ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Governor Wes Moore unveiled his FY 2025 budget this morning.
The big issue for this year's budget, the state has less money to spend than last year.
It's an issue a lot of states are dealing with.
Federal money brought in from the pandemic is running out, leading to tightening of the budget.
Some organizations will see cuts.
Though Governor Moore didn't want to call them cuts opting for the word "rebasing."
"Basically rebasing is looking at the fact that during the COVID years and with federal COVID dollars we were spending and adding that to a long term balance sheet that was not sustainable," said Governor Moore.
The governor says two of the departments getting funding cuts are the lottery commission and private institutions of higher learning.
Departments getting a funding boost include public safety, housing and Pre-k through 12 education.
One of the governor's main goals with this budget is to spur economic growth.
"Right now if you look at the last five years in the state of Maryland, our economy has grown by .2%. Maryland's economy has continued to stay stagnant while all of our neighbors have continued to grow," said the governor.
The plan doesn't include raising taxes.
Something Republicans are happy about.
However, many of them are concerned about fee increases.
"Something we're watching as Republicans to really spotlight is if it comes out of your pocket it's still a tax, there are different ways to quote on quote raise revenue. And we believe that we don't have a revenue problem in Maryland, we believe we've always had a challenge with spending," said Senator Justin Ready, a Republican from Carroll County.
Senate President Bill Ferguson called this a year of normalizing.
Two areas the state has to figure out for the long term are the transportation department and education. Both show future plans aren't on track to be funded.
"We're blessed to have an incredible state with great transit options, but you gotta pay for it. Same thing with education, if we're going to have a strong economy we have to have an educated workforce we gotta make sure kids are meeting their potential in the global environment so we have to invest in our education system," said Senate President Ferguson, a Democrat from Baltimore City.
The budget now goes to the Maryland General Assembly.
The House and Senate will decide if any cuts or increases are needed before approving the proposal.
