Legislative · State · MD
Maryland Bill to Revise Reparations Commission Withdrawn by Sponsor
- Direction
- +0 — points in neither direction
- Force
- 1.00 — enacted, vetoed, or final
- Status
- Decided
- Date
- 2026-03-16
Why this rating
The bill would have altered the structure, duties, and reporting obligations of Maryland's existing lineage-based Reparations Commission, a body specifically tasked with addressing harms to Black Marylanders descended from enslaved persons. However, the source material does not specify whether the proposed 'revisions' would have expanded, narrowed, or merely administratively adjusted the Commission's mandate, membership composition, or reporting/sunset timelines — the mechanism of effect on freedmen specifically cannot be determined from what is provided, so direction is marked genuinely ambiguous (0) rather than guessed. On force, the bill is not merely stalled: it was affirmatively withdrawn by its sponsor after two hearings were canceled, a completed legislative action with no further path forward this session, warranting the maximum force value (1.00) even though its content-level direction remains unclear.
Summary
SB476, introduced in the Maryland Senate for the 2026 Regular Session, proposed to alter the membership, duties, and reporting requirements of the existing Maryland Reparations Commission. The bill was referred to the Education, Energy, and the Environment committee, had two scheduled hearings canceled, and was ultimately withdrawn by its sponsor, Sen. Anthony Muse, on March 16, 2026.
The available material describes only the general subject of the revisions (membership, duties, reporting requirements, sunset provisions) without specifying whether the changes would have strengthened or weakened the Commission's mandate, funding, or authority. No hearing was ever held on the substance of the bill before it was withdrawn.
Sources
- State Government – Maryland Reparations Commission – Revisions — bill text · primary · legiscan
Rated under the published impact rubric. Direction records what a measure would do if fully effective; force records how far it has actually travelled. Neither is inferred — both trace to the sources above. Think something here is wrong? Tell us and we will log the correction.