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MD House committee to hear bill on new congressional map
This map concept was recommended by the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Commission in a vote Jan. 20, 2026. (Office of the Governor)
MD House committee to hear bill on new congressional map
Listen to this articleKey takeaways
- House committee schedules hearing on House Bill 488 to redraw Maryland’s congressional map.
- Republicans criticize accelerated timeline and limited public input during winter storm.
- Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission-backed map faces constitutional concerns.
- Senate support uncertain amid opposition from Senate President Bill Ferguson.
A House of Delegates committee plans to take up legislation poised to redraw Maryland’s congressional map Monday afternoon, further heating up Maryland’s already tense battle over midcycle redistricting.
“It is disappointing, and frankly unfair, that the House will be shoving this legislation on an accelerated timeline that provides no real opportunity for public input,” House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, R-Allegany, said in a statement Friday morning. “It is a further disservice to Marylanders when they plan to do so in the middle of a major winter storm, where many legislators and members of the public may be unable to get to Annapolis, or could be without power or internet service to join virtually.”
The House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee will hold a virtual hearing for House Bill 488, sponsored by Del. C.T. Wilson, D-Charles, on Monday at 1 p.m. The bill was introduced on the House floor Friday.
House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy, R-Frederick, said it’s “striking” given Maryland’s budgetary and affordability issues that the “first vote the House will be taking this year is on a grossly partisan redistricting bill that will strip fair representation from millions of Marylanders.”
Though the text and the fiscal note for the legislation were not publicly available as of Friday at noon, House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s, said that they should be online for the public to read ahead of the online hearing.
Members of the public can submit written testimony Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Currently, seven of Maryland’s eight congressional districts are represented by Democrats.
Earlier this week, the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission held a closed meeting vote to approve a new map to be presented to the General Assembly for its consideration, sparking more critique from members of the Republican Party who have alleged the work of the commission was predetermined from the start, and Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, who has made his staunch disinterest in midcycle redistricting known for months.
“The Governor’s Commission recommended a map today that is objectively unconstitutional and jeopardizes Maryland’s existing map,” Ferguson said in a statement Monday evening. “From the outset, the Senate’s position has been consistent: in this important moment, Maryland cannot risk going backwards by giving the Trump Administration another seat or two in Congress from Maryland’s delegation.”
The selected map could give Democrats an advantage, but might not stand up to scrutiny.
It redraws District 1 represented by Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican, to encompass a wide geographic area spanning as far south as Ocean City up to portions of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, and would split Baltimore City across three separate districts, among other border changes.
Most importantly, the state’s congressional districts must have 771,923 constituents per district, plus or minus one vote. Multiple districts in the selected map have population variances that, as of their current rendering, breach 1,000-plus residents.
“Ultimately, a flawed process has delivered a flawed product,” Ferguson said.
In a statement earlier this week, Peña-Melnyk said she supports the map that the commission sent to her chamber.
“We believe this map meets constitutional and legal requirements, and that the election calendar will allow us to take action on it this session,” she said.
While redistricting moves forward in the House, it’s unclear if it will have legs in the Senate in light of Ferguson’s opposition.
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who initiated the commission’s work in November after California and a handful of Republican states moved to alter their maps ahead of the 2026 midterm election, met with U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, Thursday. Moore and Jeffries said that, while they are focused on affordability for Marylanders like Ferguson, they also care about maintaining free and fair elections across the United States.
“My job is not to get around one person. That’s not how democracy works. Democracy works when you allow for a vote and everyone’s voice is heard,” Moore said. “Everybody inside both the House of Representatives and everybody inside the Senate, they are all duly elected. They have people who put them into office. The only thing that we’re saying is we should make sure that their voices are heard and not silenced.”
Moore said he “has full faith” that Ferguson will allow the bill to come to the full chamber for a vote.
Ferguson responded Friday morning, saying his chamber will continue to “focus on the issues that are most important.”
“The world is uncertain, the world is crazy, and we have a limited amount of time and energy and focus, and we have to put it where it matters most,” he said. “We’ve got to close a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, we’ve got to focus on affordability, we’ve got to find a way to grow our economy, and we’ve got to pass policies that truly and actually protect Marylanders against the Trump administration.”
