Moore’s Budget Introduced with Big Implications for Education and Fairer Tax Policies

And other legislative updates in this week’s Up the Street

THIS WEEK IN ANNAPOLIS

On MPT “State Circle,” MSEA President Paul Lemle explains educators’ support for a state budget that prioritizes public school students.

Moore’s Budget Introduced with Big Implications for Education and Fairer Tax Policies

On Wednesday, Gov. Wes Moore unveiled a proposed fiscal year 2026 budget that would broadly address the $3 billion deficit, make big investments in public education, and create a new, fairer tax code to ease the burden on regular Marylanders and make the wealthiest people and corporations pay their fair share.

Highlights of the governor’s proposed FY26 budget:

As he has hinted for months, the budget delays some Blueprint for Maryland’s Future programs while also identifying some areas of improvement for the budget as it moves to the legislature.

The most attention-grabbing delay is to the Blueprint’s collaborative time goal to provide teachers up to 40% of their working day out of the classroom to plan, grade, communicate with families, develop interventions, and collaborate. However, that goal depends on hiring approximately 15,000 educators above current full staffing levels that will necessitate meaningful investments in the educator pipeline and ending ongoing shortages. Even if the collaborative time delay is maintained, the budget must hold harmless from the effects of that delay at-promise students (those receiving special education services, multilingual learners, and those who come from backgrounds of poverty).

Collaborative time is not a separate Blueprint line item, but is embedded in the foundation of the school funding formula. Pausing collaborative time thus has a ripple effect on expected funding levels for at-promise students, which are determined by multipliers of the per pupil foundation amount. But for at-promise students the budget as proposed only holds harmless the expected special education increases, and it would cut the increases scheduled for multilingual learners and children in poverty. MSEA will fight to restore the approximately $80 million (state and local scheduled increases combined) in FY26 for those students. MSEA will also push back on the temporary freeze after FY26 of further community school expansion and continue to review the budget to determine if there are other negative impacts on students. MSEA’s position has been clear that no cut should involve the Blueprint funding increases for at-promise students. Advocacy on this will be imperative.

The governor proposes the kind of tax reform that MSEA has been promoting for years in terms of its progressivity and fairness—ensuring that top earners are paying their fair share without an additional burden on working people. Moore’s tax plan adds tax brackets at the top that reduce pressure on middle income earners, creates a surcharge on capital gains for households earning over $350,000, and establishes combined reporting for large businesses, among other measures. For state income taxes, the plan also eliminates itemized income tax deductions while doubling the standard deduction. This more fairly distributes the cost of public services—like education, government, transportation, and healthcare—among the wealthiest people and big corporations, instead of putting the bulk of the responsibility on the backs of regular workers.

It only takes a minute to email your legislators and Gov. Moore to tell them to support the governor’s fair tax reform plan and to work to prevent deep cuts to our schools.

Anticipating Gov. Moore’s intentions concerning collaborative time before the session started, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) voted January 10 to support delaying the implementation of the requirement for collaborative time, but not to abandon the concept. The collaborative time piece is central to achieving Blueprint Pillar II, High Quality and Diverse Teachers and Leaders.

MSEA will continue to examine the budget and a Blueprint bill yet to come from the administration for specific plans and funding to reduce the educator shortage. Watch for more news about the budget and Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA) in future editions of Up the Street.

Advocacy Underway to Get Accurate Student Count; Empower Counties to Raise Revenue

MSEA’s Government Relations team has more than 100 bills under review so far (more than 800 bills have been filed), and they testified on Wednesday in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee for two that align with this year’s legislative priorities: Senate Bill 62/House Bill 53, and Senate Bill 70/House Bill 151. Sponsored by Senator Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick) and Delegate Kris Fair (D-Frederick), SB62/HB53 would analyze the challenges associated with the timing of student enrollment counts on school funding, and the connection between growing student populations and school funding. Senator Jim Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) and Delegate Julie Palakovich-Carr (D-Montgomery) sponsor SB79/HB151, which would enable counties to raise the maximum local income tax rate and implement a more progressive tax system. The measure will help localities invest in the services their communities need and distribute the cost more fairly among taxpayers.

NEWS AND NOTES

Political Shifts in Anne Arundel, Washington Follow Resignations

Following Rachel Muñoz’s January 1 resignation from the House of Delegates, LaToya Nkongolo has been sworn in to represent Anne Arundel. Nkongolo, who unsuccessfully ran for the District 31 seat in 2022 and lost to educator-recommended Dana Schallheim for an Anne Arundel school board seat in 2024 where she became a lightning rod for controversies, was nominated for the appointment by the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee.

In District 2B, Matthew J. Schindler (D-Washington) was sworn in January 7 to replace Brooke Grossman, who resigned December 13, 2024.

NEA Braces for Deportation Surge, Offering Resources

In response to fears among immigrants that the incoming Trump Administration will conduct the mass deportations that President-elect Trump threatened, the National Education Association offers several resources that are designed to answer questions and direct affected students and families to assistance. MSEA is advocating for supports to protect Marylanders from the loss of civil rights.

Among Last Acts, Biden Signs Bill to Rescue Educators’ Social Security

President Biden secured educators’ full Social Security benefits when he signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act on January 7. It was a victory that took decades of pressure from NEA members and labor allies. The act repeals the punitive and discriminatory practices that for 40 years have reduced Social Security benefits for many public employees (though not in Maryland).