Oct 19, 2026 - PS/GO Joint Committee Worksession

The Oct. 19, 2026 joint work session of the Montgomery County Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy and Public Safety committees considered Expedited Bill 29-26, the Personnel and Human Resources/Community Trust and County Employees Act. The proposed amendments narrowed the definition of restricted applicants to people involved in detention, removal, or deportation under federal immigration law after Oct. 1, 2025, and included exemptions for qualifying whistleblowers and certain CBP employees. Members debated whether the hiring restriction was fair and appropriately limited; staff clarified that applicants for designated sensitive positions would be informed of heightened screening in job advertisements.

The committee also considered adding several departments—including the Office of Procurement—to the bill’s definition of direct services agencies, assigning responsibility for identifying sensitive positions to hiring departments, and requiring implementing regulations to be transmitted to the Council within 90 days, with the law implemented after those regulations are adopted. Amendments received committee votes, including a unanimous vote on one amendment and a 4–0–1 vote on a technical amendment; one member indicated they would abstain from the overall committee vote pending additional information. No contract awards, purchases, or specific spending amounts were identified; the discussion concerned county hiring policy rather than procurement activity.