To provide for the retrocession of the District of Columbia to Maryland, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill would give D.C. residents full voting representation in Congress by returning most of the District of Columbia to the State of Maryland, a process called retrocession. A small Federal District containing key government buildings (the White House, Capitol, Supreme Court) would remain as the seat of federal government, but the residential areas where most D.C. residents live would become part of Maryland.
Who Benefits and How
D.C. residents gain full Congressional representation: they would vote for Maryland's U.S. Senators and House members instead of having only a non-voting delegate. Federal employees and retirees in D.C. are protected, as the bill ensures their retirement benefits, civil service benefits, and employment rights continue unchanged. Maryland gains additional population, tax base, and Congressional representation.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Maryland must accept responsibility for governing the former D.C. territory, including courts, schools, and public services. The Federal Government retains financial obligations for existing D.C. federal employee benefits. Residents of the remaining Federal District lose the ability to vote for President (unless the 23rd Amendment is repealed) and have no Congressional representation.
Key Provisions
- Retrocedes all D.C. territory to Maryland except a small Federal District containing government buildings
- Preserves voting rights for Federal District residents by allowing them to vote absentee in their state of most recent domicile
- Protects federal employee benefits for D.C. government workers
- Transfers all pending judicial proceedings from D.C. courts to Maryland courts
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Retrocedes most of the District of Columbia to Maryland while maintaining a smaller Federal District, thereby giving D.C. residents full Congressional representation and voting rights through the State of Maryland.
Key Policy Areas
Elections & Voting Rights, Federal-State Relations, Government Administration, Federal Employment, Judiciary
Primary Purpose
Retrocedes most of the District of Columbia to Maryland while maintaining a smaller Federal District, thereby giving D.C. residents full Congressional representation and voting rights through the State of Maryland.
Policy Domains
Title I - Retrocession and Federal District
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- D.C. residents
- Maryland state government
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- D.C. municipal government
- Federal District residents
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title II - Voting and Elections
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- D.C. residents gaining Maryland representation
- Federal District residents with prior state domicile
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- State election officials
- Federal District residents without prior state domicile
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Title III - Federal Benefits and Services
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- D.C. federal retirees
- D.C. federal employees
- Public Defender Service employees
- Court system employees
- Parole Commission employees
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal Government (financial obligations)
- Maryland state government (administrative responsibilities)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Griffith introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bureau of Prisons, Coast Guard, D.C. Delegate office staff
Positive-direction: Coast Guard, D.C. Public Defender Service employees transitioning to Maryland, D.C. civil service employees with pre-merit system employment, D.C. court system, D.C. court system employees transitioning to Maryland, D.C. federal retirees receiving benefits under the Retirement Protection Act of 1997, Department of Defense, Federal agencies with D.C. location requirements, U.S. Parole Commission employees transitioning to Maryland
Negative-direction: Bureau of Prisons, D.C. Delegate office staff, D.C. Mayor and Council, D.C. municipal government, Federal government, Maryland court system, State election officials, State of Maryland
D.C. inmates in federal prison facilities, D.C. residents, Federal District residents
Positive-direction: D.C. inmates in federal prison facilities, D.C. residents, Federal District residents with prior state domicile, Litigants with pending D.C. court cases, Virginia, Maryland, and former D.C. residents
Negative-direction: Federal District residents
Organizations and agencies required to be located in D.C.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_state"
- → State of Maryland
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "each_state"
- → Each U.S. State
- "the_state"
- → State of Maryland
- "the_federal_government"
- → Federal Government of the United States
Note: The State referred to in Title I sections 101-123 specifically means Maryland as the receiving state, while Each State in section 221 refers to all U.S. states for voting purposes.
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A person who resides in the Federal District and is qualified to vote in the State of their most recent domicile.
The area serving as the seat of the Government of the United States, as described in section 111, consisting of principal Federal monuments, the White House, Capitol Building, Supreme Court Building, and Federal office buildings adjacent to the Mall and Capitol.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology