Thousands of immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras have made their homes in Maryland communities over the last two decades. Many of them are now able to work, go to school, and pay taxes because of a type of legal status called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – but they face uncertain futures as the Trump administration weighs changes to the nation’s immigration programs. Since its creation in 1990, TPS has served as a form of humanitarian relief, granting work authorization and deferred deportation to immigrants from certain countries experiencing conflict or natural disasters. President Trump recently ended TPS for Haitian and Nicaraguan immigrants and will need to make decisions on whether to extend the program for Honduran and Salvadoran immigrants within the next few months. Many of the immigrants currently living in the U.S. with TPS have been here for more than two decades. They have established lives here, own…

Evaluations of Maryland business tax credits continue to show that the state’s investments are not working as legislators intended. A recent state-mandated evaluation of the research and development (R&D) tax credit and the biotechnology investment incentive tax credit (BIITC) found no evidence that either tax credit is benefitting Maryland. In addition, this spending comes at the expense of investment into other programs that would more effectively incentivize innovation and investment in technology. The R&D tax credit mainly benefits large corporations The goal of the R&D tax credit is to boost long-term economic growth in Maryland by promoting innovation. However, much more so than tax conditions, the presence of elite research universities and a well-educated, highly skilled workforce is more likely to influence research and innovation. The design of Maryland’s R&D tax credit makes it even less likely to impact innovation in our state. Because it provides tax credits for a…

In order to have a government that is open, accountable, and responsive to Marylanders’ needs, the state needs adequately staffed government agencies. Right now, many state agencies aren’t functioning at their best because they don’t have enough people to do the work, according to recent analysis by the Department of Legislative Services (DLS), which provides nonpartisan analysis to the General Assembly. The agency’s analysis found that Maryland’s government needs to fill 1,200 existing positions and add nearly 1,300 additional positions in order fulfill its mission. These findings come after a two-year review of Executive Branch staffing needs based on laws, regulations, caseload guidelines, agency staffing studies, and other documentation. These vacancies are not a new problem. Since 2002, the state has abolished almost 7,700 positions at state agencies, not counting higher education positions. Moreover, Maryland’s response to changes in the economy contributes to staffing declines. Cost containment hiring freezes, limited…

Each time they get sick or need to care for a sick child, 750,000 working Marylanders are still forced to choose between their health and a day’s pay because they aren’t able to earn paid sick time at work. The Healthy Working Families Act, which the General Assembly passed during its 2017 session, would change that. The bill guarantees half a million workers the chance to earn paid sick and safe time, plus job-protected leave for hundreds of thousands more. However, a veto from Gov. Hogan has put these protections on hold. A new MDCEP report confirms what was already clear: Earned sick days are good for working families, public health, and our economy. When the legislature reconvenes in January, it should act quickly to make the Healthy Working Families Act law. Guaranteeing paid sick days will mean a healthier state for all of us. One in four workers who…

As they return from the Thanksgiving break this week, Congressional Republicans’ top legislative priority is to pass a massive tax cut for the top 5 percent of households. And the bill senators are currently negotiating would do much more than that. It raises taxes on working families, puts health insurance out of reach for millions, and creates large deficits lawmakers can later use to justify damaging cuts. If this bill passes, it will do lasting harm to many Maryland families. The Senate bill would bring large benefits to the wealthiest households, cutting taxes on the top 1 percent of Marylanders by $8,000 in 2027 and more in earlier years. It accomplishes this through numerous lopsided provisions, like drastically cutting the multimillionaire estate tax and permanently reducing corporate tax rates. Meanwhile, one in four Maryland families would pay higher taxes under the bill. Families who are already struggling to afford the…

The tax proposal that passed the U.S. House of Representatives would make it harder for families and students from low-income immigrant families to access tax credits they are legally entitled to. The bill would place new restrictions on the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). These refundable tax credits were created to lift children out of poverty and allow more students to afford the skyrocketing cost of higher education. Restricting access to the Child Tax Credit could harm 67,000 U.S. citizen children in Maryland The children of undocumented immigrants, many of whom are U.S. citizens, will suffer the most under the House tax plan’s requirement that individuals claiming the CTC must use a Social Security number, rather than an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). This change would harm the estimated 67,000 U.S. citizen children with undocumented parents living in Maryland. The CTC reduced or ended…

Maryland’s success as a state is built on the past policy choices we have made that allow us to invest in the things that make Maryland a good place to live and do business. Maryland’s “trickle-up” economic policies have made our economy stronger as compared to states that take a different approach, according to a recent report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. While we still need to take steps to ensure that the benefits of these policies are widely shared with all Marylanders and that everyone pays their fair share, many Maryland policies focus on increasing purchasing power and expanding the social safety net for the middle-class, and those trying to get into the middle class. These policies have contributed to Maryland’s higher economic growth, lower unemployment, and higher per capita incomes. Maryland’s approach contrasts with states that pursue “trickle-down” economic policies, such as cutting taxes on…

Every year, 233,000 Maryland workers with modest salaries put in long hours without getting paid for it. A regulation originally slated to take effect last year would have changed that by updating the federal overtime threshold for decades of inflation. Instead, a flawed judicial decision put the rule on hold. Until recently, the Trump administration seemed likely to allow the rule to die in court. While it now appears that the administration will propose a weaker expansion covering fewer workers, one thing remains clear: hardworking Marylanders should not be held at the mercy of unpredictable federal policy. The state should act swiftly to expand overtime protections on its own, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of Maryland workers get paid for every hour they work. Federal overtime protections have existed since 1938, when they were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They serve dual purposes, ensuring both that…

This week, the Maryland Insurance Administration approved additional increases to premiums for the health insurance plans offered through Maryland’s individual marketplace. CareFirst and Kaiser Permanente, the remaining health insurance providers participating in the market, were given the go ahead in August to raise rates for 2018, but the insurance companies requested additional increases due to concerns over their abilities to cover costs following the Trump administration’s decision to end payments of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies. About 56 percent of Marylanders who are enrolled in ACA health insurance plans benefit from lower out-of-pocket expenses. Low- and moderate-income people, with incomes less than about $60,000 for a family of four, are eligible for these lower costs. Insurers use CSR payments to offset the costs of providing lower co-pays and other fees to these families. In order to keep out-of-pocket expenses in line with ACA standards in the absence of those payments, insurers…

Eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes, as proposed in Republican leaders’ tax plan, would be a bad tradeoff for Marylanders. This deduction allows taxpayers who itemize deductions on their federal income taxes to deduct state and local property taxes, as well as state and local income taxes or general sales taxes. Not only would 1.4 million Marylanders potentially see higher federal tax bills as a result, eliminating the deduction would make it even harder for Maryland to raise the money needed to support the state services we all rely on. For example, because the deduction is a form of cost sharing between the federal government and the states, eliminating it would likely mean higher borrowing costs for Maryland and other states. Our state is already expected to face serious budget strains over the next few years. Making it harder to raise adequate revenue for state services could, over…