Maryland’s state government is getting a new cabinet-level department to oversee social equity efforts — only it won’t include the word “equity” in the title.
House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones proposed the new department to consolidate the government’s existing equity and small business programs that currently are scattered across state government. Her legislation passed the Maryland General Assembly and was among dozens of measures signed into law at the State House on Tuesday.
Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, and the first Black person to serve as a presiding officer in the General Assembly, initially proposed calling the new department the “Department of Social Equity.”
But by the time the bill emerged from the legislative process, the new office got a different name: the “Department of Social and Economic Mobility.”
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But why the name change?
Could it be that “equity” has become a dangerous word with President Donald Trump banning, slashing and mocking diversity, equity and inclusion programs?
No one is saying.
Both Jones and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore highlighted the value of the new department during Tuesday’s bill signing ceremony. But neither mentioned the name change.
The speaker’s office also declined to comment on the name change Tuesday.
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During the recent legislative session, the name was changed as it moved through the House of Delegates process, but no explanation was given or discussed in committee or in the full House.
The measure then moved to the Senate, where again, there was no debate or discussion about the actual name. The main theme of questions in the Senate focused on whether creating the new department would save money or not — it won’t.
The bill was approved largely along party lines in the House of Delegates and state Senate, with a couple Democrats joining Republicans in opposing.
Trump, a Republican now in his second term, has focused heavily on equity and diversity, regularly blasting programs and initiatives as unfair, “woke” or even racist.
Trump has attempted to withhold funding from local school systems, including in Maryland, if they don’t discontinue what the administration has called “illegal DEI practices.”
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More recently, Trump has threatened to cancel federal grants to expand access to broadband internet under the federal Digital Equity Act.
Those types of threats have caused some state and local officials across the country to tread carefully around the word “equity.”
Most equity programs — including the ones in Maryland that will continue under the new department — focus on providing opportunities to historically disadvantaged individuals, groups or businesses who have been shut out in the past.
Maryland, for example, requires state contractors to work with subcontractors owned by racial minorities, women or veterans. The heavily-regulated cannabis industry has programs to encourage participation by entrepreneurs and investors from communities that were overpoliced for marijuana.
Jones and Moore said folding those and other programs into one department with a cabinet secretary at the helm will help them run better and be more accessible.
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Though the new department’s name doesn’t include the word “equity,” both leaders slipped that word into their remarks.
“Her legislation creates a new capital agency that will ensure we uphold our commitment to equity in the state of Maryland,” Moore said.
Jones said the effort is personal, having been shut out of opportunities due to her race and gender.
She has spent much of her career in public service focused on equity. She worked for decades as an employee in Baltimore County’s government focused on human resources and fair practices issues. As a lawmaker, she pushed for sufficient funding for the state’s historically black colleges and universities.
“When we say ‘social and economic mobility,’ let’s be very clear what we are talking about,” Jones said at the bill signing ceremony. “We’re talking about the strength of our diversity. We’re talking about promoting equity, and we are talking about creating inclusion in all spaces.”
She added: “I’m not afraid to say it.”
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