Maryland
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warns of major budget cuts amid $3B budget deficit
Maryland faces major budget cuts amid $3B budget deficit
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has warned that massive budget cuts are on the way as state lawmakers try to solve a $3 billion budget gap. He told Maryland residents Wednesday to brace themselves for $2 billion worth of cuts in his soon-to-be-released budget. But that still leaves another $1 billion that lawmakers will have to come up with to close this deficit.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has warned that massive budget cuts are on the way as state lawmakers try to solve a $3 billion budget gap.
Moore told Maryland residents Wednesday to brace themselves for $2 billion worth of cuts in his soon-to-be-released budget. But that still leaves another $1 billion that lawmakers will have to come up with to close this deficit.
Normally, the first day of a General Assembly session is a cause for celebration but this year it comes with a big challenge.
Moore said that not only does he want lawmakers to come up with a solution to close the budget gap, he also wants still fund priorities like economic growth, public safety and schools but Moore would not endorse the idea of tax hikes.
“We are not going to grow an economy on the backs of working Marylanders, on the backs of middle-class Marylanders. So I’ll work with anybody to be able to come up with a long-term solution but my bar’s high, been high and will remain high when it comes to revenues,” Moore said.
But while the governor says his bar is high for tax hikes, Democrats, who control both houses of the statehouse, and Republicans, who are outnumbered, are already fighting it out.
Republicans say they support the governor’s plan to cut spending but they will hold the line on taxes.
“I believe the Democrats are sending every signal that they are going to raise taxes and we are going to fight it, fight it, fight it,” said Republican delegate Kathy Szeliga, who represents Howard County. “Maryland is already one of the most highly taxed states in the country.”
Democratic lawmakers say no decisions have been made either way.
“You know, people get nervous because they think that automatically means raising taxes. Not necessarily. We’re going to do our job and make sure that we don’t hurt people too, we understand the budget is tight but we don’t have to keep hurting people too,” Democratic delegate C.T. Wilson, the Maryland Economic Matters Chairman.
Moore is set to unveil his budget proposal on Wednesday, Jan. 15. This General Assembly session will last for 90 days.
The Maryland Department of Transportation reported a crash shortly after 4:10 p.m. June 21 on I-95 north near mile marker 39 in Howard County. Twenty minutes later, the MDOT reported all four northbound lanes were closed while emergency crews were at the scene. A shoulder along northbound I-95 also was shut down.
Vehicles could be seen backed up beyond the MD Route 32 interchange on MDOT traffic cameras. All southbound lanes remained open.
Three people were killed on Saturday after their single-engine aircraft crashed in a wooded area near Bowie, Maryland, according to Maryland State Police.
The three people on board were Israelis, according to Israeli media reports on Sunday, citing the Foreign Ministry.
An NBC report cited the police as saying that the aircraft was found Sunday morning after crashing near a townhouse community and local playground.
Police did not release the identities of the deceased, all of whom were declared dead on the scene.
The crash was initially reported at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday via iPhone alert, NBC cited Prince George’s County Public Safety Communications as saying.
The pilot and passengers of the small aircraft were on a training flight when the crash occured, NBC reported, noting that the aircraft belonged to a Montgomery County flight school.
The Baltimore Sun identified the aircraft as a Piper PA-28, a common training aircraft in the United States.
On Tuesday, a small jet plane carrying six people crashed into a vehicle on a highway in Laredo, Texas, authorities said.
One person was killed in the crash, named by the Associated Press on Wednesday as Austin tech entrepreneur Joshua Baer.
In addition, five first responders were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, and the passengers were hospitalized for minor injuries.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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