Maryland General Assembly reaches agreement on framework for 2026 state budget

CBS News

20-03-2025

The Maryland General Assembly reached an agreement on the framework for the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget, lawmakers announced Thursday.
The agreement comes almost two months after Gov. Wes Moore introduced his
$67.3 billion budget proposal
. The proposal aimed to address the state's $2.7 billion budget deficit.
On Thursday, lawmakers announced the agreed-upon framework cuts an additional $500 million from the governor's initial proposal.
According to Gov. Moore, this is the largest amount of funding that has been cut from the Maryland state budget in 16 years.
The governor said the budget does three things; reforms the tax code without relying on the middle class, grows and diversifies the economy and invests in the people of Maryland.
According to lawmakers, the budget creates a high-income tax bracket for the wealthiest Marylanders, increases tax rates for gaming and cannabis and enacts a 3% fee on IT services.
The budget will also provide tax breaks for low- and middle-income residents who lawmakers said would struggle the most under the current presidential administration.
According to Gov. Moore, 94% of Marylanders will either get a tax cut or see no change in their income taxes under the agreed-upon budget. In the governor's initial proposal, 66% of Marylands would have seen tax cuts.
"We are asking those of us who have done exceptionally well to pay slightly more, so we can have the best schools in the country, so we can support law enforcement and our firefighters, so we can make sure that we are growing our economy," Gov. Moore said.
According to the governor, this is the third year in a row that there will not be increases in the broad-based sales tax or state property tax.
During the announcement Thursday, lawmakers said the budget also aims to support those impacted by federal workforce and budget cuts as the Trump administration works to make the government more efficient.
The effort has resulted in thousands of
layoffs from government agencies
and
funding cuts
for research and education programs.
"As [President] Trump continues his assault on workers, healthcare and our most vulnerable, we are preserving funding for state employee salaries, cancer research, victims of crime and DDA [Developmental Disabilities Administration]," said Speaker Adrienne Jones
Gov. Moore, citing the credit rating agency Moody's, said the federal cuts pose a greater threat to the State of Maryland than any other state in the country.