Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) opened a nearly hourlong State of the State speech Wednesday, the last of his current term, with a push for a midcycle congressional redistricting plan that is currently blocked in the Senate.
It came just 24 hours after Moore said he would not use the speech to pressure Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) on the redistricting bill, but would focus on issues of affordability and economic growth. The governor did that, but quickly launched into comments about redistricting, as Ferguson sat behind him on the House rostrum.
“I know there is disagreement right now between the House and members of the Senate,” Moore said, a variation from his prepared text that described the disagreement more broadly as a dispute between the House and Senate.
For weeks, Moore has pointed to Ferguson as the singular hurdle to a vote in the Senate. Ferguson says the bill does not have the support of the majority Democratic Caucus nor the broader Senate chamber. Moore, in his speech, called again for a vote.
“So, my ask is simple: Do not let the democratic process die in the Free State. Debate it, discuss it, make adjustments if necessary, and put it to a vote,” Moore said.
Moore spokesperson David Turner, when asked about the redistricting push a day after Moore said his speech would focus on core priorities and not Ferguson, said it “was the elephant in the room.”
Ferguson downplayed the comments.
“I’m glad that the governor focused on growth initiatives and lowering prices for Marylanders. I think we certainly all agree that that’s a critical priority,” Ferguson said after the speech, citing the need for “doing what we can to tangibly push back against the federal administration that is causing harm in Maryland.”
A Ferguson spokesperson said Moore’s redistricting comments were a surprise.
“We consumed yesterday afternoon’s [news] coverage, as well as conversations that a lot of our senators had with different people,” said David Schuhlein, the spokesperson. “That was not our expectation that that would be part of it. It certainly wasn’t our expectation that would ever be the beginning of the speech.”
Ferguson and Moore shook hands after the comments, but Schuhlein said Moore’s remarks, coming in a joint session of the legislature, “could be described by some as an escalation.”
The redistricting remarks were met with applause, mostly from House Democrats who passed the redistricting bill. There were also some boos that appeared to come from a rear area of the chamber where some House Republicans sit.
Schuhlein said the speech did little to change the status of the bill, which remains mired in the Senate Rules Committee. Ferguson, for his part, seemed unmoved by Moore’s latest push.
“In any relationship or in any partnership, there are going to be differences of opinions in areas. I think the position in the Senate hasn’t shifted and is based on our interpretation of how best to fight against the lawless Trump administration,” Ferguson told reporters following the speech.
Sen. Arthur Ellis (D-Charles) said he was glad Moore included redistricting in his speech. Ellis last week walked off the Senate floor in protest of the Senate’s refusal to take up the redistricting bill, and has vowed not to participate in quorum counts until the full Senate is allowed to vote on the bill.
“Initially we thought he wouldn’t say anything about it,” Ellis said of Moore. “But I guess he slept on it and said this is too important for us not to bring it up.”
Ellis said he hoped Moore’s words would “have a lot of my colleagues in the Senate listening that will stand up and get us involved in the process.”
Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel) similarly expressed support for Moore’s continued push for new congressional districts.
“So many of the concerns that he touched on that impact Marylanders, whether it’s job losses, reductions in funding, losses to our schools, all of that can be traced to the fact that we have an out-of-control federal government that needs to have the proper guardrails and oversight in place,” Lam said. “And the only way to do that is to make sure the Congress does its job, by passing redistricting that allows us to level the playing field.”
‘Protect, deliver, lead’
For nearly an hour, Moore — as promised — touched on core priorities and a “protect, deliver, lead” approach to governing coupled with a condemnation of the governing approach of President Donald Trump.
“Marylanders are seeing how the White House agenda is making their lives worse,” Moore said.
The governor ticked down a list of policies negatively affecting the state, from the loss of 25,000 federal jobs and cuts to health care and food assistance programs.
“Washington is using this moment to attack and to limit and to retreat. So in Maryland, we will use this moment to protect, deliver and lead,” Moore said.
“We will protect our people from the worst of Washington’s cruelty. We will deliver the kind of results that people can actually feel in their homes and feel in their communities. And we will lead our state and our people unapologetically in a way that inspires them to help move Maryland forward,” he said.
The governor also reiterated his support for recovery efforts in flood-ravaged Western Maryland and for protecting immigrants.
Last year, the Trump administration denied a request for $33 million in federal disaster recovery aid for areas of Western Maryland including Westernport. “Again, he said ‘no’” Moore said of an appeal directly to Trump for aid.
One of Moore’s guests in the House gallery was Westernport Mayor Judy Hamilton.
“I want to say to her, the people of Westernport, and all of Western Maryland: We have your back today. We have your back tomorrow, and we will have your back always,” he said.
