Over the past few months the inflation rate has soared to historic highs. Inflation has climbed to its highest level in the last 40 years, raising prices and leaving people stressed about their ability to make ends meet. This is especially the case for those who are low income and are still facing challenges from the effects of the pandemic. Policymakers should take steps to lessen the impact on families, as inflation reinforces the disparity between low- and high-income households across the nation and in Maryland. State policymakers can work to address these growing disparities and prioritize families, small businesses, and low-income Marylanders by taxing corporations with excess profit, continuing to provide support to low-income Marylanders, investing in care, and raising wages. In the past year, inflation has skyrocketed to an extent that has not been seen for decades. Between March of 2021 and March of 2022 inflation, typically measured…

As many as 130,000 Marylanders will soon face unaffordable health insurance costs – or lose their coverage entirely – if Congress does not act quickly to extend premium assistance available under last year’s American Rescue Plan. The law increased premium assistance for people buying insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and newly extended assistance to middle-income families who previously had to pay often unaffordable premiums without any help. Congress must act quickly to extend this assistance. The American Rescue Plan expanded premium assistance for people buying insurance through the individual marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act (as opposed to obtaining insurance through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid, or another source). This expansion is making insurance more affordable for Marylanders who aren’t eligible for Medicaid but still struggle to make ends meet and can’t get affordable insurance through their jobs. It also for the first time guarantees that middle-income families…

As the Baltimore City Council considers the mayor’s proposed budgets for city programs and services for the next budget year, which begins July 1, Baltimore faces a mixed economic forecast as the city emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic stably but is heading into cautious territory. Inflation, rising interest rates, and international conflicts are shaking the stability of the global economy at a time when most officials expected the country to bounce back to pre-pandemic norms. Despite the continued uncertainty, the city’s main revenue sources have continued to grow, allowing the city to fund new investments like additional school funding and a guaranteed income pilot program. Additionally, the influx of federal relief funds provides the city with historic levels of aid through 2026, preparing it for the road ahead. Revenue The city has significantly more revenue available to support public services in the upcoming budget year because of the influx of…

For many, this weekend is a time to honor our mothers and the role they played with love and dedication in caring for us while we were growing up. Be it a mother, grandmother or that person who looked out for you when you were growing up, it is a day to honor and show gratitude. Unfortunately, each year in the United States, hundreds of children do not get to celebrate Mother’s Day with their moms because we are in a maternal health crisis caused mostly by racial disparities in maternal health care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 700 women die each year from pregnancy-related causes. In fact, the US is the only industrialized nation where pregnancy-related deaths are rising. The disparities are stark, with Black women two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. The CDC estimates that…

Baltimore City FY23 Budget As the 2022 budget process gets underway, city residents have an opportunity tonight to weigh in on the city’s preliminary budget. This comes as policymakers weigh historic investments in education, infrastructure, and economic development, as well as increases to public safety and other priority areas. This brief will go over the budget process, major highlights of the fiscal year 2023 budget, and how you can get involved by giving testimony on the budget and its spending priorities. Budget Process Every year, the mayor’s administration identifies key objectives and priorities to address for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30. Around late fall in November, the Department of Finance develops current spending levels (CLS) and solicits request from city agencies for new spending proposals. The proposals then are evaluated by the mayor’s results team, a team of budget analysts, city employees, and residents,…

The 2022 Maryland legislative session saw the passage of several bills that will increase economic security and improve the wellbeing of children and families. Legislators not only passed the Time to Care Act, which will provide paid family and medical leave to all working Marylanders, but also bills that will help the child care sector recover from the pandemic, ensure that undocumented mothers and their babies have access to medical care, and bolster economic and housing supports, among others. Most of these bills are now on Governor Hogan’s desk for consideration. To support healthy, thriving families in Maryland, the governor should sign these bills into law. Economic Security For years working parents in Maryland have had to choose between taking care of their newborn child and their own health or not getting paid and keeping their job. This is a choice that no working parent should have to make, which…

The General Assembly overrode Gov. Hogan’s veto of the Time to Care Act days before the close of this year’s legislative session, guaranteeing nearly all Maryland workers paid time off to deal with major life events like a new child or a serious injury. This victory will make Maryland a better place to work, raise a family, grow up, and grow old. Maryland’s law is one of the strongest in the country. Here’s what it does: The law guarantees essentially all workers in the state the ability to take up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave to care for a new child, to care for a family member with a serious health condition, or to treat their own serious health condition. Benefits will be available beginning in January 2025. Low-wage workers will receive weekly benefits equal to 90% of their average weekly pay. The benefit rate gradually declines for…

Lawmakers reached an agreement with Gov. Hogan last week to create a new tax credit for individuals over age 65. The deal avoids major flaws in the governor’s original tax cut bill and in that sense is a significant improvement. However, even the improved plan does little for the subset of Maryland seniors who are truly struggling financially and costs the state more than $1.5 billion in lost revenue over five years. Moreover, the deal was negotiated entirely behind closed doors and offered the public no meaningful opportunity to weigh in. While the General Assembly is unlikely to change course now, they should have made better choices at earlier points in the process: Legislative leadership should have allowed more time for public input on the compromise. Although the bill serving as vehicle for the plan went through committee hearings in February, the current, dramatically redesigned version received preliminary approval before…

  The planned one-month suspension of the state gas tax that Governor Hogan, Comptroller Franchot, and legislative leaders announced last week will provide little benefit to Maryland drivers and comes at a big cost to public investments. While the current surge in gas prices related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is certainly creating challenges for Marylanders who are living paycheck-to-paycheck and rely on a car to go to work, this measure would do very little to ease their financial pain. Someone who fills up their tank once a week would save about $20 total, spread over the course of the month – whether they’re driving a 10-year-old Toyota or a brand new Porsche. At the same time, this tax break will cost the state nearly $94 million. The gas tax is the state’s main funding source for state and local transportation projects, so that means either the state will have…

Gov. Hogan’s proposal to eliminate income taxes on retired individuals would cost the state billions each year once fully phased in and hand a windfall to the wealthy few, according to estimates from state analysts. The plan would cost the state and counties $7.7 billion altogether by 2028, undermining the shared investments all Marylanders – including seniors – rely on. More than half of tax cuts under the plan would go to the small minority of Maryland households with federal adjusted gross income over $200,000. The revenue loss would make it harder to support investments that build statewide opportunity, such as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, while primarily benefiting the small subset of overwhelmingly white households that hold the bulk of built-up wealth. The bill is a radical, multibillion-dollar plan to redistribute income to the wealthiest, and will do more to harm low-income seniors than help them. Lawmakers should say…