Posted on 04/01/25
| News Source: FOX45
Annapolis, MD - Arpil 1, 2025 - A Maryland bill proposing the establishment of a commission to study reparations, including financial restitution, is expected to clear its final hurdle in the House of Delegates with only days remaining in the 2025 legislative session.
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, R-Carroll and Frederick Counties, told Spotlight on Maryland he is confused as to why this bill is being advanced as the state faces a historic $3.3 billion deficit, which is forecasted to balloon to $6.7 billion by fiscal year 2028.
“We don’t have the money right now to be exploring these options, period,” Sen. Ready said. “[T]he issue of reparations, I’m sure elicits strong opinions, but the fact is it’s just something that’s not financially feasible, whether you think it’s a good idea or not.”
The reparations bill, a legislative priority announced at the beginning of the session by the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, passed the Senate before Crossover Day in mid-March. Crossover Day marks the unofficial deadline for legislative leaders in the Maryland General Assembly to move bills to the opposing chamber they intend to send to the governor for final approval.
I question whether using taxpayer money would ever be appropriate in this context,” Sen. Ready said. “Even going back to when reparations were paid to survivors of the Holocaust, they went after companies that were involved. Not after taxpayers.”
Similar reparations commissions have been established by state assemblies in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois. In 2024, the California Reparations Task Force released a report exceeding 11,000 pages that detailed its findings after a two-year study. The report called on the state to issue a formal apology for racial injustices, including slavery, and to provide financial payouts.
The California report recommended a financial restitution formula that would provide eligible recipients with up to $1.2 million each. State lawmakers have not yet taken a formal vote to authorize the first payments.
According to an NAACP report on the subject, reparations have been discussed since the 1960s. Following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis in 2020, reparations reemerged as a national topic.
Meanwhile, shortly after the proposal to establish the Maryland Reparations Commission was introduced in the state assembly in mid-January, Spotlight on Maryland asked Gov. Moore whether he supported the initiative.
“Nah, we are going to work with the Maryland General Assembly on a whole collection of different issues,” Gov. Moore said. “Our focus is economic advancement; our focus is economic growth. It’s making sure we can really meet people where they are, make life more affordable. That we are modernizing of state government.”
Without a clear answer, Spotlight on Maryland attempted to pose the same questions to Gov. Moore during his visit to celebrate the Baltimore Orioles’ home opener on Monday afternoon at Pickles Pub outside Camden Yards.
When Gov. Moore entered the room and began shaking hands with patrons behind the bar, he was met with over a dozen individuals booing his arrival. Others in the bar turned around to take selfies with the governor.
As he took his place behind the bar, a man shouted to the governor, “Lower my taxes.” The individual told Spotlight on Maryland that he wished to remain unidentified.
I’m on it,” Gov. Moore told the man. “You’re getting a tax cut this year. You got my word.”
While the governor received a mixed reception, Spotlight on Maryland stayed for the 20 minutes he shook mixed drinks and poured beer for the bar’s patrons. Despite several attempts to speak with him, the governor did not respond to our requests before being escorted away through the establishment's kitchen.
Spotlight on Maryland sent the governor’s office several questions following his appearance at Camden Yards, including:
Gov. Moore’s spokesperson, Carter Elliott, did not provide a direct response to the submitted questions but wrote the following:
“Gov. Moore has previously announced an additional $500 million in targeted cuts – on top of the cuts the administration has already proposed. An agreement which means 94% of Marylanders will either get a tax cut or see no change in their income taxes.
The governor looks forward to continuing to work with the state legislature, local leaders, and all partners involved to ensure that we are passing legislation that will make Maryland safer, more affordable, more competitive, and the state that serves.”
Billy White of Salisbury, Md., who was at the bar during Gov. Moore’s visit, was asked by Spotlight on Maryland whether the governor should sign the reparations bill if it reaches his desk.
I don’t know the full reference of the bill itself,” White said. “I think the governor is more worried about being popular in a popularity context with other people around the country and trying to do something with the White House than the people of the state of Maryland.”
Sen. Ready told Spotlight on Maryland that this bill could be detrimental to the growing national attention Governor Moore has garnered over the past year.
“I don’t think Gov. Moore would want this on his desk because I think it is a distraction to trying to get real problems solved,” Sen. Ready said. “[T]here may be some people it motivates, in some way, but a lot of those are kind of on the fringes.”
According to the fiscal note for the reparations act prepared by the nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services, the proposed commission is anticipated to initially cost Maryland taxpayers $54,500 annually. If the law is enacted in its current form, the commission must present its preliminary report by January 1, 2027, and a final report of its findings by November 1, 2027.
The bill garnered a favorable vote in its assigned House committee on Friday. The proposal is expected to be voted on in the House before the session adjourns on April 7.