2026 Maryland legislative session

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2026 Maryland legislative session
General information
Scheduled session start:    Jan. 14, 2026 Scheduled session end:    April 13, 2026
Leadership
Senate President William Ferguson IV (D) House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) Majority Leader Senate: Nancy King (D) House: David Moon (D) Minority Leader Senate: Stephen Hershey Jr. (R) House: Jason Buckel (R)
Elections
Next Election:    November 3, 2026 Last Election:    November 8, 2022
Previous legislative sessions
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2026 legislative sessions
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In 2026, the Maryland State Legislature is scheduled to convene on January 14, 2026, and adjourn on April 13, 2026.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Democrats won a 34-13 majority in the Senate and a 102-39 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta. At the start of the 2026 session, Maryland was one of eight state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

At the beginning of the 2026 legislative session:

Democrats held a majority in the Maryland state House and state Senate.

Maryland was one of 16 Democratic state government trifectas.

Maryland's governor was Democrat Wes Moore.

Leadership in 2026

See also: Leadership positions in state legislatures

Maryland State Senate

• Senate president: William Ferguson IV (D)
• Majority leader: Nancy King (D)
• Minority leader: Stephen Hershey Jr. (R)

Maryland House of Delegates

• Speaker of the House: Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D)
• Majority leader: David Moon (D)
• Minority leader: Jason Buckel (R)

Partisan control in 2026

See also: State government trifectas

Maryland was one of 16 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2026 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 eight state legislatures where Democrats 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 2026 legislative session.

Maryland State Senate

Partisan composition, Maryland State Senate

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	34
Republican	13
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	47

Maryland House of Delegates

Partisan composition, Maryland House of Delegates

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	100
Republican	39
Other	0
Vacancies	2
Total	141

Regular session

The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2026 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 has met these criteria yet in 2026. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

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 2026 legislative session, there were 33 standing committees in Maryland's state government, including 20 joint legislative committees, six state Senate committees, and seven state House committees.

Joint legislative committees

• Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee
• Audit and Evaluation Committee
• Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Committee
• Children, Youth, and Families Committee
• Cybersecurity, Information Technology, & Biotechnology Committee
• Ending Homelessness Committee
• Fair Practices and State Personnel Oversight Committee
• Federal Relations Committee
• Gaming Oversight Committee
• Investigation Committee
• Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee
• Legislative Ethics Committee
• Legislative Information Technology and Open Government Committee
• Legislative Policy Committee
• Management of Public Funds Committee
• Organization & Procedure Committee
• Protocol Committee
• Spending Affordability Committee
• Unemployment Insurance Oversight Committee
• Workers' Compensation Benefit and Insurance Oversight Committee

Senate committees

• Budget & Taxation Committee
• Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee
• Executive Nominations Committee
• Finance Committee
• Judicial Proceedings Committee
• Rules Committee

House committees

• Appropriations Committee
• Economic Matters Committee
• Environment and Transportation Committee
• Health & Government Operations Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Rules & Executive Nominations Committee
• Ways & Means Committee

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: 1992-2026
Twenty-three 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	26
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	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	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	D

Historical Senate control

Democrats won control of the Maryland State Senate in 1900. In 2022, they won a 34-13 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the Maryland Senate following every general election from 1990 to 2022. 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: 1990-2022

Year	'90	'94	'98	'02	'06	'10	'14	'18	'22
Democrats	40	32	32	33	33	35	33	32	34
Republicans	7	15	15	14	14	12	14	15	13

Historical House control

Democrats won control of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1920. In 2022, they won a 102-39 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the Maryland House following every general election from 1990 to 2022. 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: 1990-2022

Year	'90	'94	'98	'02	'06	'10	'14	'18	'22
Democrats	116	100	106	98	106	98	91	99	102
Republicans	25	41	35	43	35	43	50	42	39

Analysis

Adopted legislation, 2011-2024

See also: The State Legislative Decade - Maryland

In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.

See also

Elections	Maryland State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
Maryland State Senate elections, 2026 Maryland House of Delegates elections, 2026	Maryland State Legislature Maryland House of Delegates Maryland State Senate Governor of Maryland Maryland Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2026 State legislative special elections, 2026 State legislative elections, 2024 State legislative elections, 2022	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Maryland General Assembly homepage

Footnotes

State legislatures

Legislatures

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2026

State legislative elections (2026) • State legislative special elections (2026) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2026 Session Dates

2025

State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

Historical elections

2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures

How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates

Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected

State houses

Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions

President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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