A Baltimore judge has ruled against a November ballot measure that would have offered $1,000 to new parents in an effort to fight child poverty.
The proposed charter amendment, known as the “baby bonus,” oversteps the bounds of citizen authority, Judge John S. Nugent ruled Friday.
“Since the baby bonus amendment supplants the legislative authority of the City and does not implicate the form or structure of Baltimore City government, the Court finds that the proposed baby bonus amendment is unconstitutional,” Nugent wrote in the ruling.
The proposed baby bonus would have been available to all of Baltimore’s “new parents,” regardless of income upon the birth or adoption of a child, and it would cost about $7 million annually, according to the initiative’s campaign website, which is about 0.16% of the city’s budget.
The initiative wouldn’t raise taxes, but it would require an appropriation equal to 0.03% of the city’s property value. The Baltimore City Council would decide how to allocate funding.
Shortly after the measure gathered the necessary 10,000 signatures to appear on the November ballot, Baltimore’s mayor and City Council filed a lawsuit seeking to remove it.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office said in a statement that while the mayor was supportive of the proposed amendment’s objectives, “charter amendments that effectively commandeer the role of the legislature go against Maryland law and the City’s charter.”
“There can be broad policy objectives … that could be advanced through charter amendments, but this is not a broad policy objective,” attorney Thomas Webb, who represented the city, said at a hearing Wednesday. “This is a very specific mechanism to advance a very specific policy objective.”
Nugent agreed, writing in his ruling that the proposal “removes all meaningful discretion from the City.”
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The Maryland Child Alliance, which spearheaded the initiative, plans to appeal the ruling to the Maryland Supreme Court.
“A proper reading of the case law, and the Maryland Constitution, will find the Baby Bonus to be constitutional and the voters will get to decide in November,” Nate Golden, the president of the Maryland Child Alliance, said in a post on X Friday.