{"id":103003,"date":"2026-04-10T08:43:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/moore-legislative-leaders-sign-70-8-billion-budget-into-law\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T08:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T11:43:36","slug":"moore-legislative-leaders-sign-70-8-billion-budget-into-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/moore-legislative-leaders-sign-70-8-billion-budget-into-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Moore, legislative leaders sign $70.8 billion budget into law"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gov. Wes Moore (D) and legislative leaders declared victory Wednesday in their efforts to address affordability issues for taxpayers, as they signed a $70.8 billion budget for fiscal 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis budget makes life just a little bit more affordable for our people,\u201d Moore said before signing the budget Wednesday morning. \u201cThis budget strengthens Maryland\u2019s economic competitiveness, and it all starts with protecting our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to the affordability fight were efforts to rein in spiking utility costs. Those got a boost Wednesday when House Speaker Joseline Pe\u00f1a-Melnyk (D-Prince George\u2019s and Anne Arundel) and Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) announced an agreement on comprehensive utility reform legislation.<\/p>\n

That bill, should it win final passage as expected, would save ratepayers an estimated $150 per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing has been more frustrating for Marylanders than what has happened to their energy bill,\u201d Pe\u00f1a-Melnyk said at the budget signing, several hours before the deal on a utility bill was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cAffordability comes first, because if people can\u2019t afford to live and raise a family here, nothing else matters,\u201d the speaker said. \u201cMarylanders have been hit hard. They\u2019ve been hit hard by inflation, tariffs, devastating federal government cuts and now gas that\u2019s $1 more per gallon than when the session began. This budget does a lot to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The budget includes no new taxes or fees, even though the state began the year with an estimated $1.5 billion gap between expenses and revenues.<\/p>\n

Instead, the plan closes the gap with a combination of fund transfers, cuts and swapping bonds for cash. Among the transfers is $282 million that was diverted from a green energy fund. The budget also redirects $100 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund (SEIF), normally set aside for green energy efforts, and will use it to pay down monthly EmPOWER program surcharges.<\/p>\n

Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said budget realities called for tough choices including a $127 million cut to the Developmental Disabilities Administration. (Photo Bryan P. Sears\/Maryland Matters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The budget also cuts $127 million from an expected increase in funding for the Developmental Disabilities Administration, a year after the ballooning DDA budget suffered a $164 million hit.<\/p>\n

Ferguson said officials were faced with \u201cmaking very challenging and hard decisions for many Maryland families, especially with programs that we know are protecting some of the most vulnerable that have grown significantly over the last several years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I want to be very, very clear,\u201d he said. \u201cThese challenging decisions have not meant that we have abandoned our values. We have to be responsible with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The budget signed Wednesday leaves an estimated cash surplus of $250 million at the end of the year. That\u2019s in addition to $2.2 billion in the rainy day fund, or 8% of general fund revenues, well over the 5% minimum required.<\/p>\n

At that amount, Maryland could continue to operate for nearly 29 days. That\u2019s less than the 44.9 day average for Southern states and the national median of 47.4 days, according to Pew Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That would be enough for Maryland to operate for nearly 29 days, less than the average for states in the Northeast.<\/p>\n

While the Democratic leadership was declaring budget victory, Republicans were taking a dimmer view of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we doing to save money for Marylanders? Not much of anything,\u201d said House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany).<\/p>\n

Buckel said the effort to lower utility bills by an average of $150 in the coming year \u2014 about $12.50 per month \u2014 does not go far enough.<\/p>\n

Del. April Rose (R-Frederick and Carroll) said she and other Republicans will have to go home and face questions about what was accomplished.<\/p>\n

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Del. April Rose (R-Frederick and Carroll) said she and other Republicans will not have much to show their constituents after the Democrats blocked attempts to cut vehicle fees and pause the state\u2019s gas tax surcharge. Photo Bryan P. Sears\/Maryland Matters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSadly, I\u2019d love to go home and say we saved you some real money on your energy bill. We cut car registration fees. We cut emissions fees, things that come out of people\u2019s budgets every single day that they see every single day \u2026 even a gas tax holiday,\u201d Rose said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we didn\u2019t get a lot of really good things to tell our communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While it erases a projected spending gap for fiscal 2027, the budget does nothing to reduce the billions of dollars in projected gaps that await the governor and legislature in the years after this fall\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an election-year budget that does nothing more than meet the constitution\u2019s requirement to balance it,\u201d said Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore). \u201cIt doesn\u2019t raise taxes or fees this year, but it also doesn\u2019t cut them, leaving in place costly burdens like the technology tax and doing nothing to provide real relief for Marylanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than addressing the state\u2019s structural deficit, the governor and Democratic leadership have chosen to push those challenges into the next term by refusing to address structural deficits caused by the Blueprint for Maryland\u2019s Future, liability for the Child Victims Act and possible reparations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese multibillion-dollar outstanding debt obligations will adversely define our state,\u201d Hershey said. \u201cThe necessity to raise taxes next year will impair any opportunities for economic growth and force Marylanders to move to states with surpluses and more tax-friendly climates.\u201d<\/p>\n

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