To President Jack Wilson: Thank you for your leadership.
To Executive Director Michael Sanderson and Deputy Director Virginia White: Thank you for all you continue to do for MACo.
To our county leaders, legislators, mayors, local elected officials, staff, friends, and partners: Thank you for making Summer MACo 2025 so special for me and my team.
MACo is about community, so I want to start with some audience participation.
By a show of hands, how many of you entered public service before March 2020?
If your hand is raised, that’s because you stepped up to serve before we knew about one of the most significant events of the last century: COVID-19.
You adapted to lockdown. You took on new challenges, often multiple times a day. Still, you raised your hands to serve. And we are grateful for that.
Now, by a show of hands, how many of you began public service before November 2024?
If your hand is raised, that’s because you stepped up to serve before we knew about another big shift in American life: The new federal administration in Washington.
You’ve seen the headlines: Mass layoffs, higher prices, universities under attack, mass deportations, cuts to programs like food assistance and health care – just to pay for big tax breaks for billionaires.
Maryland has already lost 12,700 federal jobs since Donald Trump took office in January – the most of any state in the nation.
The legislation that Washington has imposed on us impacts upward of 250,000 Marylanders projected to lose their health coverage.
Our state is expected to lose upward of $2.7 billion in federal funding annually.
But let’s get really specific.
Montgomery County alone has already lost over 4,000 jobs.
Cuts in the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” will jeopardize health care for over 22,000 Marylanders in Allegany County who rely on Medicaid.
The federal administration is trying to cancel the FBI project in Prince George's County, putting 7,500 new jobs in peril. And additional hits to employment and government contracts could serve as one of the most significant strikes to wealth creation that Prince George’s County has seen in generations.
Over 21,000 Marylanders in Wicomico County could lose their SNAP benefits.
Longshoremen at the Port of Baltimore are going to see traffic slow because of new 50% tariffs on Brazil, one of Maryland’s largest import partners.
Slow commerce through the port will affect the lives and livelihoods of Marylanders from Baltimore City, to Baltimore County, to Anne Arundel County.
Carroll County has over 25,000 Marylanders on Medicaid and over 9,000 children and adults on SNAP. All of them are now at risk of having their benefits stripped away.
Look, I understand that some people view Maryland as a “deep-blue state.” But these policies from D.C. are hurting Democrats and Republicans.
And if there’s anyone who understands that, it’s you, the leaders of the community: The ones who get the phone call when a young child loses their health care, or when the single mother of three can’t understand why her family’s EBT card isn’t working.
We are in a moment steeped in danger and laced with uncertainty. But our people didn’t elect us to serve in easy times. They elected us to lead, no matter the peril.
We will get through this crisis by leaning on the two things that have always guided us: God’s grace and steady leadership.
Leadership rooted in the fact that we need each other;
Leadership tempered by the knowledge that pain in any part of the state affects every part of the state;
Leadership grounded in the conviction that we must move fast – and act with the kind of urgency that proves to Marylanders we understand just how quickly their lives are unraveling.
Speed. That is what Marylanders are asking of us. And that is what I am asking of you.
This mission requires a sharper focus – but it doesn’t require anything new. If there’s one thing these last two years have shown, it’s that we know how to move fast.
While the federal government crafts policies that make our economy weaker, we’ve attracted more than $4 billion in private investment in Maryland.
While Congress cuts taxes for billionaires and runs up the national debt, we worked with the General Assembly to cut taxes for middle-class families and turn an inherited budget deficit into a surplus.
While Washington has raised prices on everything from food to new housing because of a manufactured trade war, we’ve partnered with the nonprofit sector to lower the cost of prescription drugs and keep Marylanders on Medicaid during the redetermination period.
While the president calls in the National Guard to cities so he can distract the public from an unpopular agenda, we’ve moved in partnership to break the back of violent crime – and show that we can achieve performance without being performative.
While the White House tries to freeze funding that’s already been approved by Congress for transportation and education, we’ve pushed for stronger state support to improve our transportation systems and ensure our K-12 schools are the best in the nation.
These achievements don’t belong to any one person. They belong to all of us – and we’ve celebrated them, together.
I’ve stood alongside County Executive Calvin Ball in Ellicott City to announce $10 million to support flood mitigation. Because preventing deadly tragedies is not just morally right, we also know that a lack of preparedness is terribly expensive. Every dollar we spend on mitigation saves Maryland taxpayers $6 in return on recovery costs.
I’ve stood alongside County Executive Jessica Fitzwater in Frederick County to announce $160 million for Route 15. It’s part of our commitment to securing an additional $420 million for state transportation annually.
We are also restoring full funding for Interstate 81, including $99 million this year alone. And I want to thank my friend John Barr and the Washington County Commission. They never stopped pushing.
I’ve stood alongside Talbot County Council President Chuck Callahan to break ground on a new University of Maryland Shore Regional Medical Center. It’s funded in part through a $100 million state grant.
