Advocates could begin recruiting appointees for long-awaited Reparations Commission soon

Supporters could begin soliciting volunteers to serve on the long-awaited, and long-delayed Maryland Reparations Commission as soon as next week, ending a year of starts and stops on the measure.

The 23-member commission of historians, advocates, elected officials and business representatives will be charged with examining specific federal, state and local policies from 1877 to 1965, the post-Reconstruction to Jim Crow eras, to determine how public and private institutions may have benefited from policies that led to discrimination. It will also recommend appropriate reparations, possibly ranging from a statement of apology to monetary compensation or social service assistance.

“I am beyond ready to get this commission seated so the work can be done,” Del. Aletheia McCaskill (D-Baltimore County) said Thursday.

“I do still pinch myself knowing that this moment has come. I’m grateful for those who have stuck by our side, all those organizations and individual folks who stuck by our side to make sure that we saw this through,” said McCaskill, a leader in the fight to get the bill passed last year.

That bill, sponsored by Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s), passed with overwhelming support after years of trying, but ran into a surprise veto from Gov. Wes Moore (D), the state’s first Black governor. Moore said it was time to move past studies of the issue and toward action.

That veto was easily overridden by lawmakers in December. But Muse came in with an amendment in this session that added appointees to the commissions and shuffled appointments to the commission, taking some from the governor and giving some to legislative leaders.

A hearing on that bill, set for March 12, was postponed without explanation and then Muse withdrew the bill Monday, clearing the way for appointments to begin.

McCaskill said there’s $56,000 allocated for the commission in the original bill.

There will still be a push for funding, “but only as the state budget will allow us to,” said McCaskill, who said the commission will proceed with the original funding for now.

“We’ll work on the fiscal side as legislators so that we can make sure that we have appropriate staffing and that we are not putting a burden on the commission financially to do the work for Maryland.”

As for withdrawing this year’s bill, Muse said, “It’s no need for that…. The commission will be getting to work.”

Parts of his bill — which would also have pushed back reporting deadlines and added a requirement that the panel “hold at least three public hearings and continuously solicit public input” — could be amended on to other legislation, McCaskill said.

Some individuals on the commission include the state treasurer or his designee, a Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce representative, an attorney with expertise in civil rights or constitutional law and the state archivist or a representative.

“The Archive’s legacy of slavery study has dedicated all 25 years of its existence to researching, examining, presenting about, and making accessible the records which pertain to the history and genealogy of enslavement in Maryland,” Chris Haley, director of research, education and outreach at the archives, wrote in an email last week. “We will do no less.”

Individuals who want to serve on the commission can call or email Muse or McCaskill, who said people can also submit letters of interest to the Governor’s Appointment Office.

---