Question 1: Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026
Statewide — all of Maryland
General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Placed on the ballot by the General Assembly as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, Chapter 155 of the 2026 legislative session (House Bill 604), per the State Board of Elections' ballot question page.[1]
The question on the ballot
Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026: Providing that each budget submitted by the Governor shall include proposed expenditures necessary to implement wages, hours, fringe benefits, health benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment in each collective bargaining memorandum of understanding with State employees, whether the State and State employees reached those terms and conditions by mutual agreement or through a neutral decider's order. (Amending Article III of the Maryland Constitution)[1]
The amendment would amend Article III of the Maryland Constitution so that each budget the Governor submits must include the proposed expenditures needed to implement the wages, hours, fringe benefits, health benefits and other terms and conditions of employment in each collective bargaining memorandum of understanding with State employees, whether the State and employees reached those terms by mutual agreement or through a neutral decider's order.[1]
A YES vote means
A vote FOR this amendment means that the Governor has to include money in the proposed State budget to pay for agreements between the State and its employees. Agreements might include changes to wages, hours, fringe benefits, health benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. The Governor must put enough money in the State budget to cover the agreed upon pay and benefits for employees, whether those terms were negotiated or decided by a neutral decision-maker.
A NO vote means
A vote AGAINST the amendment means that the law about funding agreements between the State and State employees stays the same.
The law today
Under Article III, Section 52 of the Maryland Constitution the Governor must submit a budget each January containing a complete plan of proposed expenditures and estimated revenues, including estimates of appropriations for salaries payable by the State (Department of Legislative Services). Per WYPR, if the State and employee unions have not reached agreement by October 25, either party may request a fact finder who issues a non-binding wage recommendation by December 1, so the governor's office ultimately decides whether raises are offered. The companion statutory changes in the same bill (binding arbitration at impasse, a neutral arbitrator) take effect only if voters approve the amendment.[2][3]
Official fiscal estimate
Department of Legislative Services fiscal and policy note on HB 604 (Third Reader - Revised): if voters approve, State expenditures (all funds) increase annually, likely by at least $150,000 and possibly significantly more, beginning in FY 2028 for arbitration services and additional labor relations/human resources personnel; State personnel and other expenditures are affected, potentially significantly, as early as FY 2029, and cannot be reliably estimated. Revenues are not directly affected; local government finances are not directly affected. Any decision requiring an appropriation is contingent on General Assembly approval.[2]
Arguments made for
- Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland, to WYPR: "It was high time we updated collective bargaining and modernized collective bargaining here in Maryland."[3]
- Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland, to WYPR: "It's a fair process. It's not a process where one party has power over another. It's equality, and that's what we're about, and we think the state is about."[3]
Arguments made against
- None found in public sources.
On record in support
- AFSCME Maryland (President Patrick Moran spoke for the Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act and expressed confidence voters will approve the amendment)[3]
- Gov. Wes Moore (signed the Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 and told WYPR he is in broad support of collective bargaining reform)[3]
On record in opposition
- None found in public sources.
Research notes & limits
Ballot text and the for/against explanations are taken verbatim from the Maryland State Board of Elections' ballot question page. Maryland publishes no voter pamphlet with arguments, and no campaign or news statements for or against this question were found, so neither argument list is filled. The Ballotpedia list was not accessible; the three-question list is from the State Board's page and a Southern Maryland news outlet's guide. Fiscal note is the Department of Legislative Services' Third Reader - Revised version for HB 604, the bill that became Chapter 155. No organized opposition to the amendment itself was found (the Moore administration's budget department raised concerns about binding arbitration earlier in the bill's life, per press reports, but no current statement against the ballot question was found), so argumentsAgainst and opponents are empty; no ballot-committee finance figures were found.
Sources · 3
Researched 2026-10-19. Green citations are official government records.
- 1.Ballot questions for the November 3, 2026 election · Maryland State Board of Elections Official record
- 2.HB 604 Fiscal and Policy Note (Third Reader - Revised): Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 · Maryland Department of Legislative Services · 2026 Official record
- 3.Maryland voters will weigh in on state employee wage negotiation process in November · WYPR · 2026-05-01 News report