It took years to pass — and another eight months to override the governor’s veto — but lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that creates a Maryland Reparations Commission.
The bill establishes a 23-member voluntary commission to assess specific federal, state and local policies from 1877 to 1965, the post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, and to examine how public and private institutions may have benefited from policies that led to discrimination. The commission is also charged with recommending appropriate reparations, from a statement of apology to monetary compensation or social service assistance.
The bill had been a priority of the Legislative Black Caucus and its veto in May by Gov. Wes Moore (D), the first Black governor of Maryland, stunned many lawmakers and advocates, in Maryland and nationwide. Legislators immediately vowed an override, which they did by comfortable margins during Tuesday’s special session.
“It’s been a long time coming, and I’m so very grateful that this body saw fit to do that,” Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s), the lead Senate sponsor, said in a brief interview after the vote. “I think the study will go a long way in revealing some of the things that we’re talking about. I’m happy that it’s happened.”
Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D-Harford) voted with all 13 Senate Republicans to sustain the governor’s veto. But 31 Democrats voted to override it, more than the 29 needed.
In terms of disagreeing with the governor, Muse said, “The governor is a friend of everyone here, so we disagree, but we disagree in friendship.”
Moore said in his May 16 veto message that it was a “difficult decision” but that “now is not the time for another study. Now is the time for continued action that delivers results for the people we serve.”
But Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), who voted for the veto override Tuesday, said creating a commission must be done. Sydnor, the only person to speak on the Seante floor on the bill gave a more than 10-minute speech mixed with a history lesson that included how Baltimore County did not provide Black students with a high school education in the 1940s.
“Let’s be clear: Slavery may have ended 150 years ago, but segregation, redlining, discrimination, stretched well into our own lifetime,” Sydnor said. “The laboring effects are real, and we cannot prepare [for] what we refuse to acknowledge. Mission is not about blaming individuals. It’s about fixing systems.”
While the Senate took about 15 minutes for its debate and overrided the vote on the reparations bill, debate in the House lasted slightly more than an hour before delegates voted 93-35 to reverse the governor’s veto.
House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany), who voted to sustain the governor’s veto, was the first of seven delegates to speak on the bill, who were followed by another five who rose to explain their votes. Buckel reminded his colleagues that it was “the actions of the majority of the people of the United States of America, Black and white at the time, who said enough is enough and we will change the system,” and shed their blood to do so
But prior to his vote in support of the governor’s veto, Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary’s) said the commission is set up to offer “race bait handouts.”
Del. Terri Hill (D-Howard), who voted to override the veto, said the bill “requires us as an arm of the Maryland government to look at the things that government policy allowed to happen and enable.”
Hill praised the legislator who sponsored the House version that passed the chamber but didn’t advance in the Senate. Del. Aletheia McCaskill (D-Baltimore County), who didn’t speak on the House floor about the bill Tuesday, received congratulatory hugs from several of her House colleagues.
After the House adjourned, McCaskill thanked her colleagues, community leaders and advocates who spoke out in support of a commission.
“I’m so overwhelmed right now, but I am grateful. This is such a historical moment not only for Maryland, but literally for this country,” McCaskill said in a brief interview after the vote. “It is time to move and seek this commission and support the commission for the work that needs to be done.”
The Legislative Black Caucus said in a statement Tuesday the reparations commission “will now become law in our state. At a time of growing attacks on diversity and equity, today’s action reaffirms our shared commitment to truth-telling, accountability, and meaningful progress for Black Marylanders.”