Latest news with #MarylandDepartmentofLegislativeServices
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maryland lawmakers approve reparations study; bill heads to Moore
A Maryland bill to create a commission to study and recommend future reparations for slavery and racial discrimination is heading to Gov. Wes Moore's (D) desk for consideration. The bill, a top priority of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, passed in a 101-36 vote in the state's House on Wednesday. The legislation outlines a host of potential reparations, including official statements of apology, financial compensation, assistance with making a down payment on a home, debt forgiveness and tuition payment waivers for higher education. Moore — the state's first Black governor and the nation's only sitting Black governor — has said he will consider the bill but pointed to the state's budget concerns. The state faces a $3.3 billion deficit, and the nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services calculates the proposal could cost Maryland taxpayers $54,500 annually. If passed, the commission would assess federal, state and local policies from the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. According to the bill, that time frame 'led to economic disparities based on race, including housing segregation and discrimination, redlining, restrictive covenants, and tax policies.' The commission would also study how both public and private institutions may have benefited from discriminatory policies and suggest reparations those institutions should offer. Maryland now joins California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois in efforts to pass reparations. California's reparations proposal remains the most ambitious, having recommended that eligible recipients receive up to $1.2 million each. Though lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also introduced legislation to study reparations, no federal commission exists yet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Maryland lawmakers approve reparations study, bill heads to Moore
A Maryland bill to create a commission to study and recommend future reparations for slavery and racial discrimination is heading to Gov. Wes Moore's (D) desk for consideration. The bill, a top priority of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, passed in a 101-36 vote in the state's House on Wednesday. The legislation outlines a host of potential reparations, including official statements of apology, financial compensation, assistance with making a down payment on a home, debt forgiveness and tuition payment waivers for higher education. Moore — the state's first Black governor and the nation's only sitting Black governor — has said he will consider the bill but pointed to the state's budget concerns. The state currently faces a $3.3 billion deficit, and the nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services calculates the proposal could cost Maryland taxpayers $54,500 annually. If passed, the commission would assess federal, state and local policies from the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. According to the bill, that time frame 'led to economic disparities based on race, including housing segregation and discrimination, redlining, restrictive covenants, and tax policies.' The commission would also study how both public and private institutions may have benefited from discriminatory policies and suggest reparations those institutions should offer. Maryland now joins California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois in efforts to pass reparations. California's reparations proposal remains the most ambitious, having recommended that eligible recipients receive up to $1.2 million each. Though lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also introduced legislation to study reparations, no federal commission exists yet.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said state surplus ‘wasn't real.' His budget said otherwise
BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore raised some eyebrows this week by saying the state's $5.5 billion budget surplus 'wasn't real,' after describing the state's 'fortunate financial position' at the beginning of his term. Speaking to reporters in Annapolis as the current legislative session winds down, Moore pointed to the evaporation of temporary federal COVID-19 funding to explain Maryland's transformation from surplus to $3.3 billion structural deficit. 'When you have a one-time infusion of cash, that is not structural surplus,' the Democratic governor said. 'That is not math. It's politics, it's not math. It's dark-money gaslighting.' Moore's first budget proposal showed the state expected to end fiscal year 2023 with more than $5 billion in general cash reserves while acknowledging that COVID aid would be drying up. 'If the State's current revenue projections hold through June, we anticipate ending the current Fiscal Year 2023 with a more than $2 billion General Fund balance and an additional $2.9 billion in the Rainy Day Fund — $5 billion in combined General Fund cash reserves,' Moore's proposal reads. 'At the same time, Maryland, like many other states, sees a surplus created by a series of rare financial tailwinds unlikely to continue.' While the governor's office did not specify how much of this $5 billion was directly related to COVID-19 funds, a Maryland Department of Legislative Services report estimates the state received about $4.9 billion in pandemic aid from the federal government. In Moore's fiscal year 2024 budget, on page 14, he described proposing a budget with 'a robust surplus balance' and was also aware of economic risks, revenue risks and state retirement contributions. Carter Elliott, Moore's senior press secretary, says the deficit has been predicted since 2017 and exacerbated by slow economic growth across multiple administrations. 'During that time the state's economy also significantly underperformed the nation, growing at just 3% while the nation grew at 11% between 2017 and 2022,' Elliott said in an emailed statement. Moore's Republican predecessor, Gov. Larry Hogan, criticized the 'BS and finger-pointing' surrounding budget issues in a series of X posts Thursday. Hogan's posts balked at the Moore administration characterizing Maryland's economy as weak. 'Even after managing a global pandemic, we left office in January 2023 with the largest surplus in state history — $5.5 billion,' Hogan wrote. 'Maryland had never been in a stronger economic position.' Hogan continued by referencing a recent University of Maryland, Baltimore County, poll he interpreted as the state being on the wrong track.' The poll showed that 52% of Marylanders approve of Moore's job performance, 53% also said they have considered moving out of state in the coming years. 'It's a damn shame, and it breaks my heart,' Hogan said of the poll and overall budget situation. ------------
