Bill
HJ 4
Symbolic Md. joint resolution affirms DEI as part of the American Dream and urges policymakers and institutions to adopt DEI principles, without creating new rights or funding.
Status
- Introduced: January 14, 2025 (first reading Jan 27, 2025).
- Sponsor: Delegates Martinez and multiple co-sponsors.
- Cross-file: SJ 3 (Senator Benson).
- Legislative outcome: Passed both chambers; signed by House Speaker and Senate President and filed with the Maryland Secretary of State on April 22, 2025.
- Fiscal note: No fiscal impact (Department of Legislative Services).
Purpose / Intent
- HJ 4 is a symbolic joint resolution formally affirming Maryland’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a foundational element of the “American Dream.”
- The resolution encourages policymakers, educational institutions, workplaces, and other organizations at local, State, and federal levels to adopt and uphold DEI principles that promote inclusivity, remove barriers, protect freedom of expression, and provide equitable opportunity.
Key provisions
- Express findings and declarations about DEI:
- Frames DEI as rooted in U.S. history and civil‑rights legislation (e.g., 19th Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans with Disabilities Act).
- States DEI promotes equal access, belonging, and widened pathways to opportunity and shared prosperity.
- Affirms the importance of freedom of speech and expression alongside DEI.
- States that efforts to prohibit or attack DEI undermine free expression, reduce diversity of perspectives, conflict with anti‑discrimination laws, and harm the economy.
- Calls on specified actors to adopt and uphold DEI principles (policymakers, educational institutions, workplaces, and other organizations).
- Administrative action: directs that certified copies of the resolution be sent to named federal and State officials (including the President of the United States, congressional leaders, Maryland’s Governor, legislative leaders, and the Maryland congressional delegation).
Who is affected
- HJ 4 is declaratory and non‑binding: it does not create new rights, duties, or funding obligations.
- Intended audience/impacted entities are policymakers and institutions (local, State, federal), educational institutions, workplaces, and organizations — primarily as a statement of State policy and encouragement rather than enforceable law.
Fiscal and legal effects
- Department of Legislative Services: no direct fiscal or local government impact.
- Does not amend Maryland statutory law; functions as an official expression of the General Assembly’s policy position.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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