Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1422 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb1422
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1422
8	8	P1 5lr2817
9	9	CF SB 587
10	10	By: Delegates McCaskill, Acevero, Addison, Boyce, Charkoudian, Crutchfield,
11	11	Davis, Ebersole, Embry, Fair, Feldmark, Hill, A. Johnson, Kaiser, Kaufman,
12	12	Martinez, Mireku–North, Pasteur, Patterson, Phillips, Roberson, Ruff,
13	13	Ruth, Simmons, Smith, Taylor, Toles, Wells, White Holland, Wilkins, Woods,
14	14	and Young
15	15	Introduced and read first time: February 7, 2025
16	16	Assigned to: Health and Government Operations
17	17
18	18	A BILL ENTITLED
19	19
20	20	AN ACT concerning 1
21	21
22	22	State Government – Maryland Reparations Commission 2
23	23
24	24	FOR the purpose of establishing the Maryland Reparations Commission to study and make 3
25	25	recommendations relating to appropriate benefits to be offered to individuals whose 4
26	26	ancestors were enslaved in the State or were impacted by certain inequitable 5
27	27	government policies; and generally relating to the Maryland Reparations 6
28	28	Commission. 7
29	29
30	30	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 8
31	31	That: 9
32	32
33	33	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 10
34	34
35	35	(2) “Commission” means the Maryland Reparations Commission. 11
36	36
37	37	(3) “Individuals impacted by historical inequality” means: 12
38	38
39	39	(i) individuals having origins in any of the Black racial groups of 13
40	40	Africa; and 14
41	41
42	42	(ii) individuals whose ancestors were: 15
43	43
44	44	1. enslaved in the State; or 16
45	45
46	46	2. impacted by inequitable government policies. 17
47	47	2 HOUSE BILL 1422
48	48
49	49
50	50	(4) “Inequitable government policies” means federal, State, or local 1
51	51	government policies during the periods commonly known as the post–Reconstruction era 2
52	52	and the Jim Crow era, 1877 through 1965, that have led to economic disparities based on 3
53	53	race, including housing segregation and discrimination, redlining, restrictive covenants, 4
54	54	and tax policies. 5
55	55
56	56	(b) There is a Maryland Reparations Commission. 6
57	57
58	58	(c) The Commission consists of: 7
59	59
60	60	(1) two members of the Senate of Maryland, one of whom is a member of 8
61	61	the Legislative Black Caucus, appointed by the President of the Senate; 9
62	62
63	63	(2) two members of the House of Delegates, one of whom is a member of 10
64	64	the Legislative Black Caucus, appointed by the Speaker of the House; 11
65	65
66	66	(3) the Comptroller, or the Comptroller’s designee; 12
67	67
68	68	(4) the State Treasurer, or the Treasurer’s designee; 13
69	69
70	70	(5) the State Archivist, or the State Archivist’s designee; 14
71	71
72	72	(6) one member of the Maryland Center for History and Culture, 15
73	73	designated by the President of the Maryland Center for History and Culture; 16
74	74
75	75	(7) one member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 17
76	76	People, designated by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 18
77	77	Maryland State Conference President; 19
78	78
79	79	(8) two employees of historically Black colleges and universities in the 20
80	80	State who have expertise in the history of slavery, one of whom represents a private college 21
81	81	or university and one of whom represents a public college or university, designated by the 22
82	82	Maryland Legislative Black Caucus; 23
83	83
84	84	(9) a representative of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce, 24
85	85	designated by the President of the Maryland Black Chamber of Commerce; 25
86	86
87	87	(10) a representative of the Baltimore Chapter of the National Association 26
88	88	of Real Estate Brokers, designated by the Local Board President; 27
89	89
90	90	(11) a representative for the Association for the Study of African American 28
91	91	Life and History, designated by the President of the Association for the Study of African 29
92	92	American Life and History; 30
93	93
94	94	(12) a representative of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation 31
95	95	Commission, designated by the Chair of the Commission; and 32
96	96	HOUSE BILL 1422 3
97	97
98	98
99	99	(13) the following members appointed by the Governor: 1
100	100
101	101	(i) a mental health expert; 2
102	102
103	103	(ii) two historians, with expertise in researching the impacts of 3
104	104	enslavement and housing segregation; 4
105	105
106	106	(iii) a representative of a religious institution that serves a 5
107	107	community with a high minority population; 6
108	108
109	109	(iv) an attorney with expertise in civil rights law or constitutional 7
110	110	law; 8
111	111
112	112	(v) a representative of an African American financial institution; 9
113	113	and 10
114	114
115	115	(vi) two members of the general public. 11
116	116
