Approved Budget Cuts Hinder Maryland’s Ability to Invest in Higher Education and Other Necessities

Benjamin Orr, Executive Director of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy, issued the following statement today in response to Governor O’Malley’s request for $84 million in cuts from Maryland’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget, which took effect only yesterday:

These cuts will undermine Maryland’s ability to foster a strong economy whose benefits are broadly shared. 

The governor’s decision underscores the urgency with which Maryland must take steps to make sure the resources are available to meet growing needs. 

Only then can the state fully invest in schools, transportation, safe communities, and the other building blocks of economic growth.

Maryland’s revenue problem is not only the result of a slow economy. Rather, this is the natural outcome of long-term policies that benefit residents that are already well-off, at the expense of the resources needed to promote broad prosperity. This year’s estate tax cut was a particularly egregious example of this trend: a tax cut for the wealthiest 3 percent of Marylanders paid for by the other 97 percent.

As the state takes action to address changing revenue projections in the short term, it’s also time to make long-term changes in tax policies. Reversing the estate tax rollback would be a good place to start.