Maryland’s economic realities have collided with his ambition, with the state’s budget deficit expected to balloon to nearly $2 billion annually four years from now. Democratic legislators, who hold supermajorities in Annapolis, have said privately that they are eager for him to begin to deliver.
Moore is a rising star in the Democratic Party but delivered an address laced with humility. He name-checked Annapolis power brokers and highlighted their contributions to state policy, and big applause followed. He repeatedly implored legislators of both parties — and then later philanthropists, community leaders, unions and others — to work with him as he seeks to improve access to child care, hire more police officers, remove illegal guns from the streets, close the racial wealth gap and resolve the state’s affordable-housing crisis, among his other 2024 goals.
“I’m proud of what we’re doing. But I’m most proud of how we’re doing it,” Moore said in his prepared remarks, in which he used the word “partnership” 28 times.
“I know I talk a lot about partnership,” he said. “If the state received a nickel every time I said the word ‘partnership,’ our budget problems would be solved.”
Moore also said he has “more than big aspirational targets.” He plans to release on Thursday a 10-year plan for the state and hold a town hall gathering with the Maryland’s 46,000 state workers to describe his road map.
“We’ve laid out specific, actionable, realistic and measurable goals,” he said.
Moore gave a recap of some of the legislation he proposed this session, describing a false choice between policies that punish criminals and those that rehabilitate them, calling public safety his top priority. He said other legislation will help reduce Maryland’s eviction filing rate — which he called the highest in the country — as well as build more affordable housing. Another bill would aim to “cut red tape so Maryland is the friendliest state in the nation to start and build a business,” he said.
“Guys, this is about lives and livelihoods,” Moore said. “We need to make it easier for people to live here, to stay here and to retire here.”
The governor heads into his second year in office with soaring expectations and facing tough financial headwinds, including a lackluster economy that has been stagnant even as the nation’s economic fortunes have improved.
His current budget proposal for next year would close a roughly $700 million annual budget gap using savings, increasing debt and trimming spending on an array of government programs. But the gap will widen as the state pays to implement prized Democratic programs to revamp education and invest in mitigating climate change. An additional $3 billion in planned transportation projects has already been cut as the state’s gas tax revenue plummeted.
Moore has not endorsed proposals to raise taxes to solve either problem, focusing instead on jump-starting the economy by investing in data centers, cybersecurity and other growth industries. Regarding transportation, the governor said Wednesday that “we will engage in a robust debate on how Maryland funds transportation projects across the state,” but he did not offer specifics.
In his speech, Moore emphasized that he thinks it’s important to stay the course on key Democratic proposals, saying, “We need to honor our pledge to make Maryland schools the best in this entire country.”
He added, “When our young people get the tools they need to strengthen their minds and hearts, they grow up to dream and lead.”
In his roughly 40-minute speech, Moore used the word “we” more than 120 times, five times more than “I.” As he entered the House of Delegates chamber to deliver the address, he hugged nearly every legislator he passed and appeared to kiss the cheek of a Republican, who smiled in return.
The governor’s speech ran through high points of his first year in office, including Maryland having the nation’s lowest unemployment rate for five months straight and creating a first-in-the-nation service-year program. Looking ahead, he said, “the challenges will be shared, the setbacks will be shared — but the victories…
Read More: In State of State speech, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore stresses partnership