GOP lawmakers on Moore administration budget: Not enough cuts, too many taxes – Maryland Matters

When a reporter framed a question Thursday with a line often used by Gov. Wes Moore (D) — that the state can’t simply cut its way to prosperity — Sen. Justin Ready (R-Carroll and Frederick) laughed out loud.

That was essentially the message from House and Senate Republicans on the Moore administration’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget: Despite billions in reported tax cuts and program reductions, the plan “is still a massive tax-and-spend budget,” they said.

“I don’t think you can say we’re cutting,” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany). “Any attempt to couch this as a tax-cut budget is simply inaccurate.”

He was backed by about 20 GOP legislators who gathered to criticize the administration’s $67.3 billion budget, in a respectful but pointed 30-minute session that complained about spending mandates and new revenue increases.

The budget has already been criticized by some Democratic legislative leaders, who worry that it cuts too deeply, particularly with delays and deferrals in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the sweeping 10-year education reform plan now in its third year.

The back-and-forth comes amid projections that the state faces as much as a $3 billion deficit in fiscal 2026, and that the structural deficit could nearly double in a matter of years without action.

Against that backdrop, Moore last week unveiled a budget that he said was carefully balanced to achieve a “growth agenda.” The goal is to jump-start the sluggish state economy, which Moore said has been holding back the budget. Only by growing the economy will the state achieve the stable, long-term growth that will help reduce structural deficits, the administration argues.

Moore said his budget includes about $2 billion a year in spending cuts and operating efficiencies and about $1 billion in new revenues.

The cuts include $200 million from the Developmental Disabilities Administration, $110 million from the University System of Maryland and $50 million in general government operating efficiencies, among others.

Democratic lawmakers have said funding for the Blueprint has been secured for the next two years and insist that it should not be on the table, but the administration, due in part to pressure from local governments and school boards, has deferred some parts of the plan — a move assailed by education groups and declared dead on arrival by House Democrats.

The plan calls for cuts to the corporate tax rate, offset by closing loopholes in the corporate tax structure,  and a restructuring of the tax code to result in income tax reductions for about two-thirds of Maryland taxpayers. The governor claimed that close to 90% of Marylanders would either see their income taxes go down or remain flat, while those earning $500,000 and more would see a higher tax rate.

The budget also calls for a range of other taxes, on sports betting and cannabis sales, and fees, like a proposed 75-cent fee for retail deliveries, among other potential charges.

But the Republicans’ analysis of the budget lowers the cuts to about $1.3 billion and raises the level of new revenues to the same, while classifying about $800 million in supposed savings as just redirected funds. Ready called the budget “a tale of what’s been said versus what has actually been proposed.”

While they acknowledged lowered taxes in the governor’s plan, they said many those were not actual cuts in spending but just a reduction in the rate of growth. And they said any savings are more than offset by higher taxes elsewhere, harping in particular on a proposal to tack on a 75-cent fee for every retail delivery from services like Amazon or DoorDash.

“Every Marylander will pay some sort of additional tax and fee under this budget – every Marylander,” said Ready.

That was echoed by House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy (R-Frederick).

“The biggest complaint we get is that it’s too expensive to live here,” Pippy said. “We’ve just got to be straight with Marylanders … We’re making Maryland more unaffordable.”

Republicans complained that the state is still tied to too much spending, citing the Blueprint and proposed spending on climate change initiatives as areas that could be cut.

The GOP lawmakers all gave credit to Moore for his position that part of the solution is to grow the state’s overall economy and spur private job growth.

“We’re happy that Gov. Moore is one of the first Democrats I’ve seen, at least in my 11 years here, who at least acknowledges that we just can’t create more and more and more and more spending forever,” Buckel said. “He at least acknowledges that private sector job creation is key to Maryland’s economic future.”

But they all also said he is not going far enough.

“His idea of growing the economy is taxpayers paying more so we can find a way to invest their money,” Ready said.

The GOP press event came several hours after breakfast with the governor that they described as a pleasant, friendly event.

“It was a very polite and very friendly breakfast,” Buckel said. “We had good conservations about the picture of the state and where we want things to go, and I think we share that goal of increased private-sector growth.

“He undertands that our perspective is not tax and fee increases, our perspective is, you have to have some level of real cuts, you have to phase things out,” he said.

But Buckel is also a realist: With Democratic super-majorities in the House and Senate, he knows there is only so much Republicans can do except try to get taxpayers motivated and argue their case to Democratic lawmakers.

“We’re going to be there until sine die [the final day of the session] having those conversations,” he said.