A new initiative
Moore also tucked hints of new initiatives into his speech.
The governor announced the creation of “Citizenship Maryland,” which is meant to target grifters offering bogus immigration advice.
“It brings together law firms, the private sector and unions to make sure that Marylanders who are eligible for citizenship know that they are and can get the supports that they need,” Moore said.
“It’s about helping the 150,000 Marylanders who just need a little extra support to get their American citizenship,” Moore said. “They are our neighbors. They are our friends. They are our fellow Marylanders.”
Additional details were not immediately available.
Another guest of Moore’s, Pastor Daniel Omar Fuentes Espinal, is an undocumented immigrant working toward citizenship, who was picked up by federal immigration authorities while driving to work last year. Fuentes, who has no criminal record, was held in a Baltimore detention facility and later transferred to Louisiana. He was eventually released.
Moore spoke to Fuentes first in Spanish and then in English:
“You are always welcome in Maryland. Now and always,” Moore said.
House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel), who moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic as a child, applauded Moore’s comments about immigrants.
“I was deeply touched by the heartfelt way Governor Moore spoke about Maryland being a state of immigrants and that diversity is what gives us our strength,” Peña-Melnyk said in a statement. “While we hold violent offenders accountable and support our local law enforcement, we also hold ICE accountable and demand Constitutional policing.”
‘Bread-and-butter issues’
Additionally, she said Moore struck the right tone on pocketbook issues facing Marylanders.
“On the bread-and-butter issues around making life more affordable, I especially appreciate the Governor’s focus on energy, housing, and health care,” she said.
“Data centers should have to cover the costs of their own power needs rather than straining the grid and burdening the ratepayers,” her statement said. “Maryland has and will continue to step up and make sure health care coverage is affordable and available in the face of federal cuts. And we will find innovative ways to build more housing supply.”
After Moore’s speech, several Republican leaders spoke with reporters about how the governor didn’t speak directly to Marylanders on topics such as balancing the budget amid an energy crisis.
Republicans had a different take. Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) criticized policies enacted by Moore and the Democratic majority that he said makes the state increasingly expensive to live in.
“No one needs a spreadsheet to know Maryland has become more expensive,” Hershey said in a taped response to the speech that aired after Moore’s address. “Families feel it at the grocery store. They see it on their electric bills, and they’re enraged when they renew their vehicle registration.
“And these costs aren’t accidental. They are the direct result of decisions made right here in Annapolis, energy mandates, regulatory expansion and unchecked spending,” Hershey said. “Marylanders have been taxed more, the cost of living is higher, and the relief is promised but rarely delivered. After three years, Marylanders are asking, Why does it feel harder, not easier, to get by?”
Moore highlighted in his speech $100 million earmarked to offset higher electric bills. The money, applied as a credit to bills, is half of what was paid out last year. That $200 million amounted to, on average, two $40 credits per household.
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) called the speech “D.C. style, left-wing” talking points, including when it came to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“The constant attacking of ICE officers who are doing their job is really reprehensible,” Ready said. “To say that they’re unconstitutionally abducting people is not accurate.”
The seven-member House Freedom Caucus, a year-old ultra-conservative subset of the Republican Caucus, offered its own response to Moore’s speech.
“Does Governor Moore know what state he actually lives in?” asked Del. Lauren Arikan (R-Harford). “The real state of the state of Maryland is $1,000 energy bills for grandparents on fixed incomes. It’s children graduating who don’t know how to read. It’s parents having to decide between buying groceries and renewing their car registrations because the fees have doubled again. It’s victims of illegal criminals wondering when will their elected leaders ever say the names of their children who were senselessly murdered. That is the actual state of state of Maryland.”
‘Maryland is complicated’
Moore ended the speech revisiting comments he made on a podcast about the state’s flag.
“Our flag is a contradiction because our flag is literally a Confederate symbol mixed with a Union symbol,” Moore had said on the The Press Box podcast, when asked if voters “don’t want and can’t handle a Black president again.”
Some took umbrage to what they saw was Moore characterizing the flag as a vestige of the Confederacy or possibly racist. But Moore sees the outrage as a tempest in a teapot and a product of partisan hacks.
“Listen, I love our flag, and to be clear, it ain’t changing,” Moore said, “but neither are the facts. Our flag is, by definition, a contradiction, a combination of symbols and ideas that were diametrically opposed,”
“That’s not a bad thing. It’s just simply a reminder that Maryland is complicated, and some that are twisting the truth to divide us and other us using a symbol that we all love, because they know that when we stand together, Maryland cannot lose.”
— Maryland Matters reporters Danielle J. Brown, Christine Condon, William J. Ford and Joe Wicke contributed to this report.