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Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced Friday that he will veto the Reparations Commission bill that called for a study of historic inequality endured by African descendants in Maryland.
The veto of a reparations measure by the only sitting Black governor in the nation was included a list of vetoes of bills, many of which called for summer study of an issue, typically the most innocuous type of legislation. The list of 23 bills was released late Friday afternoon by the governor鈥檚 office.
Moore鈥檚 list also includes a bill in the energy package backed by House and Senate leadership, which created a Strategic Energy Planning Office focused on the state鈥檚 energy needs.
Reaction was swift, and in some cases angry, from lawmakers, who were already discussing veto overrides.
鈥淭he governor is my friend. I think a lot of him, but I am every disappointed in him today,鈥� said Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George鈥檚), who sponsored the Senate version of the reparations bill. 鈥淚鈥檓 very disappointed that something like this, that Black communities across the country have been asking for, it鈥檚 turned down in our state,鈥�
Sponsors began getting the news Friday afternoon of the coming vetoes of their bills. Reparations was the most high-profile bill to be shot down, and chatter was widespread before the official announcement, but others learned of the demise of their bills to study the effects of climate change and to look at the impact of data centers on the state.
Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery) said she got a text from one of the governor鈥檚 staffers Friday, alerting her that her bill, originally titled the RENEW Act, was going to be vetoed. The bill would have commissioned a study from the comptroller鈥檚 office on the effects of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, and it was a milder alternative to the original language that would have called for a system to make businesses that extract fossil fuels pay fees to mitigate the effects of climate change.
鈥淚 think a study is a very reasonable next step, and the money was allocated in the budget,鈥� Hester said. 鈥淭his is very shortsighted, because this is a bill that will eventually save taxpayers money.鈥�
The bill was to be funded mostly by $500,000 from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which is fueled by 鈥渁lternative compliance payments鈥澛� utilities pay when they have not purchased enough renewable energy to comply with state mandates. That fund has burgeoned in recent years with an influx of payments, including $318 million in fiscal 2024.
Advocates were angered by the move. Mike Tidwell, founder and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, called the governor鈥檚 veto of the RENEW study 鈥渦nforgiveable.鈥�
鈥淚 will make sure that voters in the state never forget what he鈥檚 done with this veto,鈥� Tidwell said, adding that the governor鈥檚 office expressed no reservations about the bill as recently as mid-March.
The veto was 鈥渋nconceivable,鈥� given that Maryland has thousands of miles of shoreline vulnerable to climate change, and the $500,000 study could have paved the way toward tens of millions of dollars in compensatory payments from fossil fuel companies, Tidwell said.
鈥淗is math doesn鈥檛 add up. His political calculus is arguably even worse, because turning his back on Marylanders suffering from climate change today is an enormously politically damaging act,鈥� Tidwell said.
Sen. Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick) said she heard from the governor鈥檚 team Friday that her bill, studying the potential financial, environmental and energy effects of data centers in Maryland would be among the vetoes. In Frederick, development of an expansive Quantum Loophole campus has been underway for years, prompting Lewis Young鈥檚 interest in the subject.
鈥淚鈥檓 really disappointed that, given what a big topic this is for the state 鈥� and in particular for my county 鈥� that we wouldn鈥檛 proceed with a study,鈥� Lewis Young said.
Lewis Young said she was surprised to learn of the veto, especially given that the governor鈥檚 team did not express any reservations about the bill or its cost during the legislative session. The report was to cost about $502,000, with funds pulled from the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland Energy Administration and the University System of Maryland, according to its fiscal note.
More economical still was the reparations bill: Versions that failed in previous years had price tags around $1 million, but the version on the governor鈥檚 desk this year was only expected to cost $54,500. The will called for most of the work to be one by existing state employees or by researches at Bowie State University, one of the state鈥檚 historically black colleges and universities.
