Maryland Senate nearing vote on $63B budget legislation for next fiscal year

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Despite recent fiscal challenges, Gov. Wes Moore’s $63 billion budget plan remains largely intact under legislation heading to a vote Thursday in the Maryland Senate.

The measure makes reserves available if needed to cover a miscalculation in Medicaid costs that was discovered after the governor submitted his budget to the General Assembly in January.

The legislation will still need to go to the Maryland House, where majority Democrats haven’t been shy in voicing support to raise significant revenues this year to help address deficits in future years, pay for a major K-12 education funding overhaul and fund ambitious plans to fight climate change.

But leaders in the Senate, which also is controlled by Democrats, have said major tax increases are a nonstarter this session. And the governor — who highlighted the lack of tax increases in his budget — has said there would be “a very high bar” for any tax hikes.

It’s a revenue debate playing out in an election year for an open U.S. Senate seat and congressional races, featuring the surprise U.S. Senate candidacy of former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who campaigned against tax increases to win his first term in 2014 in the heavily Democratic state and won re-election in 2018.

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