Bill Ferguson shows no leadership in addressing the largest commercial use of lead, putting at risk immense numbers of Marylanders and all wildlife in the state
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today condemned Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-46, Baltimore, for refusing to bring House Bill 1067 to a vote before adjournment of the 2026 legislative session, despite an overwhelming vote in the House and in the Senate committee of jurisdiction, which forecasted a similarly lopsided vote in the upper chamber. The legislation, to phase out the use of toxic lead ammunition in Maryland over the next four years, was supported by a broad coalition of public health experts, animal welfare advocates, conservationists, and hunters.
“Once again, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson showed a deficit of leadership in failing to address one of the most serious public health and wildlife health crises in Maryland: the lead poisoning of half a million Marylanders and countless wild animals who ingest an element known for three millennia to extinguish life,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “The problem is documented and the solution is right at hand: use widely available, cost-competitive non-toxic ammunition, already required under federal law for waterfowl hunting in all 50 states for the last 35 years.”
HB 1067, sponsored by Del. Michele Guyton, D-42B, Baltimore County, and Del. Nick Allen, D-8, Baltimore County, passed by an overwhelming vote of 91–42 in the House of Delegates, over the objections of the NRA and extremist hunting groups that seemingly have no problem with rank-and-file hunters and their families and friends suffering the effects of lead poisoning by eating wild game meat embedded with lead fragments. Sen. Karen Lewis Young, D-3, Frederick County, sponsored the companion measure in the Senate, where it advanced out of the Education, Energy, and Environment Committee by a commanding 8–3 vote. With the leaders of the policy committees in both chambers backing the legislation, and with the Democrats holding a commanding 34–13 advantage, supporters say the bill had plenty of votes to pass and more than enough committed votes to break any filibuster.
Instead, Senate leadership declined to act after a small group of Republican senators threatened to offer amendments and consume floor time in the final hours of the session.
“This was the third straight year that Ferguson and his team balked at taking any ownership of this issue and addressing the human health and wildlife health crisis of thousands of tons of lead loads scattered over the 12,000 square miles of Maryland’s lands and waterways,” added Pacelle. “How many more children in hunting families must ingest lead and how many bald eagles must wither and die in Maryland to spur remedial action? Non-lead ammunition, already required by the federal government for migratory waterfowl, is available for hunting all species and it works.”
A documented crisis, a proven solution
Each year, an estimated 500,000 Marylanders—including children in hunting families—consume venison contaminated with lead fragments from traditional ammunition. There is no safe level of lead exposure, according to the CDC. Aisha Dickerson, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, testified in favor of the HB 1067/SB 181, noted that “lead is a well-known toxicant that can cause a number of adverse health outcomes throughout life, including cognitive impairment, mental health symptoms, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, and earlier age of death.”
Peer-reviewed scientific studies from NIH show there can be a reduction in IQ in children who have been exposed to lead, including lead ammunition, from 5 to 7+ points impacting their ability to learn and creating behavioral issues that parents and the school systems are left to deal with. Recent research has revealed that lead fragments in game meat can be microscopic—spreading like “lead dust” throughout tissue and making contamination impossible to detect or remove. These risks extend beyond hunting households, particularly through donated venison to food banks and communities facing food insecurity.
According to a landmark study in Science in 2022, half of all bald and golden eagles continent-wide have severe levels of lead toxicity in their system. Wildlife rehabilitators in Maryland and across the country report widespread lead poisoning, with many animals dying from exposure to even small amounts. There are 600 peer-reviewed studies supporting the public health and wildlife health effects of indiscriminate lead use in hunting.
More than three decades ago, the federal government required non-toxic ammunition for waterfowl hunting nationwide—a policy that has saved millions of birds annually while maintaining strong hunting traditions. California passed legislation to ban all lead ammunition and it’s been in effect for seven years for the hunting of 60 species, and there have been no glitches with implementation and no downturn in hunting participation.
HB 1067 would have built on that success with a staggered, four-year phase-in of non-lead ammunition for sport hunting in Maryland, beginning next year and fully implemented by 2031. The bill explicitly allowed continued possession, sale, and use of lead ammunition for target shooting and other lawful purposes.
Dan Ashe, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a lifelong hunter and Maryland resident, emphasized in his testimony the practical and ethical case for reform: “We know that there is no safe level of lead in any animal—human or non-human. Using ammunition that is poisoning and killing innocent bystanders and feeding lead-contaminated food to families and friends is the opposite of ethical and responsible.”