Less than 12 hours after the legislature adjourned, Maryland’s top politicians signed nearly 100 bills into law while reeling from recent federal government decisions.

“In Annapolis, we’ve answered this moment of crisis with courage at a moment when the White House has issued the largest tax hike on Americans in history,” Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said of President Donald Trump’s newly imposed tariffs moments before enacting a slew of policies.

Though Maryland faced a fiscal crisis of its own, the state’s Democratic supermajority spent much of the 2025 legislative session combating national policy introduced by Trump, who began his second, non-consecutive term two weeks after the General Assembly convened for its 90-day legislative session.

The legislature convened on Jan. 8 with a nearly $3 billion structural budget deficit, which was compounded over time by actions Trump has taken at the hands of Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Because of its adjacency to Washington, D.C., Maryland has faced significant impacts from Musk’s efforts to eradicate government waste, leading to thousands of state residents losing jobs in the federal government.

This week, Trump issued tariffs against U.S. trade partners. The full effect on Americans — and Marylanders — has yet to be seen.

New bipartisan committee

The General Assembly adjourned its 90-day legislative session at midnight on Monday, but not without House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson, both Democrats, announcing plans to create a bipartisan joint committee on Federal Action Oversight.

According to Ferguson, the committee, which will include 13 members from each chamber, is poised to enhance Maryland’s ability to “respond and engage with actions taken at the federal level, and work very closely with the administration to figure out how to navigate the world ahead,” he said.

“Since January 20, decisions made by this federal administration on health care, transportation, education, the environment and immigration have direct, immediate consequences on Marylanders,” Ferguson said. “But, by the time we fully understand those impacts, the challenge we have is that we can’t wait until next January to take them on.”

Moore, Ferguson and Jones all expressed how much an already fiscally challenging session was exacerbated by the Trump administration. Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat who was elected to the House of Delegates in 1997, said the 2025 session was “one of the most challenging” she’s experienced during her tenure.

“Today, we are signing a series of bills to protect and fortify our state government, because, at the end of the day, our state legislature is one of the last lines of defense against the irresponsible and reckless actions taken by the federal government,” said Jones.

Members of the Republican Party did not speak at Tuesday’s signing ceremony.

RAISE Act

Jones, Ferguson and Moore signed House Bill 723 Monday, which is poised to fast-track employment in Maryland for former federal employees or workers from other states with dental or dental hygienist licenses.

“We are talking about highly qualified, highly skilled workers who have built careers saving lives,” Moore said Tuesday. “People who have committed their lives to serving the lives of others, and now they are being told by someone who was never willing to take the same oath they took, that their service doesn’t matter.”

The trio also signed Senate Bill 431, known as the Registered Apprenticeship Investments for a Stronger Economy, or RAISE, Act.

The legislation, brought forth by the Moore administration, will create the Maryland Office of Registered Apprenticeship Development through the state Department of Labor, which seeks to incentivize employers to create apprenticeship models.

The governor highlighted scientific sectors as a hopeful participant.

“Maryland already has a strong track record and is already a strong model for apprenticeships in the building trades,” Moore said. “But, with the RAISE Act, we are expanding this model to sectors that don’t yet have a tradition of apprenticeships, like health care and life sciences.”

House Bill 502 — the first bill state leaders signed on Tuesday — establishes an Office of Disability Employment Advancement and Policy in the Department of Disabilities, a new office to develop and implement strategies in the state disabilities plan. It also creates the Maryland as a Model Employer Initiative to promote recruiting, hiring, training and career advancement of people with disabilities in state government.

One in two Marylanders with disabilities face financial hardships, Moore said, and they make up 5% of the state’s workforce.

“We want to unleash Maryland’s potential,” he said. “We need pathways to work, wages and wealth for all Marylanders, and not just some.”

The bill, Moore added, helps people like Bong Delrosario, the director of transportation policy for the Department of Disabilities. Delrosario uses a wheelchair, depending on public transportation and paratransit to get around.

“When he was first approached with the job opening, Bong didn’t realize anyone who looked like him could actually serve in state government,” Moore said. “But his lived experience ended up being one of his greatest assets and his greatest gifts.”

The newly enacted legislation helps to “enhance and elevate” its existing work, said Jade Gingerich, director of employment and transition policy for the Department of Disabilities.

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