Maryland AG Vows to Protect Seniors in Assisted Living, Workers Denied Full Wages

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown is making legislation protecting seniors in assisted living facilities and enforcement of fair wages and safe working conditions for workers as priorities for 2025.

Additionally, he is promising to “shore up” Maryland’s civil rights laws.

Brown said his goal is to ensure that the “rights and privileges of all Marylanders will remain protected regardless of who holds power in the federal government or who may seek to violate those rights here at home.”

Brown’s 2025 legislative priorities include legislation to protect seniors and others in long-term care facilities from financial exploitation, physical abuse or neglect. Brown will propose two measures: One requiring video recording equipment to be installed in common areas of facilities to improve transparency and accountability in skilled nursing and assisted living environments; and another holding caregivers, whether facility staff or family members, to a higher standard in their financial interactions with vulnerable adults.

To combat wage theft, Brown said he will pursue authorization to establish a Worker Protection Unit within his office. This will authorize his office to enforce worker protection laws along with the Maryland Department of Labor. He will also seek to apply the Workplace Fraud Act to all industries and streamline processes for investigations.

In addition, he said he will seek the authority to take legal action against private detention centers if they violate the rights of detainees; changes to Maryland’s housing and employment laws to clarify that practices that have a discriminatory effect are prohibited; and expansion of the state’s “second look” laws that empower judges to reduce or modify, but not increase, long prison sentences under specific conditions.