117	117	(d) The Commission shall select from among its members a chair and a vice chair. 12
118	118
119	119	(e) A member of the Commission: 13
120	120
121	121	(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Commission; but 14
122	122
123	123	(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 15
124	124	Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 16
125	125
126	126	(f) The State Archives and the public college or university represented under 17
127	127	subsection (c)(8) of this section shall jointly provide staff for the Commission. 18
128	128
129	129	(g) (1) The Commission shall: 19
130	130
131	131	(i) study and make recommendations relating to appropriate 20
132	132	benefits to be offered to individuals impacted by historical inequality; 21
133	133
134	134	(ii) on or before January 1, 2027, submit a preliminary report of its 22
135	135	findings and recommendations to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 23
136	136	State Government Article, the General Assembly; and 24
137	137
138	138	(iii) on or before November 1, 2027, submit a final report of its 25
139	139	findings and recommendations to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the 26
140	140	State Government Article, the General Assembly. 27
141	141
142	142	(2) In conducting the study required under paragraph (1) of this 28
143	143	subsection, the Commission shall examine: 29
144	144	4 HOUSE BILL 1422
145	145
146	146
147	147	(i) reparations payments made and benefits offered in the United 1
148	148	States by the federal government, states, cities, religious institutions, and colleges and 2
149	149	universities; 3
150	150
151	151	(ii) types of benefits appropriate for reparations, including official 4
152	152	statements of apology, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, social service 5
153	153	assistance, licensing and permit fee waivers and reimbursement, down payment assistance 6
154	154	for the purchase of residential real property, business incentives, child care, debt 7
155	155	forgiveness, and higher education tuition payment waivers and reimbursement; 8
156	156
157	157	(iii) the history of slavery in Maryland and the number of individuals 9
158	158	whose ancestors were enslaved in the State; 10
159	159
160	160	(iv) inequitable government policies, the size of the impacted 11
161	161	populations, and how public and private institutions benefited from these policies; and 12
162	162
163	163	(v) any other topic deemed appropriate by the Commission. 13
164	164
165	165	(3) Recommendations made by the Commission under paragraph (1) of this 14
166	166	subsection shall include: 15
167	167
168	168	(i) common procedures for evaluating evidence of the lineage of 16
169	169	potential recipients; 17
170	170
171	171	(ii) information necessary to be included in any application to verify 18
172	172	lineage and receive reparations; 19
173	173
174	174	(iii) eligibility requirements for applicants, if any, including 20
175	175	appropriate methods of demonstrating eligibility; 21
176	176
177	177	(iv) a process for approving applications for benefits; 22
178	178
179	179	(v) an estimate of the costs associated with awarding any type of 23
180	180	reparations recommended by the Commission; and 24
181	181
182	182	(vi) if monetary compensation is a type of reparation recommended 25
183	183	by the Commission: 26
184	184
185	185	1. the amount of monetary compensation recommended and 27
186	186	method of calculating the amount, including, as appropriate: 28
187	187
188	188	A. the length and conditions of the enslavement of the 29
189	189	individual or individuals from whom the applicant is descended; or 30
190	190
191	191	B. the level and impact of the economic disparity suffered; 31
192	192	HOUSE BILL 1422 5
193	193
194	194
195	195	2. potential sources of funding, including fees paid by private 1
196	196	businesses and organizations in the State that have benefited from the institution of 2
197	197	slavery or inequitable government policies; 3
198	198
199	199	3. the feasibility of creating and administering a reparations 4
200	200	fund; and 5
201	201
202	202	4. appropriate methods for distributing the recommended 6
203	203	compensation, including the use of fiscal agents, business incubators, community 7
204	204	development corporations, credit unions, or other community institutions. 8
205	205
206	206	(h) (1) The Commission may seek the assistance of State agencies in 9
207	207	conducting the study or making recommendations under this section. 10
208	208
209	209	(2) To the extent authorized by law, State agencies shall assist the 11
210	210	Commission in a request made under this subsection. 12
211	211
212	212	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 13
213	213	1, 2025. It shall remain effective for a period of 3 years and, at the end of June 30, 2028, 14
214	214	this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and 15
215	215	of no further force and effect. 16