Decisions about the state budget are always important, but this year they dominated the entire Maryland General Assembly session as policymakers worked to address a significant budget deficit. A nearly $3 billion shortfall at the beginning of the year continued to grow as the effects of federal layoffs and funding cuts began to rock the region’s economy.

Host Kevin Slayton chats with Maryland Center on Economic Policy Research Analyst Christopher Meyer and Rachel London, Executive Director of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council about how Gov. Wes Moore and the legislature addressed these challenges, and what that means for Maryland families and communities as the new budget year begins this month.

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This General Assembly session, Maryland legislators have been working through addressing a $3 billion budget deficit. Earlier this legislative session, Kevin Slayton interviewed several legislators who serve on the budget committees about their approach to these decisions and how they try to represent their communities' needs in the budget process.

Guests:

• Delegate Jazz Lewis Majority Whip and Chair of the Public Safety and Administration Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee
• Senator Cory McCray, Chair of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee
• Delegate Gabriel Acevero, Vice Chair of the Legislative Latino Caucus and member of the House Appropriations Committee

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One of the most important responsibilities of our state and local governments is to provide an education for our kids to set them up for success. In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed a landmark education reform and funding bill known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, designed to address chronic under-funding of schools in some communities and make Maryland schools some of the best in the world. This legislation was the result of years of study and planning by a commission of education experts.

This year, as the state faces a historic budget deficit, policymakers are talking about slowing down and scaling back some of the goals of the Blueprint in order to reduce costs. Host Kevin Slayton talks to two dedicated education experts and advocates about how the proposed changes to the Blueprint plan could affect students and families across the state: Riya Gupta, Interim Executive Director of Strong Schools Maryland, and Liz Zogby, a special education advocate and co-chair of the Maryland Down Syndrome Coalition.

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While many states elect a treasurer, Maryland is unique in having an elected comptroller. Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman often describes the role as being the state’s chief financial officer.

Along with the governor and the treasurer, who is elected by the legislature rather than by the voters, the comptroller also serves on the Board of Public Works, overseeing major contracts and other budget adjustments that take place throughout the budget year.

Comptroller Lierman joined host Kevin Slayton in the studio in the fall to discuss her role, the challenges and opportunities facing the state, and ways her office is working to make it easier for Marylanders to file taxes and access state tax credits.

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All of us want to have a job that is safe, has good working conditions, and pays us fairly for our work. Unions play an important role in creating those kinds of opportunities for working Marylanders. Unions allow working people to have a seat at the table in decisions that affect their quality of life and their day-to-day experiences at work.

Over the last few years there has been an uptick in union activity, with workers coming together to form unions in workplaces and industries that have not been unionized before. And research from the Economic Policy Institute documented a sharp increase in strikes and other work stoppages in 2023 along with an increase in the number of Americans who are interested in unions.

In the fall of 2024, Policy Lowdown host Kevin Slayton sat down with two Marylanders who were part of this moment in union history – Eric Brown and Kevin Gallagher. They both worked at the Apple store in Towson when it was the first in the country to unionize in 2022 and the first to win a union contract.

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For 90 days at the start of each year, the Maryland General Assembly convenes to consider thousands of bills and make consequential budget decisions that can affect all of our lives and shape our communities. Host Kevin Slayton brings back the full MDCEP policy team to talk about what happened this year and what it means for all of us.

Guests:

• Jasmin Aramburu, MDCEP State Policy Fellow
• Musaab Ibrahim, MDCEP Senior Research Assistant
• Christopher Meyer, MDCEP Research Analyst
• Taneeka Richardson, MDCEP Policy Analyst
• Nonso Umunna, MDCEP KIDS COUNT Director

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In the first of a series of episodes recapping what happened during this year's Maryland General Assembly session, Kevin Slayton gets an update on the Fair Share for Maryland Act with Lisa Klingenmaier, Director of Maryland Rise.

Want some more background before you listen? Scroll back a few episodes to Season 2, Episode 8 - "A Fair Share for Maryland."

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A community-led proposal from Baltimore City residents is aimed at ensuring the large nonprofit institutions that call the city home – primarily universities and hospitals – are paying their fair share for the city services they benefit from. The members of the With Us, For Us coalition are working to pass a proposed ballot measure that would create a community wealth-building fund that they hope could be funded by contributions from these large institutions.

Host Kevin Slayton talks with three coalition members to learn more about community wealth-building and why it's a problem that large universities and hospitals are contributing so little (just $6 million per year) to city services.

Guests:

• Lewis Gilliam, a hospital employee and member of 1199SEIU
• Christa Daring, Executive Director of BRED
• Meleny Thomas, Executive Director of the South Baltimore Community Land Trust

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