Prince George’s County Council Reallocates Local Nonprofit Funding
In a tense Prince George’s County Council meeting, Council Chair Edward Burroughs III (D- District 8) announced the reallocation of nonprofit grant funding awarded last year.
Fifty-two nonprofits lost funding while 11 nonprofits, including the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation (EDC), received new allotments. During the May 13 hearing, Burroughs alleged political favoritism in the awarding of nonprofit grants last October.
“Three council members got nearly 70% of the entire fund for their priorities,” Burroughs said during the meeting while displaying a chart showing grant distribution. “This is about fairness. The groups that operate in Cheverly or Laurel are no more important than the groups in Fort Washington or Oxon Hill.”
Burroughs noted that Councilmember Wala Blegay (D- District 6) had no grants awarded to her district.
At-Large Councilmember Jolene Ivey (D), who formerly represented District 5 (which encompasses Cheverly) and previously served as the council chair, defended the prior grant allocation. She said that she prioritized organizations that served countywide constituencies rather than smaller, district-based nonprofits.
“The organizations I prioritized were those like the Capital Area Food Bank that serve all nine districts and are needed by people all over the county. I prioritized Food and Friends, which was left out the prior year, who deliver meals to sick people across the entire county,” she said in an interview with The Informer.
Councilmembers generally request nonprofit grants based in their respective districts.
“I supported the American Red Cross and Promise Place, a homeless shelter for youth. Unfortunately these groups had their grants rescinded. It’s going to hurt the whole county. “
She also criticized the decision to rescind the prior allocations, as many organizations had already set expectations for the upcoming year.
“They were just waiting to be approved and have their money come,” said Ivey in an interview with WTOP. She introduced a motion to reallocate the prior funding, but was not seconded so it did not advance. “They’d already planned for the money.”
View the entire hearing here. View the list of grant applicants and updated allocations here.
Gov. Moore Vetoes Reparations Study, Black Caucus Members Promise to Override Decision in 2026
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) vetoed a bill authorizing a 24-member volunteer commission to study reparations for the descendants of the formerly enslaved, alongside 22 other bills passed by the General Assembly.
Moore, the only Black governor in any state and the first Black person to lead Maryland, has argued that legislators need to focus “on the work itself,” and cited financial and administrative hurdles in commissioning another study.
“While such bills can be a first step to addressing complex issues and allow the signaling of support for an issue, the practice has become so commonplace that it is now a significant fiscal and staff burden on state government,” read Moore’s May 16 veto letter.
This study would have cost $54,500 this year and been conducted by Bowie State University researchers and state employees.
Several members of the General Assembly were surprised and taken aback by the veto, including Del. Stephanie Smith (D- District 45) and state Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D- District 26), with multiple legislators speaking in favor of a veto override.
“I’m very disappointed that something like this–that Black communities across the country have been asking for— it’s turned down in our state,” said Muse.
The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland distributed a strong rebuke to the veto via email and social media.
“At a time when the White House and Congress are actively targeting Black communities, dismantling diversity initiatives, and using harmful coded language, Governor Moore had a chance to show the country and the world that here in Maryland we boldly and courageously recognize our painful history and the urgent need to address it,” the legislators wrote in the statement. “Instead, the state’s first Black governor chose to block this historic legislation that would have moved the state toward directly repairing the harm of enslavement.”
The statement noted that the study passed with a veto-proof majority and was intended to bring together impacted residents alongside state leaders and experts to make policy recommendations.
“While unilateral executive actions and piecemeal legislation addressing disparities can contribute to progress, they cannot substitute meaningful, sustained, and comprehensive efforts commissioned in this bill to address reparations and repair,” the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland wrote. “We owe this bill to those who endured forced labor and all Black Marylanders impacted by enslavement, discrimination, and its long-term harm.”
Invoking the memories of famous, celebrated and formerly enslaved Marylanders, the Legislative Black Caucus emphasized the timeliness of a reparations study, particularly at a challenging time in the nation in the fight for equity and justice.
“We are elected leaders in the state that enslaved renowned abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and we convene in a State House that is less than a mile from the Annapolis City Dock — one of the nation’s earliest and most high-traffic ports of enslavement,” the caucus continued. “As federal efforts to erase our history and attack the most vulnerable continue, Marylanders need decisive, courageous action at the state level.”
Longtime civil rights activist and law professor Dr. Larry Gibson penned an op-ed for the Baltimore Banner, urging Moore to veto the study and instead focus on policy immediately.
“I urge Gov. Wes Moore to veto this legislation as redundant, distracting, an excuse for delay, and too little, too late,” read his letter.
Gibson has spent decades building Black political power, particularly in Baltimore City.
“We do not need another two years of ‘study.’ With a Black governor, a Black attorney general, and a progressive legislature in place, what we need is action: bold, targeted action,” Gibson continued, offering a call to action. “Another study with a minuscule budget would just kick the can down the road. State government should, instead, immediately embark on serious reparatory actions in housing, health, education, minority business, criminal justice, and other areas. We should act with Dr. King’s ‘fierce urgency of now.’
