Maryland lawmakers face tough budget decisions that could include program cuts or tax increases when they return to Annapolis in January.
Members of the joint Spending Affordability Committee were briefed on a budget picture that sees hundreds of millions in structural deficits balloon to $2 billion by fiscal 2029. That picture raised the specter of tax increases.
Some members of the committee were unperturbed by the briefing.
“The structural deficit grows somewhat in the following two years,” said Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel), co-chair of the joint Spending Affordability Committee. “And then as we’ve always known, when the next round of Kirwin [a nearly $4-billion education reform plan called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future] kicks in, it’s got to be paid for somehow. So, I think it was all pretty predictable. I don’t think it’s anything particularly surprising.”
Tuesday’s briefing is the first of several meetings of the committee that will make recommendations on budget growth to the governor. The recommendations are non-binding.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan P. Sears over at Maryland Matters
