By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Members of the Maryland House advanced a congressional redistricting bill out of committee along party lines following a tense, hourslong hearing Jan. 27. The move sends the measure to the House floor as faith leaders and Democratic officials press Senate leaders to take up the issue.
The House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee voted 18–6, with one member excused, to advance House Bill (HB) 488 after more than five hours of testimony in Annapolis, Md.
The bill is expected to be fast-tracked through the House and sent to the Senate, where its future remains uncertain without support from Senate President William “Bill” Ferguson (D-Md.-46).
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) testified in support of the bill. He referred to the 47th president’s Republican push for redistricting throughout the country, as “political redlining,” claiming that they “are doing everything in their power to silence the voices and trying to eliminate Black leadership–elected leadership–all over this country.”
“I will not sit quiet,” he said. “The audacity of those who are telling me to do so shows that they have no understanding of the journey of so many who came before us.”
House Bill 488 has the backing of more than 45 House delegates and follows a recommendation issued last week by an advisory commission that proposed a new congressional map. If adopted, the map could eliminate Maryland’s lone Republican congressional seat.
There were a notable number of supporters of the bill during the Jan. 27 hearing, including Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy (D), and opposers. Testimony was delivered both in person and virtually, with several speakers participating remotely, in part due to a recent snowstorm. The hearing was chaired by Del. Anne Healey (D-Md.-22).
Republican state leaders criticized the pace of the hearing, arguing it limited opportunities for public input, while Senate leaders have expressed skepticism about the bill’s viability.
Republican committee members also questioned Moore and bill sponsor Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Md.-28), challenging the legitimacy of the redistricting plan. They argued that splitting the state’s 1st Congressional District, represented by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.-1), Maryland’s only Republican member of Congress, does not make sense and would do more harm than good.
House Bill 482, introduced by Republican House lawmakers, was heard after the redistricting bill aimed at eliminating midcycle congressional redistricting.
Maryland House Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel (R-Md.-1B) contends that congressional districts, like legislative districts, should consist of contiguous territory, be compact in form and reflect natural and political boundaries, as well as shared community interests.
“I cannot fathom any intelligent or logical reason why a set of rules applies to how we elect the members of our own legislature and General Assembly, but we [allow] for there to be basically no rules other than a mathematical calculation of population districts, for how we elect people to go and represent us a part of the great tapestry of the United States of America in Congress,” said Buckel.
The Republican-led bill did not get voted out of committee on Jan. 27. HB 488 is expected to be taken up next on the House floor on Jan. 29, where further discussions and voting is likely to take place.