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2021 Maryland legislative session

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2021 Maryland legislative session
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General information
Session start:    January 13, 2021

Session end:    April 12, 2021

Leadership
Senate President
William Ferguson IV (D)

House Speaker
Adrienne Jones (D)
Majority Leader
Senate: Nancy King (D)
House: Eric Luedtke (D)
Minority Leader
Senate: Bryan Simonaire (R)
House: Nicholaus Kipke (R)

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 6, 2018

Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions


In 2021, the Maryland State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 13 and adjourn on April 12.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2018 elections. Democrats won a 32-15 majority in the Senate and a 99-42 majority in the House. The Republican Party controlled the governorship, making Maryland one of 12 states that has a divided government, meaning neither party had state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Maryland was one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

The Maryland State Legislature is responsible for redistricting following each census. Legislators were expected to address redistricting as part of the 2021 legislative session. As of the 2020 Census, Maryland was one of 37 states where legislators were responsible for redistricting.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the Maryland state House and state Senate.
  • Maryland was one of 12 states that has a divided government.
  • Maryland governor was Republican Larry Hogan.

    • Leadership in 2021

    Maryland State Senate

    Maryland House of Representatives

    Partisan control in 2021

    See also: State government trifectas

    Maryland was one of 14 states with a divided government where neither party had state government trifectas at the start of 2021 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Maryland was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Maryland State Legislature in the 2021 legislative session.

    Maryland State Senate

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 32
         Republican Party 15
    Total 47

    Maryland House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 99
         Republican Party 42
    Total 141

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Redistricting

    See also: Redistricting in Maryland after the 2020 census

    Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.

    To learn more about the redistricting process in Maryland after the 2020 census, click here.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Maryland state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, there were 32 standing committees in Maryland state government, including 19 joint legislative committees, 6 state Senate committees, and 7 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Senate committees

    House committees

    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Maryland Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Maryland

    Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution defines two ways to amend the state constitution—through a legislative process and a state constitutional convention.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the Maryland State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 85 votes in the Maryland House of Delegates and 29 votes in the Maryland State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 2 of Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1970. Maryland is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Maryland 20 years 2010 2030


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Maryland.

    Maryland Party Control: 1992-2025
    Twenty-two years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D
    Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

    Historical Senate control

    From 1990 to 2018, the Maryland State Senate was controlled by the Democratic Party. The table below shows the partisan history of the Maryland State Senate following every general election from 1990 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Maryland State Senate election results: 1990-2018

    Year '90 '94 '98 '02 '06 '10 '14 '18
    Democrats 40 32 32 33 33 35 33 32
    Republicans 7 15 15 14 14 12 14 15

    Democrats maintained control of the Maryland State Senate from 1990 to 2018. Senate Democrats held their largest majority following the 1990 elections when Democrats held a 33-seat advantage. Throughout the period, Democrats usually controlled between 32 and 40 seats, while Republicans controlled between 7 and 15 seats. During the period, Democrats also held more than the 29 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto. Democrats controlled the governor's office from 1992 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2014. Republicans held the governor's office from 2003 to 2006 and have held it since 2015.

    Despite the national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D), the Maryland State Senate was resistant to that trend. Senate Democrats lost two seats in the 2014 elections, but Democrats never fell below 33 seats during Obama's presidency. From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether. While Democrats have kept control of the chamber, Republicans have slowly gained seats since the 1990 elections. Between the 1990 and 2018 elections, Republicans gained eight seats. Republicans went from being at a 33-seat disadvantage after the 1990 elections to being at a 17-seat disadvantage after the 2018 elections.

    Historical House control

    From 1990 to 2018, the Maryland House of Delegates was controlled by the Democratic Party. The table below shows the partisan history of the Maryland House of Delegates following every general election from 1990 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Maryland House of Delegates election results: 1990-2018

    Year '90 '94 '98 '02 '06 '10 '14 '18
    Democrats 116 100 106 98 106 98 91 99
    Republicans 25 41 35 43 35 43 50 42

    Democrats maintained control of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1990 to 2018. House Democrats held their largest majority following the 1990 elections when Democrats held a 91-seat advantage. Throughout the period, Democrats usually controlled between 91 and 116 seats, while Republicans controlled between 25 and 50 seats. During the period, Democrats also held more than the 85 seats required to override a gubernatorial veto. Democrats controlled the governor's office from 1992 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2014. Republicans held the governor's office from 2003 to 2006 and have held it since 2015.

    Despite the national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D), the Maryland House of Delegates was resistant to that trend. House Democrats lost seven seats in the 2010 elections, but Democrats never fell below 91 seats during Obama's presidency. From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether. While Democrats have kept control of the chamber, Republicans have slowly gained seats since the 1990 elections. Between the 1990 and 2018 elections, Republicans gained 17 seats. Republicans went from being at a 91-seat disadvantage after the 1990 elections to being at a 57-seat disadvantage after the 2018 elections.

    See also

    Elections Maryland State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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