Gov. Moore and lawmakers earn a solid ‘B’ on their 90-day report card
In his first three months in office Gov. Wes Moore has demonstrated an uncommon skill at communicating with his audience, building coalitions and navigating the complexities of state government — especially for a first-time elected officeholder. He’s also shown himself to be something of an optimist.
Example A: His self-assessment, published on these pages, that the recently concluded Maryland General Assembly session proved one of the most productive for “any Maryland governor at any time.” Sorry, but we’re going to have to throw a flag on that one. While there have been some notable victories for the governor in 2023, it’s hard to compare his ambitions, let alone his results, to years when his predecessors were authorizing new sports stadiums, revising tax law, reforming K-12 public education or launching a raft of environmental initiatives aimed at saving the Chesapeake Bay. And that’s just over the past 40 years.
A more accurate assessment? A solid “B” to him and the Democratic majorities in the House of Delegates and Senate. Gov. Moore, a former Rhodes scholar, may chafe at a lessthan-perfect grade, but under the circumstances it’s actually quite an accomplishment for the first year of a four-year term.
Years 2 and 3 are traditionally the most productive of any term in the State House, and unless the economy truly hits the skids or another disaster strikes, this is likely to be the pattern again. Organizing a new government after the departure of a two-term Republican governor, an uncommon event in Maryland, is a big lift all by itself.
And lawmakers too had some adjustments to make. Their new governor showed up at more bill hearings in the first eight weeks of the 90-day session than Larry Hogan, who wore his disdain for state legislators on his sleeve, did in eight years. What happened to all those post-session veto announcements? Oh, right, the recalcitrant GOP has left the second floor.
The big wins of the session included:
An extra $900 million set aside to help pay for K-12 public education reforms;
Figuring out how the voter-approved recreational cannabis industry will be regulated;
Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour ahead of schedule; Approving restrictions on where guns can be carried in this state in wake of the Supreme Court’s “Bruen” decision that struck down Maryland’s restrictions on handgun-carry permits;
Protecting women’s reproductive rights, including enshrining the right to abortion and birth control in the state constitution, a move that will require voter ratification next year; and
Expanding the right of child sexual abuse victims to sue those responsible for their injury (a measure perfectly timed with the release of an extensively researched and deeply disturbing state attorney general’s report on decades of abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore).
Add to that boosted mental health care, boosted wind energy, abolishment of the troubled Maryland 529 college savings board and the creation of a new commission to oversee state transit spending in the Baltimore region (well, to “review and comment” anyway), and that’s not bad.
On the other side of the ledger, a majority of lawmakers: 1. Failed to approve an automatic cost-of-living adjustment in the state minimum wage;
2. Chose not to kill the BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) program that pays for K-12 private school scholarships, as the governor rightly wanted; 3. Found themselves at odds with the governor over appointments more often than is common with members of the same political party; and
4. Reduced a proposed broadband expansion to a study of how best to accomplish that goal and did not approve much-needed reforms to the EmPOWER energy efficiency program.
There are other examples, but one gets the drift — it’s one thing to promise to end childhood poverty or restore the
Red Line in Baltimore; it’s another to see only modest steps, whether through tax credits or set asides, taken toward those ends.
If it’s any comfort, the governor and legislative leaders can also put this down as an “incomplete.” There’s still plenty of time for grander ambitions — if the Democrats now fully in charge intend to live up to their promises.