A pair of Maryland job creation tax credits is doing little to boost the state’s economy, at the expense of state investments that would support economic growth. The Job Creation Tax Credit and the Businesses that Create New Jobs Tax Credit provide breaks on local property and state taxes. After 20 years, the record shows these credits have done little to promote job creation and primarily benefit large businesses already present in the state – at the cost of investments proven to build the economy like education, healthcare and transportation. A recently released Department of Legislative Services review of the tax credits found they are overly complex, help few businesses, overlap with existing credits, and primarily benefit very large companies.   Since 2001, the Jobs Creation credit has cost the state $21.8 million. While the companies claiming the credit certified about 17,700 new jobs during that period, there is good…

Maryland has deep history of being a welcoming community for new immigrant populations. This is one way in which we’ve shown our compassion for families fleeing war-torn parts of the world, and this history has helped create the economically and culturally thriving community we have today. Looking at one example, Syrian immigrants have a history of successfully integrating in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, which has one of the highest Syrian populations of metro areas around the country. This past success and local support system bodes well for the futures of Syrian refugees who recently arrived in Maryland, according to a new report. Syrian refugees have faced years of war and potentially deadly journeys in search of safety. When seeking resettlement in the US, they go through what is often a nearly two-year screening process and in the meantime must put their lives on hold, unable to work or go…

If Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without a replacement health care program, 476,000 Marylanders will lose their health care coverage by 2019, according to analysis by the Urban Institute. This would more than double the number of residents of our state without health insurance and would put millions more at risk. Marylanders cannot afford this threat to our health and finances. Health care reform significantly reduced the share of Maryland residents without health insurance. In 2013, before the law’s major provisions took effect, 10.2 percent of Marylanders were uninsured, according to data from the American Community Survey. By 2015, that number was down by more than a third, to 6.6 percent. For the first time, many workers struggling to make ends meet at low-wage jobs have access to Medicaid, young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance, and people living with chronic illnesses are no longer locked out of…

In the wealthiest state in the wealthiest country in the world, no one should go hungry. Yet, too many Maryland families still struggle to afford enough to eat. Federal- and state-funded food assistance could be at risk in the coming year and it is critical that we protect this cost-effective, necessary support for thousands of Maryland residents. Public domain image The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) leads the way in ensuring families don’t go hungry, but the program requires adequate government funding in order to do so. SNAP provides an average benefit of $1.35 per person per meal for households with children receiving assistance. In 2012 the program kept 10.3 million people out of poverty including 4.9 million children. Not included in that figure are the thousands of people in our state who are likely eligible for food assistance but don’t receive it. One in eight households in Maryland…

  This election cycle has been hard on everyone. But now that it is over, we must look ahead to how potential changes in federal policies will affect Maryland. The new administration and Congress have the potential to significantly alter the state’s finances, as well as Maryland’s relationship with the federal government. Here is what the Maryland Center on Economic Policy is paying attention to: We must redouble our commitment to equity and ensuring that the benefits of a healthy economy are broadly shared. There is no place for racism, sexism, homophobia, or xenophobia in our vision for Maryland. Maryland must defend the gains made in health insurance coverage, despite the likely repeal or drastic rewrite of the Affordable Care Act. Maryland must also push back against other policy changes which may reduce access to care. Federal funding is likely to fall, hurting average Marylanders who depend on investments in…

Without major changes in the economy or state fiscal practices, Maryland policymakers will continue to face small budget shortfalls each year, the Department of Legislative Services told the General Assembly’s Spending Affordability Committee this week. Legislators have options for how to move Maryland forward. To preserve and build on the modest economic growth since the most recent recession, it is essential that we preserve critical investments in things like education, transportation, and health care. A fiscal strategy based only on spending cuts would hurt Maryland’s families and the economy as a whole. The Problem Revenue has not grown as fast as state analysts predicted, and new estimates show the trend continuing. The Board of Revenue Estimates now predicts that the state will have $365 million less than it expected when the budget for the current fiscal year was developed and $417 million less than estimated for the next fiscal year.…

While it’s widely known that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps thousands of Maryland families put food on the table, it also does much more to help keep children healthy and set them up for long-term success. Research increasingly shows that SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, can help prevent children from experience the negative long-term effects of poverty, abuse or neglect, parental addiction or mental illness, and exposure to violence — events that can take a continued toll on their well-being later in life. As a new Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report finds, SNAP helps form a strong foundation of health and well-being by lifting millions of families out of poverty, improving food security, and helping improve health and academic achievement. SNAP is improving the futures of about 1 in every 5 children all across Maryland, about 316,400 children in 2014. SNAP’s benefits are modest, but…

When new laws went into effect on Saturday, our state took some important steps forward in creating a more vibrant and inclusive Maryland – both in the workplace and in the criminal justice system.   A Path to Equal Pay About half of families with children are supported by a working woman. When more women are able to earn fair wages for their work, it is better for them, their families, and our economy. A woman working in Maryland makes only 80 cents for every dollar made by men in comparable jobs. This wage disparity is even greater for women of color: African American women make 70 cents, and  Latina women 47 cents for every dollar paid to a man doing comparable work. It is now illegal for business owners and managers to retaliate against employees who share salary information with their colleagues, which could help meet the goal of reducing…

Last year, typical Maryland families saw their largest income gains since the Great Recession. At the same time, about one in 10 state residents still struggle to afford basic necessities such as food and housing. While last year’s progress is welcome, the state needs policies that support workers and make sure everyone can experience the benefits of a growing economy. Income for a typical Maryland household grew by 2.4 percent in 2015 after adjusting for inflation, according to data released last week by the Census Bureau. This is the third consecutive year of income growth for middle-class families in the state and the largest single-year gain Although Maryland remains the wealthiest state in the nation, income did not grow as quickly in Maryland as in the rest of the country, and last year’s growth was not enough to make up the losses from the downturn. A typical Maryland household still…

Tens of thousands more Marylanders were able to get health coverage in 2015 as more people continued to benefit from federal health care reform and the expansion of Medicaid, but Maryland must do more to ensure that progress continues. About 74,000 additional people in Maryland had health coverage in 2015, compared to the previous year, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. However, continued improvement is not guaranteed as recent actions by Maryland’s health insurance regulators and insurance providers could threaten this progress. The Maryland Health Insurance Commission’s recently approved double-digit premium increases for individual health insurance plans, include an average rate increase of 31 percent from Maryland’s largest insurer. This huge jump in price, which will go into effect in the new year, far exceeds any pay increase a typical Marylander buying insurance on the state health care exchange might receive. This means that people will have…