Gov. Wes Moore: Now’s the time to fix our fiscal crisis

On Wednesday, I will release my proposal to balance the state budget. For the third year in a row, we will not raise the sales tax or the property tax. Through reforms in the tax code, nearly twothirds of Marylanders will get a tax cut, and we will lower the corporate tax rate and focus on making Maryland more competitive and business-friendly. Additionally, our plan cuts spending by $2 billion. These bold actions are needed to prompt the kind of economic growth this moment requires and demands.

These arenʼt easy decisions. Our budget responds to two storms that are swirling around our state. The first storm is a fiscal crisis nearly a decade in the making. Under the former administration, state spending increased by 70% in the seven years before I took office, while our economic growth flatlined. We were spending, but we werenʼt growing. Emergency COVID money from the federal government papered over a structural deficit that had been predicted by experts since 2017. Now, we face the worst fiscal crisis in at least 20 years — worse than that of the Great Recession. The second storm is a stark new policy direction from the Trump-Vance Administration that threatens to disrupt Marylandʼs economy, which is already deeply reliant on the federal government.

In partnership with the General Assembly, it is our responsibility to help Marylanders weather these two storms and emerge stronger. We are guided by a single, clear principle: Build an economy that grows the middle class and gives everyone a pathway to work, wages and wealth. We will achieve that goal by creating jobs; prioritizing regulatory, procurement and permitting reform; and making it easier for businesses to choose Maryland, grow in Maryland and stay in Maryland.

I will propose new state investments in our ports and manufacturing, as well as leading industries to make Maryland the capital of innovation in quantum, cyber and artificial intelligence. With extraordinary assets on the leading edge of American ingenuity — like U.S. Cyber Command, federal labs and world-class universities — there is no reason why Maryland shouldnʼt already lead these areas. But while we are asset-rich, we have been strategy-poor. Our budget applies the right strategy to ensure Maryland wins the decade.