The gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us has been growing steadily since the 1970s throughout the United States. In Maryland, there is evidence that the problem has been getting worse since the recession. Maryland is one of 15 states where the wealthiest 1 percent was the only income group to see its wages rise between 2009 and 2013, according to “Income inequality in the US by state, metropolitan area, and county,” a report published this week by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Average wages for those in the top 1 percent went up by more than 7 percent during that time period and average wages for other Marylanders declined by 4 percent. Additional findings of the study: The top 1 percent made 17 times more, on average, than the average salary of all other Marylanders. The average annual income of the top 1 percent was $1,024,110. To…

CC0 Public Domain Author: chrischesneau When he vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, Gov. Larry Hogan took an action that could slow the growth of Maryland job creation and delay progress on worthwhile environmental goals. The legislation, which easily passed the House and Senate, would modestly increase the state’s goal for clean energy to 25 percent by 2020. Doing so will create approximately 4,000 jobs in the solar power industry and over 4,600 new jobs in wind energy over that period. Right now, about 4,300 Marylanders work in the solar industry – more than work in the state’s iconic crabbing industry. This is in part due to the longstanding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a coastal state where many key industries are likely to be harmed by the effects of climate change. As the state with the worst air quality on the East Coast, shifting towards cleaner energy…

More than 200,000 Marylanders who until now couldn’t receive overtime pay even when they worked extra hours stand to benefit when new federal rules take effect. The state’s economy will get a boost too, from this long overdue action. Like the minimum wage, federal rules regarding overtime pay were designed to ensure that people get fair wages for their work. However, the rules for determining who must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week has not kept up with rising wages. Today, someone struggling to make ends meet on a salary of $24,000 per year could be required to work more than full time without any additional compensation if their employer says their position is “managerial, administrative, or professional.” While working a 50-hour week might be reasonable for a well-compensated CEO, it places an unfair burden on working men and women who are getting by…

As many new graduates across Maryland are celebrating their newly minted college degrees this month, reduced state investment in higher education and rising tuition costs threaten to put this milestone out of reach of too many Marylanders. Years of reduced state support have helped drive up tuition at Maryland’s public colleges, jeopardizing the ability of many to afford the education that is key to their long-term financial success and essential to a growing economy. Even though Photo by Sakeeb Sabakka via Creative Commons Maryland has restored some funding to colleges and universities, per-student state support for higher education remains 8 percent below what it was in the 2007-08 school year, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Community colleges have taken an even greater hit than the state’s four-year institutions. Maryland is supposed to cover one-third of the cost per student at two-year public…

Maryland has more millionaires per capita than any other state, and asks less of them when it comes time to support the public good through schools, hospitals and transportation. Maryland was one of just 14 states that had the foresight to preserve its estate tax when the federal tax was rolled back in 2001. Initially Maryland’s tax applied to all estates of more than $1 million, but since then policymakers have raised the exemption, opting to give another tax break to the state’s richest people. In 2014, the state began phasing out the estate tax for all but the very wealthiest of wealthy residents. If, instead, Maryland  maintained the estate tax at the current level (estates over $2 million), it would preserve an important source of revenue to support schools, hospitals, safe communities, and other essential services across the state that help create jobs and build a strong economy. The…

On Mother’s Day we recognized and honored the women in our lives who have always supported us. With another celebration behind us, it’s time to get something done that would address the many challenges that severely hinder the ability of many to support themselves and achieve economic security for their families 365 days a year. The American family has drastically changed in the last few decades. Today in the United States, women earn the primary or only income for nearly 40 percent of all families. Married women are the primary or co-breadwinner for more than half of all families. A woman’s wage is essential to her family’s ability to put food on the table, make rent, and pay the bills. Right now 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:…

Many hardworking Maryland families struggle to pay bills and put food on the table because they are not paid enough to cover the basics of life. Many of these families are forced to rely on public assistance to cover the gap between what they earn and what they need. In response, leaders in Baltimore City and Montgomery County are considering proposals that would build greater economic security for people facing this predicament. Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke introduced a bill last month that would raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour by 2020, helping more than 25 percent of the Baltimore City workforce. In Montgomery County, County Councilman Mark Elrich introduced a similar bill that would benefit almost 16 percent of workers in the county. A few years ago, Maryland lawmakers set in motion a statewide increase in the minimum hourly wage to $10.10 by…

Over the last few years, residents of the Curtis Bay community in Baltimore – the most polluted ZIP code in Maryland and one of the 100 most polluted in the country – have been trying to convince an energy company that a solar farm would be better for their community than a proposed trash incinerator. Image by Tafe Sa Tonsley via Creative Commons license Legislation passed in the General Assembly this year could provide an added incentive to increase solar energy production in Maryland. Maryland is now poised to join the states leading the fight against the effects of climate change. These actions can reduce the damaging effects of air pollution and create more jobs in growing industries like solar. As a coastal state, Maryland residents and the state’s economy are at even greater risk of harm from sea-level rise and other effects of climate change than other areas of…

Today marks one year since Freddie Gray’s death and, like many Baltimoreans, it is prompting me to reflect on the past year and where our city and our state are headed. In some ways, we have made a lot of progress over the past 12 months. The legislature and governor worked together to pass significant criminal justice reform. The state is poised to send $300 million to Baltimore to support redevelopment activity, summer and after-school enrichment programs, and incentives to encourage businesses and institutions to locate in certain neighborhoods. Civilians will now have a role in policy accountability proceedings. However, we’ve also spun our wheels on some important issues. The loss of the Red Line means that Sandtown-Winchester and other impoverished communities continue to lack good transit connections to jobs. The legislature failed to expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit to help young people working in low-wage jobs make…

Maryland’s success today is due to our past public investment in good schools, a strong transportation system and other building blocks of a prosperous economy. As another “tax day” rolls around, it’s worth remembering that the income taxes we pay help make these investments possible. Cutting state income taxes or corporate taxes would undermine our ability to support these important services that businesses and families rely on every day. Where is the money going? Our federal taxes mainly pay for national defense and vital aids to well being such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. In Maryland, most of our state income tax dollars go to education and healthcare. The return on our investment is one of the most highly educated and healthiest workforces in the country. To ensure that the next generation of Marylanders has the education needed to compete in the job market…