Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Friday he will veto a measure to create a commission to study potential slavery reparations in the state, saying that while it was a difficult decision, the issue already has been studied and now is the time “to focus on the work itself.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday vetoed a bill that would have required the state to define the economic harms to Black descendants of enslaved people and recommend remedies, dealing a blow to reparations supporters who counted on the only Black governor of a U.S. state to be an ally.

Wes Moore, the nation’s lone sitting Black governor, diverged from fellow Democratic governors in rejecting a measure that would have studied reparations.