SALISBURY, MD. — With Maryland’s next legislative session just weeks away, Eastern Shore lawmakers gathered Friday to outline issues expected to be on the agenda when the General Assembly reconvenes.
Lawmakers from across the Eastern Shore said Maryland's 2027 fiscal year budget will take center stage in Annapolis this January. According to lawmakers, budget projections have shifted from a $140 million surplus to a $1.5 billion deficit for fiscal 2027.
“Everybody's talking about balancing the budget, and everybody seems concerned. But last year, we had a $3.5 billion dollar deficit," said Wicomico County Republican Delegate Barry Beauchamp, who is also a member of the Appropriations Committee. "I say we're in better shape this year."
Beauchamp said he thinks Democratic lawmakers need to be more realistic in making budget cuts in the new year.
“Ideally, we will be cutting costs, but no one wants to hear that,” Beauchamp said. “Last year I proposed cutting 5% across the board, which would have left us with a balanced budget, and everyone would have had an equal cut.”
Lawmakers also highlighted rising utility rates and the state’s growing need for additional energy sources.
“I was so happy to hear Senator Feldman here today and use the word nuclear,” said Republican delegate Thomas Hutchinson, who represents portions of Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico counties. “In my three years here, that is finally surfacing back up. I think that’s the direction we need to head in Maryland.”
Lawmakers said solar energy is often another solution thrown around the general assembly. However, some Eastern Shore legislators say large-scale solar development is putting pressure on local farmland, and they plan to push back.
“What we’ll be looking to do is see if we can take some of that control on the signing of these solar projects, return it to the local governments at the local level where it should be, and also to take those percentages and reduce them to protect more of our farmland,” said Republican senator Mary Beth Carozza, who represents Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties.
Lawmakers said they're looking to reduce the percentage of farmland eligible for solar development from 5% to 2%.
The session will also begin with a major leadership shift. Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones announced her resignation on Thursday. Her former second-in-command, Democratic Eastern Shore Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes, was removed from that leadership post in 2023, which she says was punishment for not voting along Democratic Party lines.
With the speaker’s seat now opening, Sample-Hughes said she has been asked whether she plans to seek the position. She said she has not decided but is not ruling it out.
“In true leadership, we have to have people at the table that can work with everyone, no matter if you're a Democrat, Republican, or independent," Sample-Hughes said. "Whomever that person may be in that seat, I pray that they have that ability to do that."
Lawmakers are expected to return to Annapolis for a special session within about a week to elect a new House speaker. Maryland's legislative session is expected to resume on January 14th.
