On Monday, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson announced a pilot project to include racial impact statements in the analysis of criminal justice bills for the Maryland legislature.
In addition to the regular fiscal analysis, the racial impact statements will be provided on the bills selected for the first phase of implementation this year. The Maryland General Assembly will work with Bowie State University and the University of Baltimore Schaefer Center to compile nonpartisan racial impact statements for major criminal justice reform legislation during the 2021 legislative session. These analyses will be made available to lawmakers and members of the public for consideration during policy debates.
This would mark Maryland as the fourth state in the country to conduct this type of legislative analysis, following Connecticut, Iowa and New Jersey (Florida, Minnesota and Oregon have conducted similar reviews on other bills).
Both Jones and Ferguson had been working closely with Delegate Jazz M. Lewis who, in 2019, had sponsored similar legislation that would require the Department of Legislative Services to work with the University of Maryland Lab for Applied Social Science Research to prepare racial impact statements on bills that would adjust offenses or penalties for crime. In a press release, Speaker Jones had this to say:
“There is finally a broader understanding across Maryland and the country of the existence of structural racism – but we have to have better and deeper information in order to reverse its impact. I am pleased that the Maryland General Assembly is leading in this area and I’m hopeful that it will lead to better decision making and policy decisions in the coming years. I want to thank Delegate Jazz Lewis for his tireless effort over the last several years to make this happen.”
