The Moore-Miller Administration is Making Maryland More Affordable

“Our budget addresses two of the biggest strains on family bank accounts: Housing and child care.”
— Governor Wes Moore

One of the Moore-Miller Administration’s top priorities is making Maryland a more affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. In 2024, Governor Moore has shaped his agenda to tackle the main barriers standing between Marylanders and opportunity: housing and childcare. By working in partnership, the Moore-Miller Administration will address the affordability crisis head-on.

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Budget Priorities To Strengthen Child Care

$488 million

For child care between FY24 and FY25 to support the Child Care Scholarship program to help families enroll children in high-quality child care.

Budget Priorities To Expand Housing

$117.2 million

in additional funding for priority housing and community development investments.

$110 million

in Rental Housing investments–doubling funds from last year. This will create 5,100 new housing units and lift 1,473 families and 2,268 children out of poverty.

$7 million

to expand the Assistance in Community Integration Services (ACIS) program, which supports housing and tenancy-based services to qualifying individuals experiencing housing insecurity.

$345,000

to establish the Office of Tenant Rights within the Department of Housing and Community Development to reduce evictions and address landlord abuse.

Legislative Priorities to Make Maryland More Affordable

The Housing Expansion and Affordability Act (SB 484, HB 538)

This is the first of three bills in the most aggressive housing package introduced by any Maryland Governor. This Act aims to make housing more affordable and accessible for Marylanders by removing unnecessary barriers to housing construction. As housing costs have risen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more Marylanders have struggled to pay their rent or save up to buy a home. Increased costs are making it harder for families to get by and are limiting the growth of our economy. To tackle the housing crisis, we must bolster supply. This Act removes local government barriers to the construction of affordable housing and promotes increased density where appropriate. Additionally, it removes barriers to the use of manufactured housing statewide.

The Housing and Community Development Financing Act (SB 483, HB 599)

This is the second of three bills in Governor Moore’s housing package. It strengthens state financing tools for housing construction and community development investments. The Act creates a state Community Development Entity (CDE) called the Maryland Community Investment Corporation (MCIC). CDEs are able to utilize federal funding through the New Market Tax Credit to finance housing and community development projects. There are a number of existing CDEs in Maryland, but they are not required to use their funding for projects in the state, whereas all of the MCIC’s investments will be directed towards Maryland. The second major provision strengthens the state’s Strategic Demolition and Smart Growth Impact Fund. This Fund is intended to make ‘gray field’ projects, built to replace existing buildings, more viable, creating opportunities for new housing in areas that have the infrastructure for it, and preventing sprawl development.

The Renters' Rights Stabilization Act (SB 481, HB 693)

This is the third and final bill in Governor Moore’s groundbreaking housing package, focusing on renter’s rights. Among its many provisions, it creates a new office in the Department of Housing and Community Development to educate renters on their rights, gives renters the right of first refusal to buy their home when their landlord is selling it, caps security deposits for most renters at one month’s rent, increases Maryland’s eviction filing fees (which were among the lowest in the nation) and uses the proceeds to better fund rental assistance for low-income Marylanders, and bars evictions in extreme weather.

Mental Health – Emergency Evaluation and Involuntary Admission Procedures and Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs (The Behavioral Health Services Act) (SB 453, HB 576)

This Act allows the use of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) in Maryland, an important tool in Maryland’s behavioral health toolbox. Already legal in 47 other states, AOT allows courts to order outpatient treatment for individuals with severe mental illness whose illness itself leads them to be non-compliant with treatment, and whose lack of compliance poses a potential danger to themselves or others. With this new tool, communities will be able to provide better care for Marylanders who need it the most.