House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) gave a GOP state fo the state speech that described a state at a crossroads. (File photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.)
Maryland Republicans delivered their own take Wednesday on the state of the stated. The speech here was prepared before Gov. Wes Moore (D) delivered his State of the State address. The text here is as prepared for delivery by House Minority Leader Jason Buckel:
Good afternoon, I am Delegate Jason Buckel, from Allegany County in Western Maryland. I have the privilege to serve as the Minority Leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, and in that capacity, I join you today to give the Republican view of our great state.
At this moment, Maryland is truly at a crossroads. In one direction is the path our state has followed for decades – one of uncontrolled government growth and foolish partisan policies that always result in chronic budget deficits, astonishing increases in the cost of living, and calls by complicit politicians for higher taxes on everything under the sun. It is a path that relies too much on the over-taxation of its citizens and the federal government’s largess.
On this path, Maryland’s economy has remained – at best – stagnant, with little population growth as private sector job creators and hardworking families flee our state. Maryland has been ranked 49th – almost dead last – in private-sector job creation. We are 46th in the nation in domestic migration – the percentage of residents leaving Maryland for other states.
It is this path that has brought us to the $3 billion deficit we are currently facing – which is expected to grow to an over $6 billion deficit by FY 2030. Some leaders seem to be more interested in assigning blame for who is responsible for these disaster-in-the-making shortfalls than in fixing our fundamental problems.
What I would submit to you is that regardless of who has served as Governor or from which political party they hail, it is the Maryland General Assembly that bears the most responsibility in all of these matters. It is the General Assembly that, under a Democratic supermajority for generations, has consistently prioritized policies that punish Maryland consumers, taxpayers, ratepayers, motorists, and businesses. It is the General Assembly that has allowed virtually unchecked spending increases – without any evidence that spending more has produced better results – and blocked the actions of Governors who have tried to rein in spending in the past. For Maryland to succeed, we must choose a new path.
Governor Moore claims his budget is a pragmatic mix of tax cuts for the middle class, tax increases for the wealthiest Marylanders, and real spending reductions. However, Governor Moore’s spending cuts are not what they appear to be. The largest cut in Governor Moore’s budget is not a cut at all, but merely a decision not to put $420 million into the Rainy Day Fund, our state’s savings account. He also shifts $145 million of spending onto the backs of local governments who will, as a result, likely be forced to increase local taxes.
The truth is, we are spending more on education, more on healthcare, more on mass transit, and more on state government employee costs than last year. This budget proposal is not groundbreaking or even creative. It merely perpetuates the same spend and tax cycle that has haunted our state and burdened our taxpayers for entirely too long.
When it comes to taxation, the Governor’s budget merely gives with one hand while taking with the other, and he is taking far more than he gives. Where he modestly cuts income taxes for the middle class, reducing their tax rate by less than 1/10th of a percentage point, he also eliminates itemization of deductions such as interest on your home mortgage, causing many middle-class taxpayers to pay more.
His elimination of the vehicle trade-in allowance will increase taxes on most new car purchases by an average of $1,200. He seeks, for the first time, a fee on the delivery of any product – like pizza or your Amazon order – which will cost many Maryland families hundreds of dollars a year in new taxes.
There have been more than 400 individual new or increased taxes and fees on Marylanders since Governor Moore took office, through both his actions and proposals and the actions of the legislature. Those new or increased taxes and fees are paid by Maryland’s small business owners, service providers, farmers, motorists, and families.
It is important to recognize perhaps the most beleaguered and exploited group of tax and fee payers in our state – Maryland’s motorists. Those individuals who buy, own, and drive vehicles contribute nearly 50% of the revenue that feeds the Transportation Trust Fund through registration and titling fees, excise taxes, and gas taxes. Governor Moore’s budget plan takes an additional $195 million from the pockets of these Marylanders. If the bulk of these dollars were being invested in Maryland’s roads, highways, and bridges, this might be a little easier for motorists to digest. But less than a quarter of Transportation Trust Fund spending goes to Maryland roads and bridges while more than 50% is spent on mass transit, which only a small percentage of Marylanders actually utilize.
New taxes are not the only place the Governor and our Democratic friends in Annapolis are making life difficult for our citizens. Maryland’s environmental interest groups and lawmakers beholden to them have a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% in just a few years and reach net-zero emissions by 2045, seemingly at any cost. As a result, Maryland’s families and businesses are being crushed under the weight of high energy prices. Maryland’s five existing fossil-fuel power plants are being forced to close due to failed Democratic policies and energy costs are therefore skyrocketing.
At the same time, some Marylanders are facing the threat of having their property values destroyed or their property even seized to build new power lines from Pennsylvania because our state has to import electricity to meet the needs of our electric grid. Maryland’s misguided obsession with offshore wind has and will continue to increase costs for ratepayers as we invest in a financial boondoggle that destroys our ocean views and endangers our marine life.
Incredibly, Maryland has adopted California’s controversial vehicle emissions standards that would completely ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, increasing costs on vehicle purchases and endangering jobs at vehicle dealerships across our state. Republicans prioritize clean air, clean water, and conserving our state’s natural resources as much as anyone, but our state’s environmental goals are not only unattainable by practical standards, but their outrageous costs are financially suffocating our citizens.
Environmental activism gone wild is not the only cost driver here in Annapolis. There is a repeated refrain from Maryland’s Democratic leaders that this year’s deficit is not caused by the massive education spending program known as the Blueprint, because it is “fully funded.” That is, at best, a disingenuous position. What they mean is this year, the Blueprint Fund covers the costs of the Blueprint and no additional monies from other state government funds will be needed to cover the costs.
What they choose to ignore is that the dollars in the Blueprint Fund represent Maryland’s tax monies previously spent in other areas of government that are now being used exclusively to fund the Blueprint. This includes 12% of the state’s total sales tax revenue, and in total, this year alone, the Blueprint fund includes about $1 billion in revenue that used to be available for things like health care, economic development, public safety, and our infrastructure needs. Put another way, if we simply used the alleged “Blueprint Fund” to pay for our state government’s other ongoing obligations, there would be no real need for the billion dollars in tax hikes Governor Moore is requesting. To say the Blueprint is not contributing to Maryland’s deficit is just not true.
As Maryland sits at this crossroads, my Republican colleagues in the General Assembly all agree that our current path is unsustainable. Every year, we come to Annapolis with new ideas and solutions to try to make Maryland a better place to live, work, and raise a family. We advocate for truly lowering our tax burden, spurring private-sector job growth, and cracking down on violent criminals. We push to align our energy policies with common sense and with our regional neighbors in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Most importantly, we work to make sure Maryland citizens are getting the most bang for their buck possible in funding critical objectives like education and transportation. Marylanders from Oakland to Ocean City, from Dundalk to Denton, and all our neighborhoods in between are begging for relief. They are demanding we do better. As Maryland stands at this crossroads, it is time to change our path. What direction will we take?