Counties Opposed Bill With Significant Unfunded Mandate, Reduction in Youth Sports Programming

Dominic Butchko

February 22

On February 21, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Health and Government Operations Committee in opposition to HB 686- Youth Sports Programs- Venue-Specific Emergency Action Plans- Requirements. This bill requires youth sports programs to develop an emergency action plan for each facility used by the program.

This bill places excessively burdensome administrative, fiscal, and operational requirements on youth sports programming in addition to a potentially significant unfunded mandate. If enacted, HB 686 would ultimately lead to less youth sports programming.

From MACo Testimony:

County governments fully agree with the intent of HB 686, which is to ensure that children and young adults enjoying youth sports programming are safe. To this point, county parks and recreation departments are already taking numerous measures meant to ensure that both participants and spectators alike can take advantage of this and similar offerings in environments that are as risk-averse as possible. While ultimately well intended, this bill would − in practice − curtail a county's ability to continue to provide youth sport programming.