Len Lazarick, The Examiner
2008-05-14 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Children’s toys and products containing lead will be banned in Maryland, and suspects charged in many more violent crimes will have their DNA collected. These were among the more than 200 bills Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law Tuesday.

One theme of the day was public safety, but the other could easily have been task forces, studies and commissions. Among the topics being probed are the fate of the death penalty in Maryland, the effect of immigrants — both legal and illegal — and the little-noticed effect of quiet vehicles on pedestrian safety.

Blind citizens lined up behind the governor as he signed the quiet-vehicle study.

Some new hybrid cars are so quiet, “the blind cannot hear them when they cross the street,” said Del. James Malone, lead sponsor of the study in the House.

Along with a major study of the effect of immigration, the state will also investigate how these immigrants and their children can preserve their “heritage languages” — especially the less common tongues from the Middle East and Asia that would be useful in homeland security.

There are also task forces on physical fitness in schools — first introduced as a requirement for more phys ed in elementary school — task forces on the real estate title industry, on minority businesses and on motor vehicle towing.

Another law will require convicted sex offenders to register all their Internet names and online identities. Spectators at dogfights and cockfights can get increased fines and imprisonment, under another law.

A new definition of slot machines goes on the books that will ban many of the electronic bingo games and other devices that have grown in popularity, a potential competitor to state-sanctioned slot machines if voters approve the November referendum.

O’Malley touted the DNA bill, saying that reducing the backlog of DNA testing already allowed has led to the arrests of 61 rapists and murderers and 46 percent increase in the number of “hits” on the DNA database.

And finally, O’Malley signed both House and Senate versions of a measure to make walking the official state exercise.

llazarick@baltimoreexaminer.com