As the Trump administration continues its push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs wherever they are found, Maryland lawmakers are advancing a bill that creates a Cabinet-level department to oversee social equity programs in the state.
The name of proposed agency has changed since it was first introduced by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), from the Department of Social Equity to the Department of Social and Economic Mobility. But the mission remains the same: supporting social equity programs throughout state government and collecting scattered agencies that assist small and disadvantaged businesses under one roof.
House Bill 1253 passed the House on a 101-37 vote on March 17 and was heard Wednesday by the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.
“We know we are stronger when everyone has the same access to the same opportunities, and when everyone has a seat at the table,” Jones said in testimony befoer the committee Wednesday.
“We have programs that require minority and small business contracting. We support supplier diversity and state procurement,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, right now, these programs are fractured across our state government. They’re isolated in different agencies and often work independently of each other.”
The department would combine three existing offices focused on social equity programming: the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority, and Women-Owned Business Affairs (GOSBA); the Office of Social Equity in the Maryland Cannabis Administration; and the Office of Minority Business Enterprises in the state Department of Transportation.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by William Ford over at Maryland Matters
