ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland General Assembly passed a flurry of bills earlier this year, with Gov. Wes Moore signing more than 90 bills into law by the end of the session. He signed more in the following weeks.
Then, with the budget set and cautious guardrails in place to mitigate the effects of federal job losses and concerns over federal funding, Moore vetoed 14 bills last week that the assembly passed before adjourning in April. The General Assembly will reconvene in January 2026.
The Maryland General Assembly only meets for 90 days at the beginning of each year. It’s a fast-tracked system that requires representatives to work around the clock with advocates, special interest groups, and the governor’s office.
This year’s General Assembly was focused on budget issues, hoping to help Maryland weather an unsure future against the Trump administration’s budget and tax cuts. Moore’s vetoes were aimed at pilot programs, studies, cost-planning measures, and anything nonessential. He cited budget concerns in eight veto letters, not counting line-item vetoes to the budget bill. You can see the full list of vetoes and read the letters here.
While these cuts may help Maryland save money in the short term, advocates say that cutting Marylanders off from assessing the future of public safety, environmental policies, how AI can shape evidence, and more will create problems we’ll spend more money fixing in the future.
Southern Marylanders are most likely to be affected by budget cuts rather than vetoes on new programs or studies. Though the southern counties all have strong economic markers and above-average household incomes, the reliance on the Department of Defense and federal contract work has raised alarm bells for many.
The most likely consequence for Southern Maryland is the veto addressing Senate Bill 149/House Bill 128 (also known as the RENEW Act), which would have tasked the comptroller with determining the cost of greenhouse gas emissions and proposing appropriate penalties for fossil fuel companies. Delaying this study could set Maryland back years in transitioning to clean energy, a growing sector that has the potential to bring jobs to Southern Maryland.
For example, wind turbine technician is one of the fastest-growing jobs in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Without planning and research, residents won’t have the necessary information to encourage business development in new energy or train people for those jobs.
Another bill that may have served Maryland’s long-term needs, House Bill 56/Senate Bill 177, met the fate of Moore’s veto. HB 56/SB 177 would have required state departments to partner and create systems to source school food from local providers when funds were available. Advocates argue that the bill would streamline processes and increase Maryland’s self-reliance. Moore vetoed this as nonessential at this time.
“In a time of profound uncertainty, we must use our limited funds to prioritize policies that protect our people from the ravages of Washington; anything that fails that high bar must wait for another time,” Moore wrote in the combo veto letter, which included vetoing legislation for the Healthcare Ecosystem Stakeholder Cybersecurity Workgroup and the Maryland Disability Service Animal Program – Established.
Moore’s concerns aren’t unfounded. The proposed federal House bill increases the national deficit by $3 trillion, and Marylanders have faced federal job losses as well as cuts to jobs at universities and more. Eliminating federal grants has left local police departments, schools, food banks and more scrambling.
Moore long positioned himself as a reformist, but in the face of a “daily barrage from Washington,” is focused on today’s balance sheet instead.
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“It’s a fast-tracked system that requires representatives to work around the clock with advocates, special interest groups, and the governor’s office.”
Anybody notice that it doesn’t mention Maryland citizens or constituents?
Dear who ever thinks that Senate Bill 149/House Bill 128 is going to be detrimental to southern Maryland and its residents, you are delusional. There are soooooooo many more things that the government of this state is signing or vetoing that is more detrimental.
most bills should be vetoed, the Governor doesn’t have enough time to go through them all. The period should last until the end of the year, the time to veto, not until June\ July. Whats the rush?