Fourth Post-Session Bill Signing Ceremony

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Remarks as delivered
​Delivered on Tuesday, May 26, 202​​6​

Good morning, good morning, good morning everybody.

Good morning to welcoming, yet wet, Annapolis.
Please take a seat, everybody, please take a seat.

Thank you, thank you.

Welcome to the State House for the fourth and final bill signing ceremony for 2026.

Thank you to my partners inside this work — Senate President Bill Ferguson and Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk — for just the tireless work and tireless leadership that you both continue providing not just to these chambers but also to the state. I appreciate it deeply.

I'm also thankful for our remarkable Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Miller.

We are here joined by our Attorney General, Anthony Brown. Attorney General Brown, great to see you. One of the busiest men in Maryland that I know right now.

I also know our State Superintendent, Carey Wright, is here as well. There she is, Dr. Wright. And I want to say to the birthday girl, congratulations. I want to say again that Maryland is amongst the highest academic improvement rates since COVID under your leadership. And during your tenure, virtually every single grade in Maryland is up in math and reading — and third-grade reading scores have jumped. So, remarkable job, Madam Superintendent.

And thanks to all of our friends in the Maryland General Assembly who have worked so hard to not just make today happen, but to make sure that the future of our state is protected and secured. The work that you have done, the advocacy that you have led on, your push, and your focus is the reason that we are here today.

Most importantly, to all the Marylanders who have traveled here today to celebrate — you've been the ones meeting with lawmakers. You've been the ones making sure that your voices are heard and making sure that the voices of the constituencies that you represent are heard. That their faces are seen. That their futures are protected. That while my signature will enact these bills into law, for many of you, it is your hands that are actually guiding the pen. And I want to say thank you, because without that, it would not be real.

I'm talking about the child care providers and the advocates in the room.

I'm talking about all of our labor leaders who are here with us in the room.

I'm talking about Christine McComas, whose advocacy that we are so grateful for.

I'm talking about the students who are here from the Maryland School for the Deaf. Welcome. Thank you.

[Governor Moore signs in American Sign Language: "Welcome and thank you."]

I’m talking about Chancellor Jay Perman and the Board of Regents Chair Linda Gooden, who I've not seen yet, but there they are. Mr. Chancellor, Madam Chair.

I’m talking about Marylanders all across the state who are here seeing in action that their question has been answered. That the question they had coming in was just simply: Are we going to do what we said we're going to do?

At the start of the session, back in January, we said that we would do everything in our power to ensure that we can make life just a little bit more affordable for the people in the state of Maryland, despite the headwinds that we are seeing across this country.

We said that we would strengthen Maryland's economic competitiveness and make it easier for businesses to be able to grow and thrive within the state of Maryland, and easier for businesses to choose the state of Maryland.

We said we were going to protect our people.

Today, I will sign over 270 bills. And the bills that I will highlight today are the ones that are about making life just a little bit easier for the people of Maryland.

Today, we're grateful that more people are coming to Maryland. In fact, our state's population is growing faster now than it has at any point in the past decade. That is a good thing. That is a good thing. However, it highlights that we don't just have a housing shortage in Maryland. We have a housing crisis in Maryland. And worse, it's not that the state before wasn't trying to solve it. It's actually that the state was getting in the way of trying to fix it.

That's why I am deeply grateful for the leadership that we have seen from Secretary Day and the Department of Housing and Community Development. Mr. Secretary, outstanding job, not just in this session but throughout.

Today, I will have the joy of signing the Maryland Housing Certainty Act — sponsored and led by Delegate Behler and Senator Augustine.

And also the Maryland Transit and Housing Opportunity Act — sponsored and led by the outstanding work of Senator Beidle and Delegate Korman, who partnered with us on these things.

I remember asking, who is the largest land owner in the state of Maryland? It happens to be the state of Maryland.

So if that's the case, then let's actually make sure that we can put better use to underutilized land.

And these bills that will be signed into law today will allow us to open up more than 300 acres of land near transit. And we are going to build at least 7,000 new homes in Maryland on that land.

We're going to make sure that once a project is approved, the rules cannot change — and costs cannot soar.

Because Marylanders should be able to live near where they work. Our people should be able to live near where they grew up. Our people should be able to live where they aspire and where they hope to be.

Second, I will sign the bill giving our non-tenure track faculty the right to collectively bargain.

Senator Kramer and Delegate Foley did an outstanding job working this legislation and making it happen.

And we are grateful that we had the honor of partnering with our friends, AFT President Randi Weingarten, who I heard is here — Madam President, wonderful to see you, and thank you.

And also AFT Maryland President Kenya Campbell, who worked to get this done.
Thank you.

Adjuncts and lecturers teach many of the classes at our public universities. Yet, many of them are paid by the course and also have no benefits. Some are driving between two and three different campuses in a single day. Many of them spend every summer not knowing whether or not they are going to have a job in the fall.

Well, Maryland, that ends today. Now, thousands of them across the University System, at Morgan State, and at St. Mary's can now organize.

They can bargain for fair pay, for benefits, and for the security that lasts longer than simply a single semester.

At a time when we are seeing across the country an assault on collective bargaining. At a time when we are seeing the Trump-Vance administration trying to weaken collective bargaining. At a time when people are working harder than ever before, Maryland will not just talk about the dignity of work. We will uplift the dignity of a good day's work. We will defend the right to collectively bargain in the state of Maryland.

Finally, we're attacking something that's at the core of affordability. And that's child care.

Today, I will sign two bills into law that make the largest investments in child care in Maryland's history.

These bills were sponsored by and led by Delegate Mireku-North and Delegate Palakovich Carr.

Both of these bills were championed by the Legislative Black Caucus.

Now, we have already expanded child care access by 70% to support over 41,000 children. Today, we are now committing to expanding that even more.

Because no parent should be forced to ask the question of: Are my kids going to be okay, or can I go back to the workforce?

Cristy Morrell runs the Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers on the Mid-Shore.

Since 1970, they have been the place that the Mid-Shore has relied on.

They've been the place that our Mid-Shore families have leaned on.

And that our families trust with the people that they love the most:
Their children.

Every day, Cristy's team lets a parent go to work knowing that their child will be safe.

And their child will be okay, that they will be cared for.

And also that they're learning.

Her center holds the highest rating our state can give, an EXCELS Level 5.

And that comes down to our teachers and the training that she is able to provide for them.

The bills we will sign today are a direct result of the advocacy of Cristy's team and the other child care advocates who partnered with us on this, and the members of the Maryland General Assembly.

These bills will help keep the most highly qualified teachers and welcome even more families through her doors at a time when our families need it now as much as ever before.

That's who we're fighting for.

We're fighting for Cristy.

We're fighting for her providers.

We're fighting for the families that she serves.

We're fighting to make sure that every single child knows from their earliest age that they are loved. And they are needed.

If you want to help a child, make sure that child is growing up in a strong, supportive family. And if you want to help that family, make sure they're growing up in a strong, supportive community. And if you want to help that community, make sure you have anchors in that community that shows the parents how necessary they are.

So, Cristy, I'd ask that you join me up here, for your service to Critchlow Adkins.

I want to present to you our ceremonial first pen on behalf of the work that you are doing on behalf of the entire Mid-Shore, the people of this state, and the example you're setting for people of this country.

God bless you, congratulations.

And thank you all for this outstanding work.

Now I am honored to turn it over to one of my partners in the work, our Senate President, Bill Ferguson.

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