A bill that would have curbed some public notice advertising revenue for newspapers in Maryland has been vetoed by Gov. Wes Moore (D).
House Bill 1258 was one of four from the 2024 legislative session vetoed by Moore. Two others — identical House and Senate bills expanding the scope of work audiologists can do — were allowed to go into law without the signature of the governor.
All the actions announced Friday were expected.
In vetoing the public notice bill, Moore cited concerns about “ensuring the existence of thriving independent local media.”
HB 1258, sponsored by Del. Elizabeth Embry (D-Baltimore City), would have ended the requirement that public notice on estates be placed in newspapers around the state, allowing them instead to be published on a central website created by the state’s registers of wills.