Maryland Matters

Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed more than 120 bills into law Tuesday. It was the first bill signing following the end of the 2024 legislative session. 

“This legislation will support the businesses and the workers that have been affected by this collapse,” Moore said during the lengthy bill-signing ceremony.

“Among the many provisions that our administration helped to craft, this bill will create a new permanent scholarship program for the families of transportation workers who died on the job,” he said. “This legislation will also allow for more flexibility in work search requirements for unemployment insurance. And the legislation will empower our administration to stay nimble and our response to the collapse even though session is now over. It does not mean that Maryland’s response will cease.”

Senate Bill 1188 and HB 1526, sponsored respectively by Senate President Bill Ferguson and Del. Luke Clippinger, both Baltimore City Democrats, were introduced in the waning days of the session and less than a week after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

Moore signed the bills Tuesday afternoon after rushing back from a meeting with Maryland’s federal legislative delegation on Capitol Hill to discuss aid for ongoing recovery and reconstruction efforts.

The emergency bills become effective upon the signature of the governor.

Moore also signed into law a second port-related act. House Bill 375 and its identical companion, SB 156, formally renamed the port in honor of Helen Delich Bentley.

Bentley covered maritime issues as a journalist and later served as chair of the federal Maritime Commission for six years. She went on to serve for a decade in Congress representing Maryland’s 2nd District.