Announcing our FY 2027 Budget Proposal

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Good morning.

One of our most important responsibilities is to craft and enact a balanced budget that reflects the needs of our state.

Today, we’re here to unveil our fourth budget proposal.

It’s a continuation of our work to strengthen Maryland’s fiscal health. And it’s an articulation of our core priorities:
Protecting our people.

Lowering costs for Marylanders.

Increasing Maryland’s economic competitiveness.

Our Administration did not simply submit this budget TO the General Assembly.

We collaborated on the priorities and crafted a proposal WITH our General Assembly partners.

Because of our partnership, this is the fourth year in a row that we have presented a balanced budget.

This budget DOES NOT raise taxes or fees on Marylanders.

It maintains a very healthy eight percent in the Rainy Day Fund.

And it maintains a minimum cash balance of over $100 million.

Acting Budget Secretary Jake Weissmann will go into further detail. But I want to highlight a few key points and be clear about the moment we’re in.

Yesterday marked one year of the Trump-Vance Administration.

Last year, we completed Session, turning a deficit into a surplus.

And we balanced our budget for a third consecutive year.

Then, since January 2025, federal employment has fallen by nearly 25,000 jobs in Maryland—the most of any state in the nation.

Then the cuts in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and his cuts to our federal partnerships put us right back in the hole—altering Maryland’s budget sheet by hundreds of millions of dollars.

It's going to be harder going forward. Maryland is going to be forced to do more with less.

But here's what I want everyone to understand:

Being fiscally responsible doesn't mean we stop investing in what matters to Marylanders.

But it does mean being more targeted and data-driven in how we invest.

This budget is built around three core pillars.

First, protecting our people:

We cannot make Maryland safer without supporting law enforcement.

That’s why this budget includes a record $124 million for local police agencies—a $2 million increase over last year.

We’re seeing the lowest number of homicides in nearly 40 years statewide.

Since our Administration took office, violent crime has dropped by nearly 50 percent—one of the fastest reductions in the nation.

And Baltimore City is seeing the lowest numbers of homicides in nearly 50 years.

Reductions of this magnitude don’t just happen. They happen because of smart investments.

Through this budget, we’ll continue to invest in our all-of-the-above approach to public safety.

We’re listening to law enforcement AND communities.

We’re listening to State’s Attorneys AND public defenders.

We’re listening to local leaders AND advocates.

And we will keep doing what is working until everyone in our communities feels safe.

Second, on making Maryland more affordable.

From Mountain Maryland to the Eastern Shore, working families are being squeezed by rising costs.

The cost of housing and rent…

The cost of child care…

The cost of utilities.

Too often, Marylanders who work in a community cannot afford to live in that community. It’s unacceptable.

Outdated zoning laws and unnecessary red tape are limiting supply and driving up prices.

So this budget invests $352 million in expanded housing supply and community revitalization projects through the Department of Housing and Community Development.

We’re continuing the most aggressive housing agenda Maryland has seen in a generation.

At the same time, we’re also sustaining record funding for child care scholarships.

Access to child care doesn’t just affect children—it affects parents’ ability to work.

One reason we have seen a jump in employment—particularly in private sector employment—is because of the investments we’ve made in childcare.

Because parents should not have to decide between: “Can I go back into the workforce?” OR “Are my children gonna be OK?”

Additionally, we're making record investments in energy programs and lowering utility costs.

Because energy policy is about whether the system works for the people who use it—not just the companies that run it.

Third, we’re increasing Maryland’s economic competitiveness.

Our schools are the foundation on which we build everything else.

Our budget delivers record funding for K through 12 public education, so we build stronger pathways to work, wages, and wealth.

And our budget provides significant investments for job training in high-potential lighthouse industries.

Maryland can be the capital of quantum computing and cybersecurity…

And can seize the possibilities of biocomputing and life sciences to grow our economy.

Last month, Samsung Biologics chose Maryland as the home of its first U.S. manufacturing facility.

And just this week, we announced that National Harbor in Prince George’s County was selected as the site for a new Sphere venue.

This state-of-the-art project is expected to support 2,500 jobs during construction…

Generate 4,750 permanent jobs once operational…

And deliver more than $1 billion in economic impact each year.

In just three years, we have created nearly 100,000 jobs and seen more than 35,000 new businesses open across our state.

But there is more to do—and this budget unlocks opportunities for the next chapter of our progress.

This comes at a moment of profound economic, social, and political transformation.

Marylanders are counting on us and calling on us to tackle everyday problems with bold, tangible solutions—not tomorrow, but today.

This is the time to prove there’s a better way to govern than “politics as usual.”

This is the time to show that—despite the chaos and erratic policies coming out of Washington—in Maryland, we can focus on predictability, stability, and growth.

This is the time to reject the hyper-partisan back-and-forth and political talking points coming out of Washington.

We will unite across backgrounds and political parties to tackle big problems.

And we will make this Maryland’s decade.

That’s the philosophy at the heart of our proposal.

And with that, I’m pleased to turn it over to Acting Budget Secretary Weissmann.