Fiscal Briefing Highlights Clear Choices for Maryland Policymakers
Members of the Maryland General Assembly’s fiscal committees received a briefing on the state’s fiscal outlook Thursday afternoon, emphasizing the need for policymakers to either cut funding for core services like education and transportation or to raise significant new revenue to meet the needs of Maryland families and communities.
“The choice is clear,” MDCEP President and CEO Benjamin Orr said. “We should maintain our commitment to improving our public schools and providing a great education for every child. We need to move forward with transit projects like the Red Line and Southern Maryland rapid transit so that more people can get to good jobs and our economy can continue to grow.”
As MDCEP has outlined in past analysis, Maryland continues to leave significant revenue on the table each year by failing to close major corporate tax loopholes that most other states have closed. The state could also make its tax system more equitable by ensuring the wealthiest Marylanders pay their fair share in income and other taxes.
“Our tax system today is upside-down, asking much less of the wealthy few than it asks of working families,” Orr said. “An equitable tax system will also ensure that Maryland can fund the public services that families and communities need to thrive.”
Major takeaways from the fiscal briefing:
- The cost of maintaining current service levels is expected to exceed ongoing revenues by $322 million during the budget year that begins next summer (FY 2025), growing to a $2.1 billion shortfall by FY 2029.
- Our short-term fiscal picture is slightly improved from earlier this year, with the FY 2025 shortfall having shrunk by 23%.
- While our fiscal challenges are significant, they are by no means unprecedented. For example, in fall 2019, state analysts projected a cumulative five-year shortfall slightly worse than today’s projection.
Past MDCEP analysis on budget and revenue:
- Maryland’s Fiscal Challenges Are Real, But With Fair Tax Reform We Can Fix Them
- A Roadmap for Tax Justice in Maryland
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Media Contact
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About Maryland Center on Economic Policy
The Maryland Center on Economic Policy advances innovative policy ideas to foster broad prosperity and help our state be the standard-bearer for responsible public policy. We engage in research, analysis, strategic communications, public education, and grassroots alliances promoting robust debate and greater public awareness of the policy choices Maryland residents face together. mdeconomy.org
