Despite a decline in energy costs over the past year, many Marylanders’ continue to struggle with their energy expenses. Over the past year the price of crude oil has fallen dramatically, resulting in lower gasoline, diesel fuel, and heating oil prices. As a result, consumer costs for each of these products has fallen by approximately 1 dollar per gallon. The price of natural gas has also dropped. But the extreme weather this winter has offset family savings from lower prices. To make matters worse, families struggling to heat their homes are getting less help. The budget for the Office of Home Energy Programs, which helps low-income Marylanders afford heating and other energy bills, was cut by $11 million in the current budget.  Governor Hogan has proposed cutting home energy assistance in the next fiscal year (which starts July 1) by another $4.6 million. The two-year sum of these reductions is…

Too many Marylanders can’t afford the basics Maryland is arguably the richest state (per capita) in the nation, yet we struggle to take care of all Marylanders. Furthermore, because we do not provide enough help to struggling families, it can be very hard to escape the cycle of poverty, except through luck. Poverty describes a person’s ability to afford the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing, transportation. When we say a person is experiencing poverty or is impoverished we mean that person can’t afford the foundations for a healthy life. In 2014, the poverty threshold for a family of three was $19,790 under federal guidelines.[1] One in 10 Marylanders and 1 in 8 children live in poverty, struggling to afford basic necessities like food, shelter, clothing and transportation.[2][3] To put it another way, if the estimated 585,000 Marylanders living in poverty were their own county, it would be the…

Unionization Up Slightly in Maryland The number of unionized workers in Maryland increased slightly over the past year, despite a nationwide decline in the percentage of unionized workers. That’s good news since union membership is associated with higher wages for workers, which ultimately results in a higher standard of living for working families. In today’s economy, where most of the benefits of the economic recovery have gone to the wealthiest Marylanders, quality jobs are more important than ever. State policymakers could give working families a boost by: Allowing workers to earn paid sick leave and giving workers who get tips from customers the same minimum wage as everyone else. Increasing enforcement and penalties for “wage theft,” such as failing to pay workers for overtime or paying them less than the minimum wage even though they are subject to it. Empowering working Marylanders to organize and advocate for themselves in their…

Author: Benjamin Orr, Executive Director  In his State of the State speech, Governor Hogan outlined an approach to the state’s finances that threatens Maryland’s economic recovery and does too little to help families that struggle to make ends meet. In fact, he seemed to be talking about some other state entirely as he described his vision for change. The evidence is clear—Maryland is a great place to do business. We have a growing population, our workforce is highly educated because of our great public schools, our median income is among the highest in the country, and we have the most millionaires per capita of any state. Heck, according to Ernst & Young, Maryland businesses get a better return on their tax dollar than those in any other state. That’s not to say that Maryland families aren’t struggling—many are. Parents still skip meals so their kids can eat in every corner…

Maryland workers need paid sick leave, so they can afford to take care of themselves and their families, and to protect the rest of us from getting sick. Yet more than 700,000 working Marylanders currently lack paid sick leave. The Healthy Working Families Act (Senate Bill 40) would remedy this. Earned sick leave and safe leave for domestic violence victims supports working families so they don’t have to make decisions like  taking time off to care for their sick child or working so that they can pay their bills. In Maryland, more than half of working moms don’t have access to earned sick days to care for themselves or their families. Every time they or their child gets sick, they must ask themselves: can I afford to take off? A typical family without earned sick leave will lose its entire month’s grocery budget after missing 3.5 days of work. Working…

Repealing a fee that curbs pollution of the Chesapeake Bay would harm one of Maryland’s most treasured natural resources and could force local governments to cut school funding and other priorities to fund clean-up of the bay. The “stormwater management fee,” designed to reduce the flow of pollutants into the bay from residential and commercial development, is a highly effective tool to improve the water quality of the Bay in a fair and equitable way. Opponents who call the fee “ludicrous,” including Governor Hogan, are wrong. The Stormwater Management Watershed and Restoration Program, as it is formally known, required Baltimore City and Maryland’s nine most populous counties to enact plans to restore and protect the environment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Funds raised by the various storm water management fees set by the counties are exclusively used to combat rainwater runoff from parking lots, sidewalks and other surfaces, which carries…

Those earning the most in Maryland pay the lowest share of their income in state and local taxes, at just 6.7 percent, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s (ITEP) new “Who Pays?” report. Those in the top 1 percent, making over $481,000, pay the least in sales and excise taxes and property taxes. Those in the middle 20 percent (earning between $44,000 and $67,000) pay the most.           In states where lower earners pay a higher share of the taxes, revenue growth – which we depend on to fund schools, health care and other necessities — tends to be slower, and that is exactly what we are currently witnessing in Maryland. As many will remember, the Maryland Board of Revenue decreased revenue estimates twice in the past year and cited “a decreased outlook for aggregate wage growth and therefore income tax withholding” for the reduction. This isn’t expected…

Yesterday, a key legislative committee recommended that the incoming governor dramatically reduce state investments, limit state borrowing, and increase transparency of how the state estimates future revenue. The reduction of state investments could have serious impacts on the people and communities of Maryland. The Governor-elect should work with his team to craft a budget that continues to support Maryland’s residents and their values. The recommendations of Maryland’s Spending Affordability Committee – responsible for advising the Governor and General Assembly on spending levels for the next state budget – are not binding, but the Governor and the General Assembly usually take action in line with its guidance. Spending ≠ Revenue The committee unanimously passed a recommendation that the Governor reduce state spending by $350 million in Fiscal Year 2016 in order to cut the expected gap between spending and revenue by in half. This recommendation came on the heels of Monday’s…

This post is written by guest blogger Ann Blyberg  The tax credit that Maryland offers for film production – which was recently criticized as ineffective in a legislative report — is merely one example of the many business subsidies Maryland offers, most of which get very little scrutiny from legislators. Yet this shadow budget obligates spending just as much as the rest of the budget. While some tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families, are highly effective, others are less so. Greater scrutiny and more regular awareness of the costs and benefits of every credit would benefit all Marylanders. House of Cards, a prominent beneficiary of the film tax credit, is the biggest film or TV series to be made in Maryland in recent years. So it’s not surprising that it is touted as an example of why Maryland should extend the tax credit provided…

The country and state will reap economic benefits from President Obama’s action on immigration reform. Making more than 3 million people workers in the United States will increase gross domestic product (GDP), productivity, and tax revenue. Maryland would see an increase in tax revenue of around $163 million if all undocumented immigrants became legal residents, according to a 2010 Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy report. Given that Obama’s action would only affect 35% of undocumented individuals and families, the revenue increase in Maryland is likely to approach $57 million[1]. Allowing undocumented immigrants already in the country to get legal worker status will add about $90 billion in  national GDP over the next 10 years (in 2014 dollars), according to even cautious estimates. One reason is increased productivity. Productivity will rise “because of increased labor market flexibility and reduced uncertainty for workers currently in the United States and because of…