Maryland Lawmakers Seek to Create Department Overseeing Social Equity Programs

As lawmakers in a handful of states move to eliminate DEI initiatives, Maryland legislators have introduced a bill that would ensure social equity programs remain part of the state’s government operations.

As Maryland Matters reported, House Bill 1253 passed the Maryland House on March 17, and was recently heard by the state’s Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee.

The bill would create a Cabinet-level department to oversee social equity programs in the state. The unit, which would be known as the Department of Social and Economic Mobility, would oversee three existing offices focused on social equity programming: the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Affairs (GOSBA); the Office of Social Equity in the Maryland Cannabis Administration; and the Office of Minority Business Enterprises in the state Department of Transportation.

As Maryland Matters’ William J. Ford noted, the new department would be responsible for proposing new approaches to social equity programs, monitoring national trends in social equity programs and policies, and adopting standards that promote social equity throughout various agencies and units within Maryland’s executive branch. The department would also support small and disadvantaged businesses within Maryland.

House Speaker Adrienne Jones, who first introduced the bill, provided testimony at the recent Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee hearing, where she touted the value of keeping social equity-related initiatives within state government.

“We know we are stronger when everyone has the same access to the same opportunities, and when everyone has a seat at the table,” Jones told the committee.

“We have programs that require minority and small business contracting. We support supplier diversity and state procurement,” she continued. “Unfortunately, right now, these programs are fractured across our state government. They’re isolated in different agencies and often work independently of each other.”