Commission to study reparations in Maryland approved in General Assembly’s veto override

Maryland’s Democrat-led General Assembly has authorized a commission to study providing reparations for slavery, overriding Gov. Wes Moore’s veto of the proposal during Tuesday’s special session.

The new law will establish a 23-member volunteer commission to consider monetary compensation, social service assistance and statements of apology as ways to redress historic wrongs.

“Let’s be clear: Slavery may have ended 150 years ago, but segregation, redlining, discrimination stretched well into our own lifetime,” state Sen. Charles Sydnor III, Baltimore County Democrat, said in his floor speech. “The laboring effects are real, and we cannot prepare [for] what we refuse to acknowledge. The commission is not about blaming individuals. It’s about fixing systems.”

Lawmakers overrode the veto about eight months after Mr. Moore, a Democrat and the nation’s only Black governor, had stunned his party colleagues by rejecting the bill in May.

The governor had said that “now is not the time for another study.” He reaffirmed his desire for “action” after Tuesday’s vote to override his veto.

Mr. Moore said particular attention needs to be paid to the Marylanders affected by the Trump administration’s downsizing of the federal government, especially state residents from “communities that have been historically left behind.”

The governor also struck a cooperative tone after the override vote succeeded by a three-fifths margin in the House of Delegates and the state Senate.

“I am eager to move forward in partnership on the work of repair that we all agree is an urgent and pressing need,” Mr. Moore said.

Rep. Matt Morgan, St. Mary’s County Republican, criticized the reparations commission for being state-supported favoritism toward Black Marylanders.

“Let’s clarify what the Civil Rights movement aimed for. It was a promise to future generations that our government would never again prioritize one race over another. This bill undermines the unifying purpose of the Civil Rights movement,” Mr. Morgan posted on X.

Specific potential reparations listed in the bill include property tax rebates, help with making a down payment on a home, tuition payment waivers for higher education, licensing and permit fee waivers and debt forgiveness.

The commission, which will be made up of lawmakers, historians, business leaders and members of the NAACP, will look at discriminatory government policies that existed between 1877 to 1965 and hindered Black Americans.

The commission will need to submit a preliminary report of its recommendations by January 2027 and a final report by November of that year.