Will Moore be first governor in more than a century to not veto a bill?

As Gov. Wes Moore gears up for what is scheduled to be his penultimate bill signing ceremony Friday following the end of his first legislative session in office, it remains a question whether he will become the first Maryland governor in more than 100 years to not veto a single bill.

There has been a veto issued at every session since at least 1914, according to the Maryland State Archives.

Moore has not said publicly whether he plans to exercise his veto power, though he has until May 30 to do so. Any measure that he does not sign or veto by that date will become law.

“The governor is conducting a thorough and deliberate review of all bills and will act in the best interest of all Marylanders,” Moore spokesman Carter Elliott said in a phone interview.

Carter declined to say whether Moore plans to veto any bills.

Previous governors have issued vetoes in the second half of May, even days before the May 30 deadline.

The governor’s veto power was added to the state constitution in 1867. Every governor elected under that constitution has vetoed a bill, beginning with Oden Bowie in 1870, according to the Maryland State Archives.

Bowie’s initial veto in March 1870 was believed to be the first in state history.

Following his first session in office in 2015, then-Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, vetoed 197 bills.

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, used his veto power on 146 bills following his first session in 2007.

Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich vetoed 153 bills after his first session in 2003 and Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening vetoed 137 bills after his first session in 1995.

On the last day of his first legislative session, with Democratic supermajorities in both chambers, Moore claimed sweeping success in what he said was “the most successful session for a governor, period.”

The session could mark a historic success for state lawmakers if all 810 bills they passed are enacted without the added hurdle of having to override a gubernatorial veto — something legislators did most years during the two terms that Hogan was in office.

There were few points of friction between Moore and state legislative leaders during the 90-day session that ended in early April.

Moore has maintained a message of bipartisanship, repeatedly pointing out that his administration’s 10 bills — which included raising the minimum wage to $15 one year early and expanding tax credits for low-income families — passed in the General Assembly with support from both parties.

On Friday, Moore, a former U.S. Army captain who led paratroopers in combat in Afghanistan, is scheduled to sign six measures to benefit active and retired military service members and their families.

Most of the bills Moore is expected to sign have a Senate version and a House of Delegates version, so he will be signing 10 total pieces of legislation.

One measure — the Keep Our Heroes Home Act — will expand the amount of military retirement income exempt from state taxes.

Moore initially sought to exempt the first $25,000 of military retirement income and then increase the amount to $40,000 after 2023.

Lawmakers watered down the proposal, exempting the first $12,500 for those younger than 55 and the first $20,000 for those 55 and older.

Moore is also scheduled to sign off on providing health care reimbursements to National Guard members and requiring the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs to bury a veteran’s spouse or dependent in a state veterans’ cemetery free of charge, among other bills.

Moore has signed about three-quarters of the bills lawmakers passed in the last legislative session. He’s yet to act on gun-control measures passed after the Supreme Court loosened concealed carry restrictions in its New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, though he said he intends to sign them.

Moore’s final bill signing ceremony following the 2023 session is scheduled for Tuesday.