Maryland, My Maryland

At Da Caller, Maryland’s $1,400,000,000 Deficit The ‘Inevitable Result Of One-Party Rule,’ Lawmakers Say. It would be easier to print $1.4 billion, but that wouldn't be as dramatic.

Maryland is staring down a budget deficit of about $1.4 billion for fiscal year 2027, according to budget projections released on Wednesday.

The newly released estimates from Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services (DLS) show that the deep blue state is expected to have structural deficits of $753 million in 2025, $259 million in 2026 and almost $1.2 billion in 2027. State lawmakers had previously projected a $321 million surplus for the start of fiscal year 2027 after finalizing the budget process when the 2025 legislative session ended, The Daily Record reported on Wednesday.
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The new budgetary projections come after Maryland state lawmakers reached a budget deal in April which included $1.6 billion in new taxes while also cutting government spending, the Baltimore Banner reported on April 4.

“The outlook is a lot worse for fiscal [year] 27 than it was at the end of session,” David Romans, DLS’ fiscal and policy analysis coordinator, said on Wednesday, WBFF reported. “It’s about a billion and a half deficit versus a projected small surplus when we ended [the] session.”

Romans claimed that Maryland’s general fund revenues have been negatively impacted by President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Trump signed the sweeping tax and spending bill into law on July 4.

“Bottom line is, it was assumed at the end of session that we would get that additional $300 million a year in general fund revenues from the One Big Beautiful Bill being passed,” Romans said, according to WBFF. “We actually ended up with a negative impact of about $71 million in fiscal [year] 27. It’s a $371 million swing.”

Just a reminder, when Gov. Hogan left office in 2023, Maryland had a $5 billion surplus. The Tax Foundation ranks Maryland #46 for tax competitiveness "Maryland’s tax code is complex and includes all major tax types. The state has traditionally ranked among the bottom 10 states on the Index. Maryland has a progressive individual income tax system. Legislation retroactive to January 1, 2025, increased the state’s individual tax progressivity by expanding to 10 tax brackets, creating a new top marginal tax rate of 6.5 percent, and establishing a 2 percent capital gains surcharge for individuals with federal AGI exceeding $350,000. High-rate county income taxes, with new rates up to 3.3 percent, yield a substantially above-average income tax burden for Maryland residents." Only New York, New Jersey, California, Washington DC and Connecticut were worse.