Maryland's $3 billion deficit on lawmakers' minds as legislative session nears end
Maryland lawmakers are continuing to negotiate ways to eliminate a $3 billion deficit with the legislative session set to end on Monday, April 7.
Last month, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and leaders in the General Assembly agreed on the
framework for the state's budget
. The 90 days of the legislative session have been contentious, with the state navigating budget cuts and how to generate revenue.
The approved budget framework introduces new taxes and significant reductions in state spending. The plan includes $2.3 billion in cuts, which is about $500 million more than the governor initially proposed.
General Assembly sources told WJZ these cuts will impact every agency in the state's government.
The Developmental Disability Administration will see one of the largest single-agency cuts at more than $150 million, according to disability advocates.
According to lawmakers, the budget framework maintains the governor's proposed tax code changes by creating two new tax brackets for the state's highest earners.
Those who make $500,000 per year will be taxed at 6.25%, while those making $1 million will be taxed at 6.5%. Currently, Marylanders who make over $250,000 are taxed at 5.75%.
Other fees and taxes will round out the $1.6 billion in revenue, including increasing the cannabis and sports betting taxes, according to The Baltimore Banner. There will also be a 3% tax on IT and data services, other vehicle fees, and a tax on vending machines.
"There was a lot of upset and angst about the decisions and those increases in fees and such," said Sen. Guy Guzzone, the chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee. "Well, guess what? The transportation trust fund wouldn't have the money necessary to do these things. Guess what? There were things that we didn't like, and we made changes. We didn't do that delivery fee that everybody seemed worked up about."
"You know, if this board had a couple of tax increases that were going up and said, 'Hey, look, we're plugging a couple of hundred million dollars, because we just couldn't get all the way there, that might be one thing. Honestly, this is a 1.5 $1.6 billion it's a huge tax increase combined. We cannot continue to go back to the taxpayers, again and again; it's going to cost us in this state">
Other bills we are keeping an eye on include changes to the Child Victims Act and legislation to help
federal workers who have lost their jobs in Maryland
.
In 2023,
the Child Victims Act
, which removed the statute of limitations and allowed victims to receive up to $890,000 per occurrence of abuse, was made a law.
Since then, 4,500 victims have filed claims, potentially putting the state on the hook for billions of dollars.
Maryland lawmakers are debating ways to strike a balance between properly compensating victims of alleged childhood sexual abuse in the Maryland Juvenile Justice System without bankrupting the state.
Democratic Delegate CT Wilson, a victim of childhood sexual abuse, introduced amendments to House Bill 1378, which would lower the payout cap for each claimant to $400,000.
It would also require an alternative dispute resolution process to promise transparency in these payouts.
"I wanted to make sure that whatever we do today, we don't so irreparably damage our state, that we must go to bankruptcy," Wilson said. "Because while the victims do need an opportunity to speak and they do need to come up in financial support, billions and billions of dollars is not what we can afford to do."
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