PRIORITIES

Learn about Delegate Vaughn Stewart’s top priorities, including housing affordability, consumer protection, support for seniors, environmental and public health protections, and expanding access to justice and immigration services. Explore how he’s fighting for a stronger, more equitable Maryland.

HOUSING

Vaughn believes that every Marylander—no matter their income or ZIP code—deserves a safe, stable home they can afford. He has been a frequent sponsor of legislation focused on cracking down on slumlords, strengthening tenant protections, and expanding Maryland’s affordable housing supply. He was the primary sponsor of the Tenant Safety Act, which gave the state new muscle to hold landlords accountable for severe housing-code violations. He also sponsored HB 23 (2023) to protect residents of manufactured homes and helped drive major efforts to increase housing availability through HB 7 (2024), HB 131 (2024), and HB 1466 (2025). He created the Rental Assistance for Community Schools Fund (HB 428) so families facing housing instability aren’t left to fend for themselves. His upcoming 2026 agenda includes allowing localities to adopt land-value taxation to encourage building—not speculation—and a sweeping tenant-screening reform to stop unfair denials and the misuse of old or expunged records.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Vaughn believes regular people should be able to buy a product, sign a contract, or answer their phone without getting ripped off. With a background as a consumer-protection attorney, he has gone after deceptive practices and corporate fine print designed to confuse or exploit the public. He sponsored the Stop the Spam Calls Act (HB 37, 2023), cracked down on abusive “click-through” contracts, and passed legislation protecting consumers from wire-transfer scams, crypto-ATM fraud, and gift-card skimming. He’s worked to expose junk fees, make billing fairer, and hold digital marketplaces accountable. His 2026 proposals would stop companies with proven labor-law violations from collecting taxpayer subsidies and make corporations that use AI to fire workers en masse pay into retraining programs—so workers aren’t the ones left holding the bag.

FIGHTING FOR SENIORS

Vaughn believes seniors deserve dignity, protection, and a fair shot—not to be targeted by scammers or crushed by rising costs. He has pushed legislation to crack down on financial exploitation, wire-transfer fraud, crypto-ATM schemes, and gift-card scams aimed at older residents. He supported efforts to rein in outrageous long-term-care insurance rate hikes and is preparing 2026 legislation to ensure that seniors who lose retirement savings to fraud aren’t taxed on money they never truly received. He also backs reforms in healthcare navigation, utility billing, and housing safety—areas where seniors are too often taken advantage of or ignored.

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Vaughn believes that no community should be treated as a dumping ground and that polluters must be held accountable—not subsidized. Growing up in an Alabama community harmed by industrial contamination, he knows firsthand how environmental injustice can shape a family’s future. In office, he supported removing trash incineration from Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, ending taxpayer giveaways to polluting facilities. He sponsored HB 874 (2023), which created an environmental-crimes unit within the Attorney General’s office to prosecute companies that poison our air and water. His environmental work ties directly to public health, pushing for cleaner air, stronger enforcement, and safer housing—especially in older buildings and communities long overlooked by powerful interests.

IMMIGRATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Vaughn believes that everyone—regardless of immigration status—deserves to be treated with dignity and to have their rights respected. He sponsored the Dignity Not Detention Act to stop local governments from profiting off civil immigration detention. His planned 2026 reforms would prevent warrantless immigration arrests in courthouses—so victims, witnesses, and families aren’t afraid to seek justice—and crack down on the quiet use of office leases as makeshift detention sites in neighborhoods. As an attorney, he has represented refugees and fought for people whose voices are too often ignored.

GOOD GOVERNMENT, DEMOCRACY AND VOTING

PUBLIC SAFETY AND GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

Vaughn believes real public safety means preventing harm, saving lives, and building systems that work for everyday people—not just the powerful. As Chair of the Motor Vehicle & Transportation Subcommittee, he has gone after dangerous driving, lax enforcement, and road safety failures, sponsoring the 2025 bill (HB 182) to introduce serious penalties for extreme speeding. He has led on autonomous-vehicle oversight and labor protections for truck drivers so technology isn’t used as an excuse to cut corners on safety or workers. He supports the state’s recent gun-violence-prevention measures—including the ghost-gun ban and new public-health-based approaches to firearm violence—and continues to back efforts that make communities safer without resorting to fearmongering or over-policing.

LABOR AND WORKERS’ RIGHTS

Vaughn believes workers deserve power—because when working people thrive, Maryland thrives. A proud dues-paying member of the Baltimore–Washington NewsGuild (CWA), he stands firmly with the labor movement. He sponsored legislation to guarantee paid bereavement leave (HB 52) and has supported strong wage-and-hour enforcement and workplace-safety protections. He’s pushed for fair rules around autonomous trucking and the impacts of automation on freight and logistics. His 2026 agenda includes a tax on corporations that use AI to lay off workers in large numbers, directing the proceeds to retraining and support programs—because workers shouldn’t be discarded for profit.

HEALTH CARE

Vaughn believes that healthcare is a human right—not a luxury. As a two-time childhood cancer survivor who lost his best friend to an overdose, he approaches healthcare policy with urgency and compassion. He fought for legislation to strengthen hospital protocols and prevent opioid-related deaths (HB 1155, 2024). He has supported prescription-drug affordability reforms, including the work of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to cap the cost of lifesaving medications in state programs. His priorities include lowering costs, improving hospital safety, expanding access, and protecting seniors whose financial security is often tied to medical affordability.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Vaughn believes that reproductive freedom belongs to the people—not politicians. He has supported laws expanding access to reproductive healthcare, including the Abortion Care Access Act, insurance-coverage requirements, privacy protections, and Maryland’s 2024 constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedom. He continues to support policies that safeguard providers, defend patient privacy, and ensure that Maryland remains a national leader in protecting personal autonomy.

AFFORDABILITY AND FAMILY ECONOMIC STABILITY

Vaughn believes that families should be able to keep a roof over their heads, pay their bills, and still have something left to build a better future. Across housing, consumer protection, healthcare, and labor issues, he fights for working people facing rising costs. His legislative work includes rent-stability efforts, transparency in utilities and telecom billing, crackdowns on junk fees, oversight of long-term-care insurance pricing, protections against financial fraud, and tax-policy reforms that let local governments shift burdens off working families and onto those who can afford to pay their fair share.