Lawmakers listen as Gov. Wes Moore (D) delivers his third State of the State address Wednesday. Gov. Wes Moore (D) delivers his third state of the state address on Wednesday. (Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters)
Gov. Wes Moore used his third State of the State address to call for bipartisan cooperation from lawmamers to solve the mounting fiscal challenges facing the state.
While his previous addresses to a joint session of the House and Senate tended to be focused on promise, Moore’s address Wednesday was focused on problems. The first-term Democrat also tried to make the case for why his plan, focused on changes to the tax code and on growing the state economy away from its reliance on the federal government, is the right medicine, even if it seems unpalatable.
“Many Marylanders are scared,” Moore said, in closing his 49-minute speech. “They’re trying to figure out where things are and how things are going for them and their families. They’re looking to us to provide solutions, to know they’re going to be OK.”
Marylanders are looking for elected officials “to make the tough choices,” Moore said.
“I know we’re not going to agree on everything, but I want us to agree on this: Let’s stand united in our commitment to working together, Democrats and Republicans, to do what is required in this moment,” Moore said. “Let’s put the politics to the side. Let’s answer this crisis with courage. Let’s rally together as one state and as one people, and let’s render these two storms, as we always have and as we always will, together.”
For the most part, Moore’s speech was a recitation of proposals already made public, including a desire to grow the state economy.
“Growth will continue to be our north star, because a growing Maryland leads the rest of the nation and has the resources and the willpower to deliver the results for the people that we serve, no matter the obstacles that are,” said Moore, noting a focus on “lighthouse industries” — information techology, life sciences, aerospace and defense.
“I want Maryland to be the capital of quantum and AI [artificial intelligence] and clean energy and biotech, and I want to make sure that all the sectors that will define the economy of tomorrow will be housed right here in the state of Maryland,” he said.
Moore called out Harry Coker Jr., his new secretary of Commerce, who he said would bolster those efforts.
“He is widely regarded as one of America’s most respected leaders in defense, intelligence and cyber security,” Moore said. “So, at a time when Maryland is ready to make some big bets on industries and the future, it is a very big deal that Harry Coker is going to help.”
Moore also touched on a newer proposal focusing on men and boys — reducing suicide and incarceration rates while increasing labor participation and college attainment.
“I want to be clear; this administration remains steadfast in our support for all Marylanders, regardless of their gender or their background,” Moore said. “As the father both a son and a daughter, I want both of my children to grow up with all of their God -honoring and God-given opportunities. But if we want to truly unleash the power of Maryland’s labor force, we need to make sure that our men and boys are all right and … are not continuing to fall behind.”
Part of the solution to the state’s budget problem is a spending plan that cuts 1% of the general fund budget (the total budget including federal funds grows by 1%), and adjusts the tax code.
“You cannot look at the system we have right now and say it makes sense,” Moore said.
Moore said his proposed changes would mean 82% of taxpayers would pay less or see no change in their taxes. The remaining 18% — Moore among them — would see increases.
“We’ll be asking people that have done exceptionally well to pay a little bit more so we can invest and grow our economy,” he said.
The governor did not directly declare the state of the state, leaving that to the audience.
When asked, House Majority Leader David Moon (D-Montgomery) said the state of the state “can only go up.”
“I think a good portion of the governor’s remarks were highlighting some of the challenges that Maryland is facing, both in terms of its budget and in terms of the onslaught of changes from the Trump administration that both affect our budget and our residents,” Moon said.
Moon said neither the “hard-nosed reality” nor the solutions presented Wednesday were “necessarily moments for applause.”
Republicans had tougher characterizations.
“Dire,” said House Minority Whip Del. Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick)
“I really, truly think we’re at a crossroads,” House Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said after Moore’s address. Buckel delivered a Republican view of the state in a broadcast speech taped a day before Moore’s address.
But Republicans make up less than 30% of the General Assembly. In previous years, the Democratic supermajority lavished Moore with thunderous applause, but this year — beleaguered by federal politics, stark budget realities and, in some cases, dissatisfaction with the executive — those same lawmakers were less effusive, more sober, more subdued.
Privately, some Democrats characterized the governor’s proposals as bolstered with fake cuts. Those that were real, such as reductions for services for people with developmental disabilities, were seen as a way to force tax increases.
Some cuts were flatly opposed. Dels. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard) and Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) — chairs of the House Ways and Means and the Appropriations committees, respectively — vocally opposed the administration’s proposed changes to the education reform plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
Publicly, other Democrats praised Moore’s speech.
Judicial Proceedings Chair Sen. Will Smith (D-Montgomery) called the speech a “great effort” to encourage lawmakers and Marylanders amid the budget shortfall and the “unsteady head” of the federal government.
“It was a very encouraging speech … in tremendously uncertain times,” Smith said.
Former Gov. Parris Glendening has been in Moore’s shoes. Glendening, who was governor from 1994 to 2003, said Moore did “a good job” balancing what the state does well with problems it faces. But he said the address also has to represent bipartisanship and while supporting your political base.
