A tumultuous Maryland legislative session was about 12 hours from ending when Gov. Wes Moore’s 20/20 hindsight kicked in.
During an hourlong interview with The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board, the governor was asked what he would do differently on spending, given the state’s $3.3 billion deficit, and what he learned from the process.
“This was really hard,” Moore said, adding that the $67 billion budget included about $2.5 billion in cuts.
It also included about $1.6 billion in increased taxes and fees.
“The kind of holes that we needed to fill when we came on board, I don’t even know if I had a full appreciation of that when I put my hand on the Bible,” Moore said, referring to his inauguration on Jan. 18, 2023.
Some of those holes, he said, included unaddressed transportation needs, Marylanders waiting 18 months to get a call back about unemployment checks, vacancies in public safety and more.
“I wish I would have, in hindsight, … had a better understanding of … the level of holes that needed to get fixed and needed to get fixed immediately,” Moore said.
The governor said it was his mission to “have a state government that’s actually responsive to people and not one that was just completely dilapidated. And we need to do it and make sure we’re still also keeping a healthy rainy day fund.”
Moore’s comments continued a trend throughout the legislative session of blaming his predecessor, former Gov. Larry Hogan.
But David Brinkley, who served as Hogan’s budget secretary, said Moore’s words and actions during the last three months reveal something else.
“He’s showing his incredible naivete in managing a multibillion-dollar operation,” Brinkley said. “He doesn’t understand what he inherited. He was given an incredible cushion. He blew it.”
Moore has frequently argued that the $5.5 billion surplus the state had when Hogan left office wasn’t real because it was largely supplied with COVID-19 relief funds. On Monday, he claimed he inherited a deficit.
Brinkley said, “That’s B.S. It’s a bunch of manure. Of course it was real. It was cash.”
Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, a Republican who represents Carroll and Frederick counties, said it’s “just not true” when Moore claims the surplus wasn’t real.
“Did it include one-time funds? Sure. Part of the job as the executive is to manage those funds,” Ready said.
Moore and Hogan had a smooth transition two years ago. But finger-pointing has escalated this year, when a 2026 gubernatorial race will begin in the country’s never-ending cycle of politics.
Hogan recently said on X that when he left office, “Maryland had a $5.5 billion surplus and was in the strongest fiscal position in state history.
“Now, just two years later, the surplus is gone, and the Rainy Day Fund is being raided,” he said.
Hogan is eligible to run for a third term, though he has not declared his candidacy. Polls, however, have already put Hogan and Moore in head-to-head matchups.
An economic fight is ramping up in the state against a backdrop of federal government cuts that disproportionately impact Maryland, compared to other states. As lawmakers finished the 90-day legislative session on Monday, many said they anticipated returning for a special session in the fall.
Republicans warn that the legislature will likely raise taxes if there’s a special session, just as Marylanders will now incur more than a dozen new taxes and fees after the budget passed Monday.
Moore, however, has been touting it as a tax cut for the middle class because it will save about $50 in income taxes for most Marylanders. But that doesn’t account for the increases people will see in higher vehicle taxes, a technology tax and more.
“This whole session was a missed opportunity,” said Del. Matt Morgan, a Republican representing St. Mary’s County.
He said the budget doesn’t sufficiently address the biggest cost-driver: the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s signature education plan.
Moore acknowledged the strain of the Blueprint in his interview with The Sun. His budget proposal in January tried to address it with some funding pauses, some of which passed while the legislature rejected others.
The governor said that, though there’s been a view that the Blueprint is settled policy and “there’s nothing that can be done,” he has said multiple times that “every time this country has passed something hard, we also have had to have the courage to be able to adjust it right.”
He noted that Social Security has been adjusted 17 times, and the Maryland Constitution has been adjusted over 200 times.
“We have to understand that good governance does not mean being dogmatic,” Moore said, noting that continued adjustments are needed to ensure the Blueprint is properly implemented.
The governor was careful to emphasize in the interview that his calls for adjustments aren’t because he doesn’t believe in the plan.
“It’s because I believe in it. And do you want it to work or not? Because if you just simply look at it as something that cannot have any adjustments, it will crash under its own weight,” Moore said.
The House pushed back the most on Moore’s adjustments to the Blueprint, which would have reduced state spending. Multiple Republicans noted that the Democratic-led legislature has gradually moved to the left and is further left than Moore.
Ready complained that Moore didn’t push back enough on the legislature to gain greater control over spending.
“The governor was very absent during the second half of the session,” the senator said. “When things got tough, he checked out.”
Ready acknowledged that nobody likes an “I told you so,” but said Republicans “warned them” the Blueprint would ultimately cost more than the state could afford.
“Maybe somebody should’ve run some numbers,” he said.
Have a news tip? Contact politics editor Candy Woodall at cwoodall@baltsun.com.