The barriers pushing back against serious discussions about tax increases in Maryland are — by some signs — starting to crack.
Lawmakers gearing up for the January kickoff of the annual session in Annapolis are contemplating a range of possibilities for how they’ll tackle a ballooning budget deficit that independent analysts recently pegged at $2.7 billion for the next fiscal year.
The behind-the-scenes discussions are still preliminary. But the budget outlook, worse than previously expected, has set the stage for a more robust debate than when the problem began last year and the Democratic supermajorities in the Maryland General Assembly split over when, if ever, to talk about new revenue ideas.
“Everything is on the table,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said in a recent statement after spending the 2024 session waving off ideas like higher personal and corporate income taxes that some of his fellow senators and House Democrats supported .
“Where we can, we will make cuts and adjustments to existing programs that are not achieving outcomes,” the Baltimore Democrat said. “We also will consider altering revenue policies so long as those changes keep our state competitive with the surrounding region. We must be targeted and purposeful in our approach. Marylanders deserve nothing less.”
Democratic Gov. Wes Moore — who has so far preferred to balance the budget through methods like cuts and tapping reserves — is also reviewing revenue ideas but still emphasizing a “high bar for increasing the tax burden on Maryland families” as he prepares to release a balanced budget plan in January.
Does that include their own salaries and perks?