Maryland lawmakers will return to Annapolis in a month as part of a special session related to midcycle congressional redistricting.
The legislature is set to return Aug. 3-5 to consider legislation that would clarify how congressional districts can be drawn — a reaction to a 2022 court decision that resulted in the current maps in which the Democratic Party holds seven of the state’s eight districts. The special session was announced by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk Tuesday in a joint statement.
House and Senate Republicans were quick to follow with statements rebuking the decision to call lawmakers back to Annapolis.
The announcement represents a reversal — in part — for Ferguson. The Senate leader had previously opposed midcycle congressional redistricting. He bottled up a bill passed in February by the House.
But in May, he said a Supreme Court ruling on the landmark Voting Rights Act and elections in Indiana in which President Donald Trump successfully turned out Republican state senators who blocked redistricting there, warranted a new look at the issue in Maryland, and the potential for a special session.
“After recent court decisions weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and created new uncertainty around congressional redistricting, Maryland needs a clear legal path forward,” Ferguson said in a statement. “This special session will allow the General Assembly to do its part while ensuring that Maryland voters make the final decision.”
The House of Delegates had joined Gov. Wes Moore (D) earlier this year to push for a Maryland response to hyperpartisan congressional redistricting undertaken by Texas and other Republican states at Trump’s urging, in an effort to stave off potential midterm losses and the possibility that Democrats could retake control of the House of Representatives.
“Consensus on this issue has been clear in the House. Maryland needs a durable, transparent constitutional framework for congressional redistricting that reflects the evolving legal landscape,” Peña-Melnyk said in Tuesday’s joint statement. “This special session gives the General Assembly the opportunity to respond thoughtfully to recent court decisions while ensuring that Maryland voters have the final say on any proposed constitutional changes.”
The announcement came hours after Moore told reporters in Glen Burnie that an announcement on such a session was imminent.
“For months, I have said that inaction is not an option and we cannot sit on the sidelines while voting rights, fair representation, and the foundations of our democracy come under attack across the country,” Moore said in a statement released after the announcement from the legislative leaders. “I appreciate the General Assembly’s continued conversations and the agreement to come back to finish the work.”
What comes out of the session is likely to be less than what Moore and House Democrats hoped for.
Moore, during a May swing through Western Maryland, told Maryland Matters he wanted Ferguson to include legislation creating new congressional maps if a special session was called.
In Glen Burnie, Moore seemed less adamant about new maps.
“I’m want to make sure that we’re going to see progress, and I’m excited about the progress that we’re seeing now,” Moore said when asked Tuesday if he continued to hold out hope for a new map.
Republicans in the House and Senate are less enthusiastic about coming back to Annapolis for a session on congressional redistricting legislation.
“Governor Moore is dragging lawmakers back to Annapolis in the middle of summer to rewrite the state constitution and silence the last dissenting voice in Maryland’s congressional delegation,” said a statement from Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore). “This has nothing to do with Maryland’s future and everything to do with his own.
“Marylanders are watching their bills go up and their options go down, and his response is to spend political capital on a Washington power play,” Hershey said. “That is not leadership. That is an abdication of it.”
It is unlikely lawmakers will take up new maps, which could not be enacted for the current election cycle.
Instead, it is likely that legislation — which has not been made public — will be limited to setting standards for new maps. Such a change to the Maryland Constitution would undo a 2022 court ruling that said congressional districts in Maryland must be compact, contiguous and mindful of jurisdictional and natural boundaries.
That ruling by Judge Lynne A. Battaglia struck down a congressional map using a novel interpretation of standard that had once only applied to state legislative districts. The decision resulted in a hastily drawn compromise map — the current map, which favors Democrats in seven of eight districts.
The ruling was not considered precedent-setting. However, Ferguson and some others worried the Maryland Supreme Court, stacked with appointments made by Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, might look favorably on Battaglia’s interpretation.
Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Howard and Anne Arundel), an early proponent of midcycle redistricting in Maryland called the special session “an important first step to address the outstanding legal concerns that have been cited as the main reason to have precluded us from redistricting earlier this year.”
“While I still believe the Battaglia ruling was a judicial overreach, this constitutional amendment is necessary to protect our ability to redraw congressional boundaries in both mid-cycle redistricting and regular decennial redistricting after the census without the courts overturning future maps on a questionable interpretation of Maryland’s constitution,” Lam said. He said the special session is “simply putting the Battaglia decision before the voters and letting them decide whether that interpretation was wrong or not.”
Republicans complained about overreach by a Democratic supermajority. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a roughly 2-1 margin in Maryland and account for a little more than half of all voters in the state, with the other half split between GOP and unaffiliated voters.
“When you don’t like the rules, you change them. That’s the Maryland Democratic playbook,” said Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) in a prepared statement. “They already hold seven of eight congressional seats. One Republican Congressman represents hundreds of thousands of Marylanders who deserve a voice in Washington.
“This special session is designed to erase that voice and hand national Democrats another seat in the U.S. House. It has nothing to do with governing Maryland and everything to do with Governor Moore’s national ambitions,” Ready’s statement said.
House Republicans also criticized Moore and legislative leaders for failing to focus on kitchen table issues including affordability.
“I think it is very telling, as Marylanders struggle to pay their skyrocketing energy bills, higher taxes, and higher fees – all foisted upon them by the failed policies of the Democratic majority, that same Democratic majority is calling a Special Session not to help Marylanders, but to play another round of national political games,” said House Minority Leader Del. Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). “It is abundantly clear where their priorities lie, and, unfortunately, it is not with the citizens of Maryland.”
Democratic legislative leaders are expected to limit the session to redistricting. Even so, lawmakers can introduce bills on other topics. Typically, those bills get exiled to a rules committee without hope of a hearing or a vote.
Even so, Republicans signaled their desire to make good on promises to propose legislation to enact a 30-day gas tax holiday and end annual automatic increases to the gas tax tied to the rate of inflation.
“Our members remain committed to fighting against partisan gerrymandering and to fighting for affordability for Maryland’s families,” Buckel said in a statement. “Our citizens deserve more from their leaders than these political games.”