And just this week, I stood with county leaders in Wicomico County to announce a new Community Health Clinic funded with support from the state. And it will ensure we deliver quality, accessible health care to Marylanders on the Shore. Maryland is leaning into rural hospitals in a way our state hasn’t in generations.
These are just some of the historic investments we’ve delivered – and the results of our partnership speak for themselves:
Nearly 100,000 jobs created in two and a half years – more than my predecessor created in eight;
Unemployment dropping from 43rd in the nation to one of the lowest in the entire country for over a year and a half – and counting;
Homicides down by more than 20% statewide since our inauguration;
And while we know Baltimore City saw 300-plus homicides annually during the eight years before I took office, that’s a number we haven’t seen since my inauguration. In fact, the last time homicides in Baltimore were this low, I hadn’t been born yet.
We have real momentum as we move into the future. But it won’t be enough to keep pace. We need to speed up. And we must be in this work together.
Gone are the days of “no” and “slow.” We need to be a state of “yes” and “now.”
Partnership produces progress. But let’s not allow partnership to produce paralysis.
My fellow Marylanders: Now is the time to go faster.
We must go faster on affordable housing.
One in two Maryland renters pays more than 30% of their income on rent. Our state is ranked 43rd in housing affordability. We permit 39% fewer new housing units than we did before the 2008 recession. And it’s not just our people who are hurting – it’s Maryland’s housing market and economy.
If we want to build new bridges to wealth, bring down costs, and supercharge growth, we need to prioritize housing that’s affordable and located near jobs and transportation.
This is the moment to streamline state-level permitting, so we can make sure new housing projects aren’t slowed down by red tape;
This is the moment to follow best practices in other states by leveraging government-owned land for new housing;
This is the moment to set clear statewide housing targets to effectively track our progress;
And this is the moment to reward those jurisdictions that are stepping up to be pro-housing – because everyone must participate for us to succeed.
In the coming weeks, I will be taking action to advance each of these four pillars.
We must go faster in our work to grow Maryland’s economy. My Administration will announce a series of new measures to make it easier for businesses to relocate, grow, and expand in our state.
From regulatory reviews to building on our progress in permitting reform, we must do more to realize our aspirations for economic growth. And it is my sincere hope that our partners in this room will join us in doing the same.
We can fix state permitting and licensing hurdles – but it will make no difference if we aren’t moving fast, together. I need your help in this fight.
We must go faster.
We must go faster in our push to bring down the cost of energy;
We must go faster to make health care more affordable;
We must go faster to stand with higher education at a moment of unprecedented attack from Washington. And we must go faster to ensure Marylanders can access work, wages, and wealth, even if they don’t attend a college or university;
We must go faster to keep our communities safe and deliver continued progress on bringing down violent crime. And we must go faster to break cycles of poverty that lead to violence in the first place.
Urgency is the instrument of change. And you know who understands that? The people in this room.
I’m talking about Marylanders like Charles County Commission President Reuben Collins. President Collins helped deliver a historic vote on his county’s property recordation tax – to both support education and affordable housing. He knows how to move fast.
I’m talking about Marylanders like Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott. He worked with the City Council to introduce legislation that addresses outdated exclusionary zoning laws and aims to expand housing availability. He knows how to move fast.
I’m talking about Marylanders like Veterans Secretary Ed Rothstein. He’s crossing party lines to serve in our administration as Secretary of Veterans and Military Families. And I picked Ed because he knows how to move fast.
I’m talking about Marylanders like the people up and down George’s Creek in Allegany County.
In the face of a dysfunctional federal response, county, legislative, and municipal leaders from across the aisle have stood shoulder-to-shoulder. And together, they are demanding that FEMA do its job and provide Maryland with the recovery dollars we need to bounce back from these floods.
Western Maryland understands that the decision from FEMA to deny our emergency request was petty, and partisan, and punishing. But it’s not stopping them from fighting like hell for the people that they represent.
Now, we must take the lessons these leaders have taught us and run with it.
Let’s rally together and deliver results for our people – today. Not next year, not in a few months – today.
We’re Maryland. We never rest on our laurels, and we always strive to move with a greater sense of impatience, as we bound toward the future.
Together, we’ve pardoned 175,00 cannabis convictions. Now, we need to move fast to help these Marylanders get employed.
Together, we’ve created more than 35,000 new businesses. Now, we need to make it even easier for Marylanders to start and grow a business in our state.
Together, we’ve graduated over 4,000 apprentices. Now, we need to focus on training the next 8,000.
We have accomplished a great deal – and still, there is more to do. Because that’s what this moment requires, and it’s what the future demands.
In the military, I learned that in easy times, anyone can show you anything. It’s the ones who lead in hard times who are remembered.
Think about it: Do you remember who the leader was when times were simple? It’s those who are willing to lead in hard times who become legendary.
So let’s go out and be legends.
Thank you so much, and let’s leave no one behind.