A new Maryland law named for two Potomac sisters killed in a short-term rental fire took effect Thursday, Oct. 1, among more than 370 measures that became law that day, Maryland Matters reported.

The Jillian and Lindsay Wiener Short-Term Rental Safety Act requires Airbnb, Vrbo and similar rentals statewide to have functioning smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms and fire extinguishers. Hosts must also post evacuation routes and emergency numbers in each unit. Bethesda Magazine reported the law is expected to be the first in the nation to set uniform, statewide safety standards for short-term rentals.

The law carries a deeply personal Potomac connection. Jillian Wiener, 21, and Lindsay Wiener, 19, were graduates of Holton-Arms School in Bethesda. Jillian was a rising senior at the University of Michigan; Lindsay was a rising sophomore at Tulane.

In 2022, the sisters were vacationing with their family in Noyac, New York, when a fire broke out at a short-term rental shortly before 4 a.m. The blaze started in an illegally constructed outdoor kitchen. Overloaded circuits knocked out smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that lacked battery backup. Both sisters died. Their parents and brother escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.

The property owners, Peter and Pamela Miller of Sag Harbor, New York, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to probation and community service.

The sisters' mother, Alisa Wiener, worked with Sen. Brian Feldman and Del. Linda Foley, both District 15 Democrats representing Potomac, Germantown and western Montgomery County, to draft the legislation. In March, when the General Assembly passed the bill, Wiener told Bethesda Magazine: "I did it in memory of my daughters. I felt a really strong responsibility to make something better."

Gov. Wes Moore signed the act on April 15. By July 1, 2028, every Maryland county and Baltimore City must require annual inspections of short-term rental units. Booking platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo must verify that Maryland listings meet the safety standards. Local governments may set registration fees and authorize third-party inspectors.

The sisters' father, Lewis Wiener, a prominent attorney and former president of Washington Hebrew Congregation, urged mourners at their funeral to keep sharing his daughters' stories. He died in April 2024 after battling pancreatic cancer. Members of Washington Hebrew Congregation raised more than $100,000 to create commemorative candlesticks honoring the sisters.

No Kings Act and LEAD Act also take effect

The No Kings Act, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher and House Majority Leader David Moon, both Montgomery County Democrats, also took effect Thursday. The law gives Marylanders and the attorney general's office a civil path to sue federal officials who violate constitutional rights "under color of law," according to Maryland Matters. It does not apply to officials acting under a joint task force that primarily enforces the United States Code.

Del. Lorig Charkoudian, a Montgomery County Democrat whose earlier bill supplied the "color of law" language, described the act at the May 13 signing ceremony as a civil remedy for people whose constitutional rights are violated by federal officials. Opponents argued the measure was an overreach that would hurt law enforcement, but it passed both chambers by comfortable margins.

Two bills from the LEAD Act package also took effect Thursday. The LEAD Act, short for Laila's Elopement Awareness and Dissemination Act, is named for Laila Bailey, an autistic child who wandered away from her caregiver in 2020. One bill, sponsored by Del. Aaron Kaufman of Montgomery County, requires police training on responding to elopement cases, in which a person with autism or dementia wanders from a safe location. The other requires the Maryland Department of Health to publish a webpage of safety-planning resources for family caregivers.

The next major deadline tied to these laws falls on July 1, 2028, when counties must have annual short-term rental inspections in place.