548 by the committee. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Carrie Kisicki
Maryland Housing Advocacy Manager