Maryland Legislators Forge Ahead With Slavery Reparations Push After Overriding Governor’s Veto

Maryland lawmakers are trying to advance a plan to study making payments to residents with ancestors who were slaves by trying to wrest control of the makeup of a reparations commission from the governor.The move to expand and change the appointments comes after lawmakers overrode Governor Wes Moore’s veto of a bill to set up the commission in the first place.The reparations bill was a priority for the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, but lawmakers were surprised when Mr. Moore — the lone black governor in the country — vetoed the legislation last May.“Because while I appreciate the work that went into this legislation, I strongly believe now is not the time for another study,” Mr. Moore said at the time. “Now is the time for continued action that delivers results for the people we serve.”The black caucus was outraged over the veto. “At a time when the White House and Congress are actively targeting Black communities, dismantling diversity initiatives, and using harmful coded language, Governor Moore had a chance to show the country and the world that here in Maryland we boldly and courageously recognize our painful history and the urgent need to address it,” the caucus said in a statement.Lawmakers overrode that veto in December, but the commission has yet to be formed. On Thursday afternoon, a Senate committee is scheduled to take up a related bill that would expand the number of members on commission and give more of the appointments to legislative leaders. The move would give lawmakers more appointments than the governor and blunt his influence over the panel.The committee’s directive will be to “study and make recommendations relating to appropriate benefits to be offered to individuals impacted by historical inequality.” One goal is to research how many residents of the state have ancestors who were slaves and then recommend reparations for them.Applicants would have to provide evidence they are descended from slaves but the legislation does not stipulate what evidence is required. The legislation also suggests cash payoffs but the amounts of payouts wouldn’t be determined until a later date.Where the money for those payments would come from is still a mystery. The legislation does not name a funding source.The new bill would change the due date of a preliminary report of its finding from January 1, 2027 to September 1, 2028 and push the deadline for a final report to the General Assembly to December 1, 2028.Delegate Aletheia McCaskill, who worked to pass the initial legislation, says Maryland residents who have been waiting for the commission to start work need to be patient. “It’s been a long time coming. Take deep breaths,” Ms. McCaskill told the news outlet Maryland Matters. “Hang in there with us because we have a lot of work to do.”California and New York have similar reparations commissions. The Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois became the first locality to run a reparations program, but the road has been rocky. The six-year-old program has not received as much funding as expected from a 3 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana sales in the city of 75,000. The program had to suspend making payments last year due to a lack of funding but new payments are expected to take place this year.The Evanston reparations program is also being sued because only black residents were allowed to apply. The conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch filed the suit on behalf of six residents claiming the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because of the city’s use of race as an eligibility requirement to seek payments.

Maryland Legislators Forge Ahead With Slavery Reparations Push After Overriding Governor’s Veto

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