DOW’s 11 Key Legislative Priorities Adopted, Benefiting Maryland’s Military Families

Annapolis, Md. — Military families in Maryland will find it easier to educate their children when transitioning between duty stations. Governor Wes Moore signed a comprehensive legislative package this week designed to streamline education and improve state support for military-connected families.

The cross-filed legislation, House Bill 102 sponsored by Delegate Edith Patterson, and Senate Bill 263 sponsored by Senator Benjamin Brooks, was officially signed into law during a ceremony at the Annapolis Statehouse on Tuesday.

With the signing of this bill, Maryland has addressed all fiscal year 2026 DOW State Policy Priorities for military families.

The comprehensive package addresses several long-standing state policy issues for the War Department focusing primarily on K-12 education enhancements, remote registration capabilities and expanded access for military dependents.

“The department asks a great deal of military families; frequent moves, long separations and disruption that fall hardest on their children,” said Christopher Arnold, the DOW’s mid-Atlantic regional representative. “Today, Maryland removes the educational barriers that turned each transfer into an ordeal for them. I’m grateful to the department officials, lawmakers and stakeholders across Maryland whose two years of work made that possible.”

Key provisions of the legislation include:

• Advance Enrollment: Allows incoming military families to remotely register and enroll their children in local school systems ahead of their physical relocation to the state, preventing unnecessary gaps in instruction
• Education Policy Implementation and Information Enhancements: Enhances existing frameworks to ease school transitions, credit transfers and social integration for military children while promoting participation in the Purple Star Schools program
• Open Enrollment Flexibility (placement stability): Provides flexibility to ensure students can remain in their chosen schools for the duration of the academic year, even if their family undergoes midyear housing transitions
• State Support of Military Families With Special Education Needs: Requires schools to transfer individualized education program records for military-connected children with disabilities or special education services as soon as the family enrolls the child into a Maryland public school
• Solutions for Military Homeschoolers: Secures critical access to Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC, programs for homeschooled military dependents

Maryland is home to approximately 130,000 service members and families who routinely navigate the challenges of frequent military relocations. According to the Defense-State Liaison Office, the new regulations will significantly reduce the bureaucratic disruption military-connected students often face as they transition between school systems.

The legislation will officially take effect on July 1, 2026.

About the Defense-State Liaison Office

The DSLO is a champion for military-connected families, working to obtain modifications to state laws, executive branch actions and administrative agency regulations that help eliminate barriers generated by the demands of military life. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Defense-State Liaison Office works through regional liaisons to build and maintain relationships with state and local governments to provide expert insight on priorities affecting military families and their quality of life. Since 2010, the regional liaisons have provided the foundational blueprints that enabled state policymakers to enact more than 1,417 bills, including the Purple Star Schools program and military spouse licensing, directly impacting military readiness and family stability. Visit https://statepolicy.militaryonesource.mil to learn more.