Announcement on Budget Framework with Legislative Leadership from the House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate

Good afternoon. We are proud to announce that our administration has reached an agreement on a framework for the final budget with the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate.

To fully appreciate the significance of this moment, you have to remember the path that got us here.

The budget plan I introduced on January 15th came five days before Donald Trump’s Inauguration – And the world has changed in just eight weeks.

According to the credit rating company Moody’s, federal cuts pose a greater threat to Maryland than to any other state in the nation.

We have seen thousands of federal employees laid off – and offices nearly shuttered.

The president launched a reckless trade war with our allies, including our largest trade partners – And these tariffs could have a $2 billion impact on our economy and directly harm our people.

We’re talking about the poultry farmer on the Eastern Shore, who’s paying 25% more now… 

We’re talking about the dock worker in Baltimore who has less cargo because ships aren’t coming in… 

We’re talking about the restaurant owner in Western Maryland who can’t afford tomatoes – or avocados – or eggs – or many of the basics they rely on.

And if we needed any more evidence that the Trump-Vance Administration is a clear and present danger to our economy and our people, just last week, President Trump announced his intention to cancel the FBI Headquarters project in Maryland.

Maryland was selected as the best place for the FBI to meet its public safety mission.

It’s a project that would generate $4 billion in economic activity for Marylanders…

It’s a project that would bring 7,500 jobs 

It’s a project that was a decade in the making… 

President Trump canceled it, via press conference, without warning… 

Without speaking to Congress…

Without speaking to us in the state, who have been working for a year to prepare this build-ready site in Prince George’s County for execution.

And his reasoning? Because Maryland is a, quote-unquote, ‘Liberal State.’

But while we’ve watched dysfunction and chaos from Washington, here in Annapolis, we’ve been working together.

We will never compromise on protecting Marylanders against any threat, no matter who makes it. 

And that’s what this budget agreement delivers.

This is the product of days, weeks, and months of partnership.

I’m proud to stand with Lt. Governor Miller.

And I want to thank Speaker Jones, President Ferguson, and their staff, along with Chair Atterbeary, Chair Barnes, and Chair Guzzone.

At the start of session, I laid out three principles that our budget needed to meet.

First: We need to reform the tax code – and not on the backs of middle class families.

Second: We need to grow the economy, diversify our economy off of Washington, and make Maryland more business-friendly.

Third: We need to invest in our people.

And I am proud to report that our agreement has hit all three.

To grow our economy, we need to ensure this is the best state to start, run, and build a business.

We have agreed to invest in industries of the future that will grow Maryland’s economy and create jobs – like cyber, quantum, and AI.

We will also protect the incumbent industries and sectors at the heart of our prosperity – from our port to our trade assets. 

And importantly: We need to diversify our economy, because we can no longer count on Washington, D.C. to sustain our economic strength.

Economic development investments in a final budget will go hand-in-hand with legislation we’ve introduced to grow the economy.

We are streamlining state programs to make them more efficient and effective;

We are cutting red tape and reforming the procurement process to help entrepreneurs build out their ideas and bring them to scale;

And we are transforming Maryland into a state that is unapologetically pro-business and unapologetically pro-growth – not just in words, but deeds.

Because of our emphasis on growth, our budget framework will emphasize spending cuts over tax increases – to help us close the budget gap.

Together with the House and Senate, we have agreed on a framework that includes at least an additional $500 million in targeted cuts – on top of the cuts our Administration has already proposed.

To put that in context: This is the largest amount that's been cut in a Maryland state budget in 16 years.

I also want to thank the General Assembly for studying our income tax reform plan and refining it, to ensure that we hit our goal of delivering tax relief to the middle class. That was a non-negotiable.

Under this agreement, 94% of Marylanders will either get a tax cut or see no change in their income taxes. That’s even MORE than our initial proposal.

For the third year in a row, there will also be no increase to the broad-based Sales Tax or State Property Tax.

And yes, we are asking those of us who have done exceptionally well to pay slightly more – so we can have the best schools in the country – Support our law enforcement and firefighters – And grow our economy.

We've spoken to Marylanders at all income levels. 

There's consensus that if a person is making $750,000 a year, it’s reasonable to ask them to give roughly $1,800 more to help us invest in the success of our state.

This budget agreement also includes a provision to add a 3% tax to IT and Data Services.

Our plan reaches services offered by companies that help you build your own website, like WIX and companies that help you store information on The Cloud, like Amazon Web Services.

This will put us in line with other states that are already implementing these kinds of reforms, states that are both Republican and Democrat – ranging from Texas to Washington, D.C.

This reform package will help bring our tax code into the 21st century. 

It means the majority of Marylanders can keep a little more money in their pocket, even as we tighten our belts in Annapolis.

So while the White House cuts taxes for the rich and burdens everyone else with high prices, we are showing there is a better way.

While President Trump and Elon Musk gut programs like Social Security and Medicaid, we are showing there is a better way.

And if you only take away three things about our plan, they should be this:

Together, we are providing key investments that grow and diversify our economy.

Together, we are ensuring that 94% of Marylanders will get a tax cut or see no change in their taxes.

And together, we're turning a $3 billion deficit into a cash surplus – while still preserving 8% in the Rainy Day Fund – which, by the way, is above the recommended amount.

This agreement is common-sense, responsible, and hits every requirement we laid out at the start of session. 

If we said it, we meant it. 

Most importantly, it puts us on stable footing into the future. 

Now, these weren’t simple decisions.

Maryland needed to fix its business model – and I refuse to be a chief executive who simply watches problems get worse… We solve problems here, we don’t run away from them.

We also needed to contend with the fact that Maryland no longer has a stable partner in Washington, with our best interests in mind.

And while there are many opinions about how we ended up in this crisis, let there be no question about who faced it and didn’t flinch… Because this team has met this moment of crisis with courage.

This framework will inform a final budget bill that goes from the House to the Senate, and I look forward to signing it when it gets to my desk.

We have more work to do before Sine Die. But today, we celebrate a very important step forward in securing Maryland’s long-term fiscal health.