The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) on Wednesday approved the elimination of 502 state government positions amid state and federal funding woes.
Gov. Wes Moore says while the decision was not easy, the state’s own budget crunch combined with unprecedented financial cuts at the federal level have led his administration to hone in on fiscal stewardship.
“Maryland has never been tested like this before. Where we now are seeing that the relationship between the federal government and our states– it's not that it's just been altered, in many cases, it's been severed. And we have [a federal] administration that just continues to attack our economy and our people,” Moore said.
The governor says his government modernization initiative, statewide hiring freeze and the elimination of these positions will all aid in balancing the state’s budget and rein in spending.
“Each of these steps have been guided by commitments to make sure that in this administration, we move with data. Not emotive splurges or partisan talking points. We move with data,” Moore said.
The combined workforce reduction efforts are estimated to save the state $121 million this budget year, which began on July 1.
332 positions were eliminated through the Voluntary Separation Program with employee buyouts, while 170 positions were vacant.
These job cuts alone will result in $27.4 million in savings this fiscal year and $47.2 million in fiscal year 2027 and beyond.
Moore also took the time to highlight an $18.2 million investment approved by BPW for a flood mitigation project in Howard County.
The funding includes a $17.2 million loan and a $1 million grant for the construction of a mile-long tunnel to divert up to 26,000 gallons per second of stormwater away from Ellicott City, which has been plagued by severe flooding.
“This is actually showing that in Maryland, we can actually go a better way, and we can go in a different direction. Because it is not lost at all that this is happening at the same time that we're watching on the federal side, that we are seeing grants that are being canceled,” Moore said.
BPW also approved nearly $5 million for water infrastructure projects in Calvert, Cecil, Talbot and Kent counties.
Additionally, the board launched its new BPW Dashboard, which allows members of the public to sort through state contracts by agency, vendor, date of BPW approval and contract amount.
It currently features data from January 2023 through December 2024.
“Far too long, the details of how public contracts are awarded, managed and monitored have lived behind really hard to navigate systems. This new tool changes that,” Delegate N. Scott Phillips (D-Baltimore County) said, who sponsored legislation to enhance the visibility and transparency of procurements approved by BPW.
BPW has approved $30.7 billion in state spending since 2023, including an estimated $2.1 billion to certified small and veteran-owned business contractors, and $1.45 billion to certified minority business enterprise contractors.
