Dear Friend,
Today, during the special session, the Maryland General Assembly did the right thing.
Lawmakers overrode the Governor’s vetoes of both the RENEW Act and the Reparations Study Bill, delivering two major victories for justice, accountability, and the people of Maryland.
These wins are the result of months of organizing, advocacy, calls, emails, testimony, and pressure from Progressive Maryland members and our allies across the state. You showed up during the legislative session, took action when it mattered most, and refused to let critical progress be rolled back.
By overriding the veto of the RENEW Act, Maryland is taking an essential step toward holding polluters accountable and finally calculating the real costs that climate disasters — floods, extreme heat, and environmental damage — are imposing on our families, schools, and communities. This bill lays the groundwork for climate justice and for making the biggest polluters pay their fair share.
And by overriding the veto of the Reparations Study Bill, legislators affirmed that Maryland is serious about confronting the historic and ongoing harms of systemic racism. This legislation allows the state to build a concrete, informed roadmap toward reparations — a necessary step toward true racial and economic justice for Black communities across Maryland.
We are proud of our members and coalition allies who worked tirelessly throughout this legislative session and beyond. Your organizing ensured that these important bills didn’t end at a veto, but instead became law.
Today’s victories remind us of what’s possible when people power meets persistence.
This is the kind of work we do — and it’s the kind of impact people-powered organizing makes possible. If you’re able, please consider contributing today to help us continue winning real change for communities across Maryland.