ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It's the most important piece of legislation before the General Assembly, the budget.
How the state closes a $3 billion budget deficit will impact every Marylander.
Democrats started with the cuts, more than $2 billion worth.
"We are making cuts. In fact, our budget includes five hundred million in cuts compared to what the governor had originally proposed," said Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones, a Democrat from Baltimore County.
The legislative leaders didn't dive into the details of what exactly is being cut, many proposals are on the table.
Republicans want to see more cuts.
"We've said it all along, this is a massive budget, it's $60 plus billion, Marylanders don't need a billion dollars in new taxes," said Delegate Jesse Pippy, a Republican from Frederick County.
Senate President Bill Ferguson took a number of tax and fee increases off the menu of options.
"We are not increasing the Maryland tax rate on goods, we are not adding a fee on deliveries, we are not increasing property taxes, we are not raising money from i-gaming, we are not raising the estate tax," said Ferguson a Democrat from Baltimore City.
Democrats agree to 'framework' of a budget with negotiations ongoing
The Senate president also gave details on the services tax.
Saying it will focus on data and IT services at 3% half the current sales tax.
"As our economy increasingly becomes digital, this revenue expansion acknowledges the growing role of it in our daily lives and business operations," said Ferguson.
Republicans pushed back against the proposal.
"For the governor to say that he's going to be promoting IT, and cyber and AI, and then propose a 3% tax on those industries, I don't understand why those companies would end up coming to Maryland," said Senator Steve Hershey.
Governor Wes Moore said that the majority of individuals won't be impacted by these tax proposals.
"94% of Marylanders will either see a tax cut or no change to their income taxes," said Moore.
While the announcement was about the budget bill, other pieces of legislation could change the state's fiscal impact like a proposal from the governor to cut funding to the blueprint for Maryland's future.
We asked chair of appropriations Ben Barnes about the proposal.
"It's a separate bill, we're looking to continue negotiations on that bill as the days move forward," said Barnes.
The legislature has less than three weeks to pass a balanced budget and adjourn sine die.
