Gov. Wes Moore announces $2B in cuts, tax hikes as Maryland faces budget deficit
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland is facing a budget crisis and Gov. Wes Moore has said the state is going to have to slash spending and increase revenue to fix it.
In Annapolis Wednesday, Moore explained how he plans to cut $2 billion from the budget and said he’ll be hiking taxes on the state’s top earners. There will also be higher taxes on food delivery, sports betting and recreational marijuana.
What's next:
Moore says Maryland is facing a $3 billion shortfall, so even with $2 billion in cuts, they still need to come up with another $1 billion.
Under the $67 billion budget sales and property taxes remain unchanged. Two-thirds of Marylanders will get tax cuts but those $2 billion in cuts will hit everything from higher education to developmental disabilities programs.
"This budget crisis has been projected since 2017, so it’s not a new thing and we understood the type of crisis we were entering into and I think that’s also we were very deliberate in making sure how we were going to present a balanced budget," Gov. Moore said.
Moore’s also added two new higher 6.5% tax brackets for people making $500,000 and people making $1 million a year.
"Households earning less than $30,000 pay consistently more at 9.6%. Our proposal seeks to level those differences," Maryland Secretary of Budget and Management Helene Grady said.
What they're saying:
Republicans tell FOX 5 that Marylanders will be hit hard every day with higher state taxes and fees on everything from food delivery, sports gambling, casino visits and registering their own cars.
"They estimate at least 18% of Marylanders their state tax bill is going to go up because of his proposal, so that’s impactful," said Maryland delegate Jason Buckle, House Republican leader.
And former Gov. Larry Hogan posted to social media that "this is the wrong path for Maryland."
"We’ve seen this happen before and what happened was those individuals left our state and I think we’re going to see them leave again," said Republican Sen. Paul Corderman, who serves on the Maryland Budget and Taxation Committee.
By law, Maryland must have a balanced budget and the General Assembly has until April 7 to pass this budget.