“When you put all that together, it’s tough,” Glendening said outside the State House. “It’s always a challenge because the State of the State is a mixture to help people feel good, no matter what.”
Glendening said one of Moore’s toughest challenges is “the total chaos” from the Trump administration, including his push to slash the number of federal federal workers, more than 160,000 of whom live in Maryland.
“He must wake up every morning and say, ‘What the heck is going to hit us today?’” Glendening said. “[Moore] did his part in trying to pull people together, and at the same time, expressing total concern about the chaos of the national government.”
Transcript of Gov. Wes Moore’s 2025 State of the State address
Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, called it Moore’s best and most substantive State of the State speech yet.
“He did a great job of characterizing the challenges we’re facing, but also how we’re working together to address them,” she said.
That doesn’t mean the Black Caucus agrees with all of Moore’s proposals. It has particularly criticized his call to limit the Blueprint’s plan to expand community schools, which provide a range of services beyond classroom teaching in some of Maryland’s poorest neighborhoods.
“I don’t view that as a move forward,” Wilkins said.
The governor has also proposed slowing the growth of per pupil funding and delaying funding for “collaborative time” in the Blueprint.
But the administration has also included $134 million for a four-year program to increase the number of teachers, another four-year, $48 million grant program to let schools start implementing collaborative time, programs to develop principals and other school-based leaders, and a national campaign to attract out-of-state teachers to Maryland. Moore said the Blueprint remains vital to the state’s future.
“But if history teaches us anything, it’s that laws of enormous consequence must be adjusted in order to endure changing times,” he said of the law the created the Blueprint three years ago. “Working together to make the Blueprint more successful and sustainable does not mean we are backing down. It means we are stepping up.”
Atterbeary said she and Barnes disagree “100%” with the governor’s “cuts” to per pupil and collaborative time funding.
“As far as we stand right now, we are not changing the Blueprint,” Atterbeary said after the speech.
She said Moore’s plan to cut community schools funding affects students in most need.
“That is not what we should be doing, particularly in this climate with the federal government erasing help to those in need financially, getting rid of DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion programs], getting rid of anything related to LGBTQ+ plus communities,” she said. “We need to be more supportive of those populations and that is not what he’s proposing.”
Her and Barnes’ committees plan to hold a joint hearing on the House version of the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, which includes the proposed changes to the Blueprint. Atterbeary challenged Moore to testify on behalf of his proposal, saying “it’s his bill. I think he would.”
Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) said the governor did well in his speech with a focus on helping the business community, but also acknowledging concerns about the budget and the uncertainty of new leadership in the federal government in nearby Washington, D.C.
“I think he’s on the right track,” King said about Moore.
She agrees with his proposal to pause funding to expand collaborative time – out-of-classroom time for teachers to do planning or work with students – because the state has a teacher shortage, especially with up to 15,000 teachers needed to make it work next school year.
“Even if it is 1,000 teachers, where are we going to get them?” King asked. “That’s the problem. If you look at how much the Blueprint costs, we don’t have the money to do all that yet, and we don’t have the people.
“You can’t just snap your fingers and have that come about,” she said. “We’ve got to be cultivating and inducing people to go into teaching. We all have the right direction in mind with the Blueprint, but we’ve got to use common sense along with it.”
King is a co-sponsor of the Senate version of the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act. The Senate’s Budget and Taxation and its Education and Energy and the Environment committees are scheduled to hold a joint hearing on the bill on Feb. 12.
House Environment and Transportation Committee Chair Marc Korman (D-Montgomery) said Moore’s address fit the current national political dynamic appropriately.
“It was a sobering speech because it is a sobering moment, especially with what’s going on in Washington,” he said. “He accurately characterizes the storm from Washington. I think he was a little gracious. I would have used another four-letter word before the word storm.”
But Senate Republican leaders said the governor’s speech lacked specifics on how the state will pull itself out of the budget shortfall.
“I think if the Maryland public were going to listen to this, they’d want to hear a little more of the details on how we’re going to get out of the most important issue that we face this session, and that’s the budget,” said Senate Majority Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore).
“I don’t think the governor gave a lot of solutions there,” he said. “We did not hear one thing about energy. And if you talk to legislators down here outside of the budget, that is the most important issue that we’re dealing with.”
Hershey also believes that Moore’s use of the word “chaos” in reference to the Trump administration is problematic, especially as the state relies on federal funding and grants that could be on the line under President Donald Trump. He said chaos is “not an endearing term.”
“It’s certainly not a recommendation from us to criticize the Trump administration when you’re relying so heavily on funding that comes from them – especially on big projects like the Key Bridge,” Hershey said.
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready (R-Frederick and Carroll) said Maryland should take a cue from the Trump administration’s scrutiny and evaluation of programs that the federal government spends money on.
“The idea that it’s somehow chaos – that’s what our state needs to be doing,” he said. “It’s going top to bottom, looking at every spending program, Marylanders are literally just suffering right now – high cost of living, high taxes, high energy prices.
“The governor alluded to an effort to try to find some efficiencies in state government. We need to go hard-core on that,” Ready said.