Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said he has instructed the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to “pull out the scalpel” as it reviews Gov. We Moore’s proposed fiscal 2025 budget.
Moore proposed the $63.1 billion budget two weeks ago and claimed millions in “rebasing” — he deftly avoided the word cuts. Lawmakers in the Senate, who get the first crack at massaging the spending plan, are likely to find additional reductions, places to increase spending and potential fee increases.
Ferguson, however, said he is reluctant to pursue tax increases this year citing the lingering effects of prices driven by inflation over the last two years.
“I would say it’s not an absolutely no to any revenue whatsoever,” Ferguson told reporters Friday. “We’ve talked about the [Shock] trauma system, which is facing a deficit because of the special funds not meeting the demands of the trauma system overall. There are going to be some specific areas where there might be some special fund fees that are applied for specific purposes.”