Anyone who is facing criminal charges, has a Constitutional right to legal representation. However, having a lawyer who has time to learn the facts of the case and provide an adequate defense is becoming less of a right and more of a privilege of the well-off. When Marylanders who cannot afford costly lawyers’ fees have to go to court, a public defender can represent them. All over the state, public defenders are taking on hundreds more cases than legal experts say they can manage while still providing effective legal representation. There is a widespread shortage of public defenders in Maryland and those who are there have unmanageable caseloads that now far exceed the standards that the American Bar Association recommends. The primary cause is insufficient state funding for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. There are currently 380 public defenders in Maryland’s circuit and district courts, and the Department…

Today is a day set aside for honoring the contributions that working men and women have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. As we celebrate the achievements of the past, there is still more we can do to make Maryland a better place for workers and businesses and strengthen the state’s economy. Here’s a three-pronged strategy to help workers and support broad prosperity in Maryland: 1. Expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit. The Earned Income Tax Credit is a common-sense tax break that helps working people who struggle to get by on low wages and also boosts the economy. Maryland’s EITC allows thousands of families that work hard for low pay to keep more of that they earn, but it leaves out thousands of other low-wage workers. Young people just getting started in the workforce, workers without children and those who don’t claim their child…

As students at Maryland’s public universities and community colleges head back to school this fall, they can expect to pay historically high tuition rates. Thanks to stagnating public investment, inflation-adjusted tuition at these institutions is higher than it has been in at least a decade, according to a recent report. This means more students may find they can’t afford to attend college and earn the degrees they need to succeed in today’s economy, and those who attend will have a harder time paying off their loans. At public four-year universities in the state, tuition for the 2015–2016 school year was 5.4 percent higher than the previous year—Maryland’s largest tuition hike in more than a decade and the seventh-largest in the country. Tuition at community colleges rose more slowly, increasing by 3.3 percent, but it was still the second-largest increase at Maryland community colleges in the past ten years. At the…

Photo by Mimzy Creative Commons When Maryland parents head to stores this sales-tax-free shopping week to restock the school essentials their kids need, they won’t be getting quite the bargain they might think. As good as they sound, these short-term tax-free shopping promotions do little to help families make ends meet or boost the economy – and they come at a big cost to the public investment that helps Maryland communities thrive. Temporary sales tax holidays provide the greatest amount of savings for wealthier families. Households with higher earnings can afford to shift the time of their spending to when the tax holidays occur. For low- and middle-income households who live paycheck to paycheck, this type of spending is far more difficult to pull off, causing the benefit of the tax holiday to be quite small. The sales tax holiday is also poorly targeted to those who actually need the…

With federal housing assistance today helping only one of four eligible families, it’s clear that increased investment in making sure everyone has a decent place to live would pay big dividends for all Marylanders by boosting the state economy. In 2014, these programs helped make housing affordable for nearly 98,000 Maryland families and brought $969 million into the state, according to new data released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Increased investment would benefit tens of thousands more Maryland families. Most housing assistance is delivered through three federal programs: The Housing Choice Voucher program provides vouchers that families can use to pay rent at privately owned housing that they choose. These vouchers are authorized by the federal government and then issued by a local housing authority once the beneficiary family finds an apartment or house. About 43,000 Maryland families use this type of assistance. Project-based rental assistance provides…

We all benefit from living in safe communities – however, when politicians focus on being “tough on crime,” the types of laws they enact often end up jailing more people for non-violent and petty crimes and creating longer prison sentences. These policies have had high costs for taxpayers and have not made our criminal justice system more effective. Over the last 30 years, how much Maryland spent on keeping people in its jails and prisons increased at more than twice the rate of state spending on education, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Education. Between 1980 and 2013, Maryland’s spending on prisons and jails went up 278 percent. In comparison, education funding only grew by 128 percent during that same time period. Yet it turns out that education is all-important for having safe communities. It’s one of the most crucial factors for improving Marylanders’ economic mobility…

Our office is closed today as the country’s largest free arts festival, Artscape, opens on our doorstep. Up to 400,000 people are expected to attend the festival over the course of the weekend to experience Baltimore’s diverse arts culture, supporting many neighborhood businesses in the process. Artscape 2014. Photo by Jaymang via Creative Commons license. Artscape is the largest annual event in Baltimore’s Station North Arts and Entertainment District, one of about 20 arts districts around the state, most often created to bring new investment into a certain neighborhood. Arts-related businesses can get tax breaks and grants to support their efforts in those communities. This type of public investment can create new opportunities, particularly for people pursuing careers in the arts, and also for other types of businesses that serve the visitors and residents of the community. At the same time, rapidly rising property values and rents can price out…

Every Maryland resident benefits from a more highly educated, healthier, and economically stable community. And when more than 170,000 Maryland children experience hunger, fewer educational opportunities, and limited health care on a daily basis, everyone faces long-term economic uncertainty. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s “2016 Kids County Data Book: State Trends for Child Well-Being” nearly one in seven Maryland children live in poverty. For Maryland in 2016, that means a family of four trying to get by on less than $24,300 per year. Unfortunately, this problem is getting worse. The number of children whose families struggle to make ends meet and put enough food on the table has gone up since 2010. In addition, one in four children have parents who lack secure employment, which means an even larger population of children is at high risk of going hungry. During the Great Recession, Maryland’s economy suffered less than…

MTA bus in Baltimore. Photo by ETLamborghini via Creative Commons Public transportation helps people get to work, school, the grocery store, doctor’s office, and so much more. When it doesn’t work well, people can’t get from point A to point B. What should be simple trips can turn into hours-long affairs. Research shows that, in many cities, the neighborhoods with the most unpredictable public transit are the same ones where most people are struggling to make ends meet. People who can’t afford a car have a harder time getting and keeping a job if they face long commute times and unreliable transit service. As the Maryland Transit Authority works to overhaul Baltimore’s transit system this year, it needs to create more reliable and wider-reaching public transit that will support economic growth in previously economically stagnant or distressed neighborhoods. Transit investments can provide much-needed assistance to people who are trying to…

Marylanders may once again see schools and other services essential for broad prosperity funded at levels below what meets public needs due to an ongoing disagreement between the governor and legislature about the budgeting process. With the start of the new budget year looming July 1, Gov. Larry Hogan is still deciding whether to spend $80 million that the legislature designated to meet a range of needs, from nutrition assistance for older adults to renovating aging schools. This should not be up for debate. The state has the money to invest in these vital needs and there is no reason – other than politics – to hold back these funds. In the process of reviewing the governor’s proposed budget, the General Assembly identified some areas that needed additional funding. Legislators added language to the budget stating that $80 million the governor had designated for the state’s rainy day fund should…