The House of Delegates from the gallery in a 2023 file photo. The House and Senate are again expected to be at odds over how to respond to a massive budget shortfall. File photo by Bruce DePuyt.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) and the General Assembly head back to Annapolis for the 2025 session facing one of the toughest fiscal challenges in two decades.
Maryland’s already bleak five-year budget outlook deteriorated since an initial look in September, with officials learning last month that the state’s fiscal woes deepened even as some revenue projections marginally improved .
Lawmakers have to deal with a projected $300 million deficit in the current year’s budget before planning the fiscal 2026 budget, which analysts predict could have a nearly $3 billion deficit, up from $2.7 billion projected in November.
The gap continues to grow over the next five years, with the fiscal 2030 deficit estimated at $6.2 billion. That would leave the state able to pay just 84% of its budget that year, analysts said in November — lowering the estimate to 83% a month later.