Redistricting will not be taken up during December special session

Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Pro Tem Dana Stein announced Thursday that redistricting will not be taken up during the upcoming special legislative session.

On Tuesday, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, announced that the Maryland General Assembly would convene a rare, special legislative session on Dec. 16 to elect the next speaker of the House of Delegates after Speaker emeritus Adrienne Jones, D-Baltimore County, resigned last week.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Emily Shetty, D-Montgomery, scheduled a caucus meeting for the 16th at 10 a.m. to nominate Jones’ successor. It has become increasingly likely that the House Health and Government Operations Committee Chair Joseline Peña-Melnyk, D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s, will be the nominee.

Questions have swirled regarding what other business will be taken up when the legislature gavels in at noon on the 16th — particularly as it pertains to redistricting.

In November, Moore convened the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission to determine if Marylanders are interested in joining the several states that have pondered or actively participated in midcycle redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

After he declared a special legislative session Tuesday, a spokesman from Moore’s office told The Daily Record that redistricting would not be taken up next week. Thursday’s joint statement from Stein and Ferguson confirms that.

The next public meeting of the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission is set for Friday at 4 p.m.

Beyond the election of the new speaker, the Maryland General Assembly is constitutionally required to reconsider bills vetoed by the governor during their next convention. During the special session next week, both chambers will likely override Moore’s vetoes. 

Moore, who in previous years rejected a scant amount of bills, vetoed 29 bills, including legislation to establish the Maryland Reparations Commission.

A priority for the Legislative Black Caucus in 2025, the Reparations Commission would initiate a two-year study to determine if Marylanders whose families were impacted by slavery or unjust government policies should receive reparations.

The bill passed both chambers with an overwhelming Democratic majority.