"The Administration’s budget plan does not appear sustainable"
It took eight years for Governor Larry Hogan to dig Maryland out of the fiscal hole it dug for itself. In less than two weeks in office, Wes Moore is pointing the car right back at the cliff.
The Maryland Department of Legislative Services released their “Quick Look” at Governor Wes Moore’s FY 2024 budget. While “Quick Look” is relative when it clocks in at 62 pages, the document is a damning indictment of Moore’s first budget.
The most damaging statement is there, in black and white, for everybody to see starting on Page 2:
The Administration’s budget plan does not appear sustainable over the long-term. While the Administration projects that the State will close each of the next five years with a cash and structural surplus, the Administration projects a Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund deficit of $1.4 billion for fiscal 2027 and $2.3 billion for fiscal 2028. Blueprint Fund revenues are dedicated to supporting implementation of the Kirwan K-12 education enhancements with the general fund covering costs above Blueprint Fund resources. Shifting these excess costs to the general fund results in a general fund structural deficit of almost $1 billion in fiscal 2027 and $1.2 billion in fiscal 2028.
It took eight years for Governor Larry Hogan to dig Maryland out of the fiscal hole it dug for itself. In less than two weeks in office, Wes Moore is pointing the car right back at the cliff an accelerating at full speed.
The cause for a lot of the problems contained in Moore’s Budget is his paying for his own priorities in addition to the fiscal crater that will be created by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, i.e. The Kirwin Commission. This projected deficit was known by every single supporter of the Kirwin Commission recommendations before they were adopted by the General Assembly overtop of Governor Hogan’s veto. But they did it anyway.
While we can agree that education must be improved the Kirwan Commission and its recommendations are flawed policies that burden the state with an unsustainable tab.
Here we are, nearly four years later, and everything that Kirwin Critics told you is coming true.
The problems with the budget go beyond Kirwin, however. For example, if Moore gets his way and the minimum wage is increased to $15 this year, Medicaid providers will get more money.
Rates for most health care providers, including those serving Medicaid enrollees, the developmentally disabled, and people with behavioral health needs, increase by 3% to 4%, depending on the provider type. Additional rate increases of 8% costing $413 million are provided contingent on enactment of legislation accelerating the implementation of a $15 per hour minimum wage.
Wes Moore plans on relief for Medicaid providers, but nothing for Maryland working families.
The entire budget document shows the sad truth about Wes Moore’s budget and how disconnected the Moore Administration is from reality. Wes Moore is putting Maryland right back on the path to fiscal pain and tax increase that Martin O’Malley put us on. From the looks of it, Moore will need to exceed O’Malley’s 40 consecutive tax increases in order to pay for it, pushing more and more working Marylanders out of state.
The pain is just beginning.