When children are facing a crisis, it is critical that Maryland’s foster care programs provide them with stable, safe and supervised care. Recent media reports of foster youth being housed in unlicensed facilities suggest that the state is not living up to this basic standard. The report indicates that foster children were placed in hotels, a commercial office building in downtown Baltimore and in some cases were left in emergency departments and other sections of hospitals even though they had no medical reason for being there. So far, we know that in the first six months of this year, 11 children have spent at least one night at the Baltimore City Department of Social Services office building while 56 have been placed there for a total of 200 hours. According to the Baltimore Banner analysis, each year 80-100 children in state custody stay in hospitals longer than medically needed, mainly…

Recent Census Bureau data demonstrate that it is possible to reduce poverty and prevent hardship through government action—support that is especially needed in Maryland as the poverty rate in the state increased significantly between 2019 and 2021. While relief measures such as the federal and state Child Tax Credits and the eligibility expansion of the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) helped mitigate hardship associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers must extend and restore such measures to reduce the economic burden that continues to harm Maryland families and children. Percentage of Marylanders living in poverty increased compare to pre-pandemic levels Alarmingly, the percentage of people living in poverty in Maryland increased from 9.0% in 2019 to 10.3% in 2021. Specifically, poverty rates for children under 5 years old saw the greatest change from 11.7% in 2019 to 15.2% in 2021, with children living in single female-headed households seeing the largest…

Last month, a Baltimore City Council committee voted down a bill to study and create a report on the impact of tax increment financing (TIF) to the City’s overall economic development and if such financial tools can be used equitably in underserved communities. The bill would have required several city agencies, including the Finance Department and Department of Housing and Community Development, to collaborate and conduct the study. Despite there being no opposition from the agencies, the bill failed. Its defeat comes as groups such as the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore continue to propose new TIF districts. Additional tax breaks for developers and big businesses would be a bad deal for city residents and could reinforce the city’s longstanding patterns of racial segregation and under-investment in predominately Black and Brown communities. Earlier this year the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore’s proposed an area-wide TIF district that would cover the central business…

The Board of Revenue Estimates’ September update showed continuing fiscal strength alongside economic uncertainty. Our healthy revenue outlook and substantial stockpile of cash offer an opportunity to strengthen support for the things Maryland communities need to thrive. At the same time, policymakers should ensure we are able to make a long-term commitment to Maryland families by cleaning up our tax code and asking more of the wealthy few. The Board of Revenue Estimates revised expected general fund revenues for the state’s current budget year (July 2022 to June 2023) upward by $1.2 billion, a more than 5% increase above the previous estimate. This comes on the heels of final data on last year’s budget showing general fund revenues $1.6 billion above expectations, with a $1.1 billion unassigned surplus (cash not set aside for continuing spending or put toward savings). !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r…

The federal child tax credit (CTC) improves quality of life for millions of children across the United States, and expansions under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) demonstrated the power of a more robust CTC to protect kids from hardship. A proposal from Utah Sen. Mitt Romney would redesign the CTC and reinstate certain lapsed benefits of the ARPA expansion. However, the plan has serious shortcomings that would hit children in Maryland harder than those in many other states: The Romney plan would benefit only about half as many Maryland children in low- and middle-income families as the ARPA expansion. The Romney plan would actually increase total tax responsibilities for low- and middle-income families in Maryland. Nationwide, Black families would see their average taxes slightly increase under the Romney plan, compared to a sizable reduction under the ARPA expansion. While the Romney plan is not entirely without merit, lawmakers should…

Content note: This post references data points related to suicide. Maryland ranks 19th in child well-being according to the 2022 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, just released by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Kids Count data book, released annually (this is the 33rd edition), is a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that analyzes how children and families are faring. Each year, the Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains —economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors — and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall. The data in this year’s report are a mix of pre-pandemic and more recent figures. Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Minnesota rank first, second and third in overall well-being in the 2022 Data Book; Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico ranked 48th, 49th and 50th. The report this…

A recently unveiled plan to slash Baltimore City’s property tax rate would likely cost upward of $400 million per year, force deep cuts to education and other services, and make the city a less attractive place to live. The proposal would cut the city’s property tax rate by 44% over six years, from 2.248% to 1.250% of assessed value. Mathematically, there is no way around it: The cost of this plan would be astronomical. Based on current property values, the plan would cost about $443 million in lost revenue once fully phased in. This is more than the city’s entire contribution to Baltimore City Public Schools. Given likely property value growth trends, the future cost will be even greater. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r…

With today’s state filing deadline putting taxes on many Marylanders’ minds, there’s no better time to remind policymakers of the need to permanently improve the federal and state child tax credits. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is among the most powerful policies available for reducing economic hardship, and research links higher family income to lasting improvements in children’s health, education, and future earnings. Policymakers took important positive steps in 2021 – significantly expanding and improving the credit at the federal level, and newly creating a state CTC here in Maryland – but have since allowed us to slide backward. Congress should act quickly to make the American Rescue Plan improvements to the CTC permanent, and the Maryland General Assembly should expand the state CTC during its 2023 session. The Federal CTC: Progress, Backsliding, and Opportunity Last year’s American Rescue Plan made major – but temporary – improvements to the federal…

Homeownership is a key source of wealth building and is often the foundation for one’s life. Unfortunately, the lack of affordable housing supply has placed homeownership out of reach for many people with low and moderate incomes, first-time homebuyers, and communities that have been historically and systemically locked out of homeownership. Compared with white households, Black Marylanders tend to have higher rates of cost burden – meaning they are having to pay more for housing than they can reasonably afford – and lower levels of homeownership with their homeownership rate being 26 points lower than white households in the state. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation, officially making June National Homeownership Month with the goal of raising awareness of the benefits of homeownership and the work that remains to achieve fairness and equity in access to affordable homeownership for all Americans. Maryland is facing a housing shortage…

LGBTQ+ Marylanders are integral members of communities across our state. Maryland is home to more than half a million LGBTQ+ adults – plus thousands of children – coming from all backgrounds and demographics, not concentrated in any particular age, race, or education group. But because of structural barriers – some old, some being built and reinforced right now – LGBTQ+ Marylanders are exposed to multiple hardships more often than their straight, cisgender counterparts. We can do more to build opportunity and justice for LGBTQ+ Marylanders and make our state stronger and more inclusive. This is an especially critical time for protecting LGBTQ+ Marylanders, as powerful forces are intensifying assaults on their rights and their safety: States around the country have enacted or are considering laws that restrict the rights of transgender and other LGBTQ+ residents and heighten stigma. In Maryland, the Carroll County School Board prohibited displaying LGBTQ+ pride flags…