The bill鈥檚 supporters have pointed out repeatedly that the bill does not require any payments or support. It only calls for study of historic inequality suffered by African descendants, and recommendations for future action, if any.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as though it was going to do something. It鈥檚 a study,鈥� Muse said Friday evening. 鈥淲hen have we known a study to cause a veto? At the end of the study, nothing else has been done, except we studied it. I don鈥檛 understand it. I will not understand it.鈥�
Advocates rallied in Annapolis a week ago, urging the governor to sign the bill, which had the backing of the Legislative Black Caucus. The caucus released a statement to express 鈥渄eep disappointment鈥� in the governor鈥檚 decision and that the 鈥渓egislature will have a final say鈥� when lawmakers meet to consider veto overrides.
鈥淎t a time when the White House and Congress are actively targeting Black communities, dismantling diversity initiatives and using harmful coded language, Governor Moore had a chance to show the country and the world that here in Maryland we boldly and courageously recognize our painful history and the urgent need to address it,鈥� the caucus said in a statement Friday evening.
鈥淚nstead, the State鈥檚 first Black governor chose to block this historic legislation that would have moved the state toward directly repairing the harm of enslavement,鈥� the statement said.
The bill called for the creation of a commission that would assess specific federal, state and local policies from 1877 to 1965, the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras that 鈥渓ed to economic disparities based on race, including housing, segregation and discrimination, redlining, restrictive covenants, and tax policies.鈥�
The all-volunteer commission would also have examined how public and private institutions may have benefited from those policies, and would then recommend appropriate reparations, which could include statements of apology, monetary compensation, social service assistance, business incentives or child care costs.
The 24-member commission would have had to deliver a preliminary report of recommendations by Jan. 1, 2027, to explain any findings, and a final report by Nov. 1 of that year.
Maryland is one of just a handful of states that have passed legislation to study reparations, including California, Illinois, New York and Colorado.
List of vetoed bills
Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced Friday that he will veto 23 bills passed by the 2025 General Assembly 鈥� more than in the previous two years combined, when he vetoed 13 and four, respectively. This year鈥檚 vetoes included some high-profile proposals, including a bill to create reparations study commission and another to look at the impact of data centers.
- SB980: Natural Resources 鈥� Maryland Heritage Areas Authority 鈥� Funding and Grants
- HB56/SB177: Local Food Purchasing
- HB0328: State Lottery 鈥� Instant Ticket Lottery Machines 鈥� Veterans鈥� and Fraternal Organizations
- HB0482: Occupational Licensing and Certification 鈥� Criminal History 鈥� Predetermination Review Process
- HB1116: Public Safety 鈥� State Clearinghouse for Missing Persons
- SB655: AI Evidence Pilot
- SB149/HB128: 鈥淩ENEW Study鈥� Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation 鈥� Total Assessed Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions 鈥� Study and Reports
- SB691/HB333: Healthcare Ecosystem Cyber Work Group
- SB909/HB1037: Energy Resource Adequacy Planning Act
- Operating Funds: Fund Study by Comptroller Required by SB149
- Operating Funds: MSDE Three Positions to Assist LEAs with Cybersecurity
- HB384/SB157: Disability Service Animal Program
- SB121: Vehicle Laws 鈥� Noise Abatement Monitoring Systems Pilot Program 鈥� Inspection and Extension
- SB168: Confined Aquatic Disposal Cells 鈥� Construction 鈥� Moratorium
- SB0227: Workers鈥� Compensation 鈥� Payment From Uninsured Employer鈥� Fund 鈥� Revisions
- HB193/SB219: Uninsured Employers鈥� Fund 鈥� Assessments and Special Monitor
- SB0972: Anne Arundel County 鈥� Board of License Commissioners 鈥� Alterations
- SB503/HB481: Washington County 鈥� Board of License Commissioners 鈥� Membership
- HB1316: Primary and Secondary Education 鈥� Youth-Centric Technology and Social Media Resource Guide
- SB116/HB270: Data Center Impact Study
- SB0455: Security Guard Agencies 鈥� Special Police Officers 鈥� Application for Appointment
- HB628: Highways 鈥� Sidewalks and Bicycle Pathways 鈥� Construction and Reconstruction
- SB587: State Government 鈥� Maryland Reparations Commission
