Maryland governor announces budget framework deal with taxes, cuts

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced an agreement on a state budget framework with the state's Democratic leadership Thursday, criticizing President Donald Trump's tariffs and dramatic downsizing of the federal government while announcing tax increases and cuts to address a $3.3 billion state deficit for the next fiscal year.

The tax increases include a new 3% tax on information technology services, as well as a new income tax bracket for the state's wealthiest residents

“We ’ve spoken to Marylanders at all income levels about this plan, and there is consensus that if a person is making over $750,000 a year, it is reasonable to ask them to give roughly $1,800 more to help us invest in the success of our state," Moore, a Democrat, said.

The plans also include tax increases on gambling and cannabis, as well as a new 1% tax on capital gains for people with incomes over $350,000.

Moore and other leading lawmakers criticized the Republican president frequently at a news conference at the state Capitol. The governor pointed out that the ratings agency Moody's recently noted that federal cuts pose a greater threat to Maryland than any other state.

“The president has launched a reckless trade war with our allies, including our largest trading partners, and those tariffs could mean over a $2 billion impact on our economy and directly harm our people,” Moore said,

He added that Trump dealt a further blow to the state last week by announcing plans to cancel relocating a new FBI headquarters in Maryland.

Republicans said it was wrong to blame the president for the state’s fiscal woes, because Maryland's budget deficit existed long before Trump returned to office in January.

“You didn’t hear one bit of accountability from any of the Democratic leaders,” Del. Jesse Pippy, a Republican who is the House minority whip, said. “You didn’t. You heard them blame Trump for every single problem we have in the state, and they just raised our taxes at least a billion dollars.”

But the governor emphasized that 94% of Marylanders “will either get a tax cut or see no change in their income taxes.” However, he did not provide an estimated average tax cut for those seeing reductions, saying work was ongoing to determine those numbers.

Moore and other leading Democrats, who heavily control the state's legislature, described the budget plan as a much-needed modernization of the state's revenue streams.

“As our economy increasingly becomes digital, this revenue expansion acknowledges the growing role of IT in our daily lives and business operations and the use of technology to replace workers," Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said. "It also acknowledges that many goods, such as software programs, are now sold as yearly or monthly services.”

The new tax would apply to services like website building, as well as services that help people store information on the cloud, such as Amazon Web Services.

Ferguson said the new tax on capital gains will be used to invest in transportation and help add a new revenue stream to the budget, and he linked the new tax to Trump's plan for a tax cut for the wealthy.

“What we do know is that the Trump tax cuts that are focused on billionaires are likely to help those who have done the best, and so this is the right place for Maryland to look to have sustainable investment in our infrastructure and in our budget," Ferguson said.

The plan includes about $2.3 billion in cuts, about $500 million more than the governor included in his initial budget proposal in January. Del. Ben Barnes, a Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, noted that previous cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration have been restored.

Moore described the cuts as the most significant in 16 years, but few details about them were offered at the news conference, an omission sharply criticized by Republicans.

Del. Jason Buckel, a western Maryland Republican and the House minority leader, described it as “very disappointing, the incredible lack of detail.”

“Basically all I took away from it was we’re going to increase people’s taxes," Buckel said. "We’re making cuts. We can’t tell you what the cuts are.”

Lawmakers still have to pass a balanced budget before the end of the legislative session on April 7. The governor described the agreement on Thursday as a framework on its main components, though work remains in the coming weeks.

“This framework will inform the final budget and the final bill that goes from the House to the Senate, and I look forward to signing it when it makes it to my desk," Moore said.