On Wednesday, Maryland Republicans issued their response to Governor Moore’s State of the State speech. Moore’s speech addressed the nearly $3 billion dollar deficit with plans to impose increased tax rates on the highest earning residents. He also proposed $2 billion dollars in budget cuts while delaying the costly Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan.
Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey and Minority Whip Justin Ready offered this reaction on Wednesday afternoon:
“The State of Maryland is underachieving, and it’s not for the reasons Governor Moore shared today,” said Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey. “Maryland families are struggling with their finances, energy costs, higher prices and more because of the expensive policies and overregulation passed by a Democratic Supermajority – not because of his predecessor or new leadership in Washington. The Governor claims we can’t cut ourselves out of the deficit, but we are not going to grow ourselves out of a $5 billion annual structural deficit either. Deep spending cuts are the only option. The State cannot continue to spend on wishes and wants – we have to focus on the needs. Imposing higher taxes on Marylanders is not a solution.”
“Marylanders are being crushed by a high cost of living, brought to them by the very policies that Moore is doubling down on,” said Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready. “The truth is, we can cut our way to a more prosperous future by getting our budget back under control. We can cut thousands of funded vacant positions, slow down the implementation of the Blueprint, cut a study on the Red Line that will never happen, cut electric buses, remove expensive requirements to electrify government buildings, repeal the new $2 billion per year payroll tax, and the list goes on. Until the Governor and the General Assembly are willing to make actual tough choices, they have no right to go to Marylanders and ask them to pay “just a little bit more.”
According to the Maryland Public Policy Institute, the state’s budget has ballooned from about $39 billion dollars in 2014 to $63 billion this year. Factors for the increase include inflation, new taxpayer-backed initiatives and rising health care costs.
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In State of the State, Gov. Moore Pledges to Shrink Deficit, Grow Maryland
