Hogan vetoes Democratic-backed congressional redistricting plan

Hogan vetoes Democratic-backed congressional redistricting plan

Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the recently passed Democratic-supported congressional redistricting legislation plan at a news conference on Thursday afternoon (Screenshot)

@BryanRenbaum

Gov. Larry Hogan Thursday vetoed congressional redistricting legislation favored by Democrats. Hogan took that action in the middle of an afternoon news conference at the State House in Annapolis. The veto comes less than a day after the Senate voted to send the legislation to his desk.

Earlier in the week lawmakers declined to advance opposing redistricting legislation that was based on the work of an independent citizen’s commission whose members were appointed by Hogan.

“On behalf of all the people of Maryland who value fairness and integrity in our elections and in our political system, I am vetoing these disgracefully gerrymandered illegal maps, which are a shameful violation of state and federal law,” Hogan said.

“This is not the end of the process. The courts will be the final arbiter, not the partisan legislature. These maps cannot and will not stand,” the governor added.

Hogan noted that the Biden administration is suing Texas over its new congressional and legislative redistricting maps and said he will ask DOJ to also challenge Maryland over its new redistricting map.

Hogan said that although he was not surprised that the General Assembly ultimately decided to choose the map created by the legislative commission over the map created by the citizens’ commission-he is nevertheless disappointed by that decision.

Hogan said he fully anticipates that lawmakers will vote to override his veto sometime before this week’s special legislative session concludes. Hogan said he felt the veto needed to be issued quickly so that legal challenges to the new law could also begin quickly.

At Thursday’s news conference, Hogan also blasted Democrats for thus far refusing to take up the administration’s key emergency crime bills and insisted that there is still time left in the special session for lawmakers to do just that.

“Legislators claimed that they just did not have time to even consider this critically needed emergency legislation. They are ignoring the out of control violent crime, the shootings, and murders, that are destroying Baltimore City. And they are ignoring the desperate pleas of more than 80% of the people of Baltimore and the rest of the state.”

Moreover, Hogan said that if lawmakers do not take up the crime legislation in the special session, he will reintroduce it in the regular legislative session which begins in January.

Wednesday saw Senate Republicans try to get enough signatures to approve a discharge petition to bring the crime legislation to the floor. Sixteen signatures were needed. All 15 Republicans in the body signed the petition but not one Democrat agreed to come on board.

The two bills in question, the Violent Firearms Offenders Act and the Judicial Transparency Act, were first introduced in 2020.

About The Author

Bryan Renbaum

Bryan@MarylandReporter.com

Reporter Bryan Renbaum served as the Capitol Hill Correspondent for Talk Media News for the past three-and-a-half years, filing print, radio and video reports on the Senate and the House of Representatives. He covered congressional reaction to the inauguration of President Donald Trump as well as the confirmation hearings of attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William Barr and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He also filed breaking news reports on the 2017 shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and three others. Previously Bryan broke multiple stories with the Baltimore Post-Examiner including sexual assault scandals at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a texting scandal on the women’s lacrosse team at that school for which he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He also covered the Maryland General Assembly during the 2016 legislative session as an intern for Maryland Reporter. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from McDaniel College. If you have additional questions or comments contact Bryan at: bryan@marylandreporter.com