Gov. Wes Moore signed 240 bills into law Tuesday, including the state’s $67 billion budget, two bills designed to reduce energy costs for ratepayers, and more than $1 million in new taxes.
The budget was a major source of controversy throughout the 90 days of the legislative session that ended in April, owing to a $3 billion structural deficit lawmakers had to close.
The new taxes were part of lawmakers’ answer to that problem. One of the most controversial tax changes is a new 3% charge on certain data and technology services. There are also new tax brackets for income between $500,000 and $1 million, and income over $1 million. Other tax and fee increases will affect sports betting, cannabis, vending machine purchases, and new car and tire purchases.
Republican legislators fought the new taxes throughout the session, and they repeated their criticism after Moore signed them into law.
“Maryland’s budget surplus is gone, long-term spending remains unchecked, and the solution from the Governor and legislative Democrats is more taxes,” Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready said in an emailed statement. “That’s not responsible leadership — it’s short-term political cover at the expense of our future.”
However, in his remarks Tuesday, Moore highlighted the cuts that lawmakers relied on in their budgeting process.
“We made over $2 billion in targeted cuts, which was hard, but it's the largest amount of cuts that we've seen from a Maryland budget in 18 years,” Moore said.
The governor also signed two energy bills. One, focuses on solar energy and prevents local governments from implementing zoning restrictions that prohibit certain solar projects from being built.
The other, an omnibus bill, includes provisions designed to encourage the growth of nuclear electric generation in the state and removes state subsidies for trash incineration. It protects residential ratepayers from subsidizing the electric bills of commercial and industrial consumers. And it prevents multi-year plans for utility rate increases unless the utility can prove that it would benefit customers.
Senate President Bill Ferguson highlighted another component of the bill, a credit all ratepayers will receive on their bills.
“We're putting money back into the pockets of Marylanders — a $200 million refund,” he said. “That's an average of $80 per household split between the highest points of energy consumption of the year in the height of summer and the height of winter.”
The omnibus energy bill takes effect June 1. The solar energy bill takes effect July 1, which is also when the state’s new budget year begins.
