Title
A RESOLUTION CONCERNING COMMISSION ON REPARATIONS for the purpose of highlighting the County Council’s encouragement and strong support for the creation of a commission on providing reparations to African American descendants of those previously enslaved in this State; appealing to the General Assembly to create the Maryland Representations Commission in remembrance of Harriet Tubman; and to have the General Assembly establish the Maryland Representations Commission during the 2024 legislative session.
Background
The State of Maryland formally expressed its apology for its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade through a House of Delegates joint resolution in 2007 (HJ 4). Subsequent to the adoption of the House of Delegates joint resolution members of the House of Delegates in 2020 introduced the Maryland Reparations Commission - Establishment (Harriet Tubman Community Investment Act) bill, which did not make it out of committee. The same bill was introduced in 2021, 2022, and 2023 legislative sessions only to see the bill remain in committee in each consecutive legislative year. Pursuant to Section 302, Article III of the Prince George's County Charter the County Council has "[a]ll legislative powers which may be exercised by Prince George's County under the Constitution and laws of Maryland, including all law making powers heretofore exercised by the General Assembly of Maryland but transferred to the people of the County by virtue of the adoption of this Charter, shall be vested in the Council."