ANNAPOLIS–As the General Assembly starts its new legislative session, one big thing is on the mind of Maryland lawmakers: fixing a massive budget deficit that may call for tax hikes and cuts to beloved programs.
Gov. Wes Moore emphasized that a “season of hard choices” is beginning, and that balancing the budget is the top priority in the coming weeks and months. On Wednesday, he said that he would put forth a budget proposal that includes $2 billion in cuts.
“I inherited a structural deficit that is the largest we have seen in two decades,” Moore said at a panel hosted by The Daily Record. “We didn’t actually address the structural issues.”
One issue that Moore and other Maryland lawmakers are facing with Trump taking office is a potential rollback of federal dollars flowing into the state, a reality that would make eliminating the $3 billion deficit all the more challenging.
“Frankly, we have been building budgets based on the fact that trillions of dollars were coming from the federal government,” Moore told Daily Record journalist Jack Hogan. “That’s not happening anymore.”
Speaking at the same event, Senate President Bill Ferguson echoed Moore’s commitment to balancing Maryland’s finances, adding that addressing the deficit will be the number one priority for the General Assembly.
“The budget is going to drive a lot of the decision making,” said Ferguson, who represents Baltimore City. “I think the expectation for the 2025 session is, we’ve got to figure out the budget first and foremost, and everything else is going to be secondary to that.”
The legislative session opened Wednesday with pomp and circumstance, with Moore addressing both chambers and members publicly praising their parties’ leaders. Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones were reinstalled as Senate majority leader and House speaker, to shouts and applause from their supporters.
All the while, the grim specter of the deficit – and the significant measures that will have to be taken to address it – hung over the proceedings.
Moore said that many of the planned cuts will be focused on making government operations more efficient.
“There is a lot that government can do to make sure we are tightening our belt, that we are being more efficient, that we are being swifter and faster,” Moore said.
The second part of improving efficiency, he added, is to ensure that funds flow towards goals and programs that are “effective and sustainable,” leaving those that don’t match that description on the cutting room floor.
One area that could potentially see cuts is transportation.
Michael Sakata, the president and CEO of the Maryland Transportation Builders and Materials Association, said he believes that such cuts would run counter to the state’s goals of building a more robust economy.
“We need to remain competitive by investing in transportation,” Sakata told Capital News Service, saying that, in a post-COVID world, people are commuting to work from farther away. They rely on efficient highways and infrastructure to get to their jobs, he said.
Sakata is not the only one with concerns about Maryland’s potential cutbacks.
Moore’s $2 billion dollars of planned cuts still leave a third of the deficit untouched, without a clear plan as to how it will be addressed. Maryland Republicans are concerned that Democrats may implement tax hikes to address the remaining $1 billion.
Speaking at a news conference for Republican leadership, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Hershey Jr. said that Republicans will be against any such measures.
“The Republican caucus stands firm that we are not going to be supporting any type of tax or fee increases at all,” said Hershey, who represents Kent, Queen Anne’s, Cecil and Caroline Counties. “We are going to have to balance this budget strictly on finding additional cuts.”
One policy item that Republicans want to roll back is the 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act, which was aimed at reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s unworkable,” said Del. Jesse Pippy, a Republican who represents Frederick County. “We’re trying to solve a $3 billion budget deficit that’s going to balloon to $6.2 billion by 2030 and at the same time, we’re cutting our nose off to spite our face by passing unworkable climate solution legislation that is going to cost billions of dollars to implement.”