Annapolis, MD — Today, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews issued the following statement after Democrats in the Maryland Senate voted to override Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act—legislation which will give more than 700,000 Marylanders access to earned sick leave:
“Today Democrats scored a huge win for working families in Maryland. Despite Governor Hogan and his allies’ attempts to delay, distract, and deceive, Marylanders will no longer have to risk losing their jobs or wages if they need time to take care of themselves or a loved one.”
Last May, Hogan vetoed legislation to give more than 700,000 Maryland workers access to paid sick leave, then signed an executive order creating a task force headed by Maryland Labor Secretary Kelly Schultz and several members of his administration to study the issue further.
In November, Democrats launched an investigation to understand why the panel had no public meetings, if it met at all. The Hogan Administration refused to comply with an open meetings request filed by Democrats, admitting that Governor Hogan used a legal loophole to keep the task force shrouded in secrecy.