ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Governor Wes Moore signed hundreds of bills into law following the 2026 legislative session, though one of the most controversial bills did not get his approval, The Community Trust Act.
The legislation is a last-minute effort by Democrats to further limit local cooperation with ICE in Maryland.
Governor Moore allows Community Trust Act to become law without his approval
"Protecting our communities requires seamless coordination among federal, state, and local partners, and the bill creates ambiguities around joint investigations that we are working with the Attorney General's office to clarify," said Moore about his reason to not sign the bill.
At the bill signing, Senate President Bill Ferguson defended passing the legislation.
"Bills like the Community Trust Act and the Data Privacy Act are protections that are importantly coming in to law in Maryland," Ferguson said.
Republicans had hoped Moore would veto the bill.
"What I would say is that that Community Trust Act is one of the most dangerous and wrong bills I've ever seen in Annapolis," Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready said.
Another controversial bill, 14 years in the making, also became law. It ends the automatic charging of young people as adults for several crimes. Young people accused of crimes can still end up in adult court, but will not start there.
Speaker of the House Joseline Peña-Melnyk spoke in support of the measure.
"You need to give people an opportunity, you need to give them second chances, and I believe in that, especially a young child," Peña-Melnyk said.
Prosecutors across the state came out against the bill during the session and after.
"Instead of strengthening the foundation of our juvenile justice system and first evaluating whether programs have the capacity and effectiveness to succeed, policymakers chose to expand the system while it was already under significant strain," Howard County State's Attorney Rich Gibson said.
Democrats wanted to go further with the juvenile justice legislation but decided against it, given that the bill had been in the works for more than a decade.
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