Montgomery County to Discuss Panhandling Ban Friday

The state legislative delegation will hear legislation this Friday that would allow Montgomery County to create a permitting system for roadside solicitation. MC 20-11 is the late-filled bill by Senator Raskin and Delegate Kaiser, who both served on the .

As an enabling legislation, it does not have all the particulars of what a permitting system would look like, but the bill does mention that roadside solicitation would only be allowed by permit on roadways, medians and sidewalks. Permits would not be authorized for minors. The executive's recently concluded task force reported that a permit process would be one way to  while still permitting organized charitable campaigns.

Panhandling is currently legal in Montgomery County, unless solicitors block traffic or act aggressively, including making threats, touching someone without consent, following someone who has not given money or asking for money in an intimidating manner. Counties that currently ban roadside solicitation are Anne Arundel, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Prince George's and Washington.

As a late-filled bill, MC 20-11 will need a two-thirds majority in the Montgomery house delegation to be filed for a public hearing.