Maryland General Assembly Opens Session Amid Budget Challenges and Public Safety Concerns
Governor Wes Moore's administration proposes $3.3 billion in cuts to transportation spending plan as state faces projected structural deficit of $761 million.
- Maryland's General Assembly opens its annual 90-day legislative session, focusing on budget challenges, affordable housing, and public safety.
- Maryland is facing a projected structural deficit of $761 million in the next fiscal year, expected to balloon to about $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2029, largely due to rising costs of a K-12 education funding reform law.
- Governor Wes Moore's administration has proposed roughly $3.3 billion in cuts for the state's six-year transportation spending plan.
- Public safety is a top issue, with proposals including the creation of a new statewide center to help prevent gun violence and increasing apprenticeships in public safety.
- Juvenile justice reform and a debate over whether to allow the terminally ill to receive lethal medication to end their lives are also expected to be taken up this session.