WITH NO NEW TAXES, HOW MOORE’s 2027 BUDGET DEALS WITH A $1.5B SHORTFALL: Gov. Wes Moore announced his state budget plan Wednesday, which balances a $1.5 billion projected shortfall through some major cuts, as well as drawing on state reserves. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
- Blaming the cuts by the Trump administration on the federal workforce for the budget gap, Moore said he will not raise taxes and fees on Marylanders. Instead his proposal balances the budget with targeted cuts and transfers from other state funds in to the general fund. Moore said it will maintain the Rainy Day Fund at 8 percent and cut operating expenses by $154 million. William Carter/WBAL-NewsRadio.
- Among the biggest components of the budget-balancing equation: $322 million transferred from the capital budget (which pays for building things) to the operating budget (which pays for salaries and programs). $292 million moved out of the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which pays for clean energy projects, and into the general fund. And there is more. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- The spending plan includes a $150 million cut to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, pulls nearly $300 million from a fund intended for renewable energy initiatives, and asks local governments to pick up $39 million in additional costs. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
- Moore said that the proposal will maintain an 8% rainy day fund and a minimum cash balance of $100 million. The budget also includes a record $124 million allocated to public safety efforts, $2 million more than last year, and expands investment in the housing supply to $352 million. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
- Moore has carved construction funds for a controversial and expensive Baltimore jail out of his proposed capital budget for the next fiscal year, raising new questions about the fate of the project. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.
- House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said the budget “is largely based on accounting tricks” that do not make meaningful changes in spending. “We are spending more than last year, increasing Medicaid and Blueprint education spending, and neither cutting the size of state government nor reducing its costs,” Buckel said in a statement. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
STATE BOUGHT A $4.5M FARM TO BOOST HORSE-RACING; IT WON’T BE USING IT: As chairman of the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority board, Greg Cross sought and won approval for the state to purchase Shamrock Farm, a bucolic, 328-acre site in Carroll County, for $4.5 million. However, engineers had not fully evaluated Shamrock before the vote, and have since determined the terrain is too hilly to be developed on budget. Environmental regulators found major issues. Carroll County’s local government, once supportive of the development, chilled to it. Now estimated to cost north of $210 million, the Shamrock Farm project is dead, state officials say. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
MORE THAN HALF OF MARYLAND HOSPITALS CUT ER WAIT TIMES: Just over half of Maryland’s hospitals were able to reduce their emergency department wait times last year, but state officials acknowledged that more work is needed as the state pushes to improve Maryland’s infamously lengthy emergency room wait times. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
CHANGES TO SEARCH LAWS AMONG PUBLIC DEFENDER’s LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES: The Maryland Office of the Public Defender laid out a legislative agenda Wednesday that calls for more funding for the office as well changes to sentencing and search laws, among others, that will help public defenders to their jobs. “We are tired, bone tired, of fighting a system that was designed to fail the very people that we represent,” Public Defender Natasha Dartigue during a chilly rally on Lawyers Mall. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: PUBLIC CYNICISM OF GOVERNMENT STARTS WITH GOVERNMENT: Americans routinely tell pollsters they don’t feel public officials genuinely care about people like themselves. One major driver of this cynicism is the government’s double standard: one set of rules for itself, and a much harsher set for the public. I recently experienced this hypocrisy firsthand regarding a low-profile but significant issue: local government’s refunding of taxpayer overpayments. These overpayments happen surprisingly often and they have become a quiet but significant source of government revenue. J.H. Snider/Maryland Reporter.
REDISTRICTING COULD PIT HARRIS AGAINST ELFRETH: Gov. Wes Moore and his fellow Democratic allies are barreling toward an ugly intraparty fight over redistricting, as his advisory commission voted late Tuesday to advance a conceptual map that could oust the state’s lone Republican member of Congress, who also is the House Freedom Caucus chair. Erin Cox, Katie Mettler and Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
- The proposed district boundaries would make the reelection campaign of Republican Rep. Andy Harris more difficult. U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a Democrat, lives in what would become the 1st District, setting up a potential battle between Elfreth and Harris. Katherine Wilson/The Baltimore Sun.
WHO’s RAISED WHAT IN THE BALTIMORE COUNTY EXEC’s RACE: Finance reports released Wednesday show big dollars are fueling two of the campaigns for the Democratic nomination for Baltimore County executive. But the two other candidates say they have enough money to be competitive. Council members Izzy Patoka and Julian Jones have been eyeing running for county executive for years. Their fundraising totals reflect that. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
HOW B’MORE PLANS TO PROTECT ITS $500M SETTLEMENT IN OPIOID FUNDS: The Baltimore City Council and Mayor’s Office have their work cut out for them in keeping an eye on more than half a billion dollars in opioid restitution funds the city won from drug distributors and manufacturers. In the coming year, the city will allocate about $36 million in those funds to organizations in hopes of reducing overdoses, increasing harm intervention and educating the public. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
ARUNDEL MAN SHOT BY ICE CHARGED WITH RESISTING ARREST: A man who was shot by immigration enforcement officials in Maryland on Christmas Eve is facing federal charges of resisting arrest, according to court documents. Adam Thompson/WJZ-TV.
- The man, Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, a Portuguese immigrant who overstayed his visa, suffered a collapsed lung after being shot in the left thigh and upper right part of his back. Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.
