Budget books for the fiscal 2025 budget proposed last year by Gov. Wes Moore (D). File photo by Bryan P. Sears.
It wasn’t as hot as usual in Ocean City in August this year, as we attended the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Conference, an annual ritual where elected officials, government agencies, community organizations and businesses congregate. Oftentimes, the tone for the next year’s legislative session gets set at MACo, as leaders take their cues from the governor.
Some key takeaways for me were:
Maryland’s economy continues to produce one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 2.7%, yet our economy is not growing as it should due to high cost of housing, long commutes and young workers leaving the state as a result.
Maryland’s budget is facing a huge shortfall in the next fiscal year, as federal COVID-19 relief has ended and state revenues are not growing enough to meet needs.
New investments in education as required by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future are putting pressure on everything else.
It’s perhaps not surprising that not very many people were talking about how to solve our looming fiscal crisis, but definitely talking about its impact.
In order for Maryland’s economy to grow, we need to address the gaps that are holding us back – workforce participation that is hindered by unequal access to housing, child care, transportation and health care – including mental health. We also need to address our workforce of the future with a robust education system and access to lifelong learning.
What is the way forward to meet our obligations to education, to communities, and maintain fiscal responsibility? What is the impact on families who are having difficulty making ends meet?
The Fair Share Maryland Plan provides common sense solutions for a future that looks better than the past – for economic growth and well-being of our residents. Maryland’s tax code currently enables high-income people to pay a lower share of their income in state and local taxes than moderate and low-income Marylanders. The code also enables many corporations to make a profit here in Maryland and pay little or no state taxes.
The Fair Share Maryland Plan corrects these imbalances with modest increases in tax rates for wealthy Marylanders and closing a major tax loophole by instituting combined reporting for corporations – a strategy that is used in red and blue states alike to ensure companies doing business in Maryland also contribute to the public services they benefit from here by paying taxes. Fair Share also makes life more affordable for middle-class Marylanders by increasing and expanding access to the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.
As one of the wealthiest states in the nation, Maryland absolutely can afford to invest in a 21st century school system, and we must do so to maintain our competitive edge. We must also expand access to affordable child care that can enable parents – especially women – to enter and re-enter the workforce as fewer women are working now than before the pandemic. Maryland must invest in housing that enables our teachers, firefighters and police to live in the communities they serve.
Austerity in budgeting by cutting key areas critical to our growth will only take us backwards. After all, the people who live here are the real key to Maryland’s economic vibrancy and growth – investing in our people is the path forward for all of us.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 10:30:00
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