ANNAPOLIS, MD - Maryland Governor Wes Moore has signed the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Bill into law during his final bill signing ceremony of 2025.
According to the Governor’s office, the budget bill signed on May 20 will reverse Maryland’s $3 billion budget deficit and preserves 8% in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
“This legislative session, Maryland was called upon to be nimble in the face of uncertainty and courageous in the face of chaos,” said Gov. Moore. “This wasn’t just about balancing a budget. It was about weathering two storms: A fiscal crisis and a new White House that attacks our economy. In partnership, Maryland did what we always do when the chips are down: we stood shoulder-to-shoulder and delivered for our people. And that is what we will continue to do.”
Moore claims the budget also created $2 billion in cuts, Maryland’s largest budget cut in 16 years. According to Moore, the budget also includes an income tax reform plan that will allow 94% of Marylanders to see either a tax cut or no changes to income taxes.
Democratic lawmakers in Maryland proposed various cuts and new taxes while crafting the FY 2026 budget in the hopes of addressing the deficit. Some state institutions began slashing budgets in anticipation of the cuts, including some University of Maryland schools.
Republicans were far less optimistic about the adopted budget on Tuesday. The Maryland Freedom Caucus in a statement said the budget’s $1.66 billion in new taxes was the largest tax hike in Maryland history.
“We should be cutting waste and reining in spending, not soaking the taxpayers for another billion-dollar binge,” the Caucus said. “Maryland doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.”
Tuesday’s bill signing ceremony was Moore’s final signing for 2025. Other bills signed into law included the Procurement Reform Act of 2025 and the Renewable Energy Act.
“What I do know is that the decisions we’re making in this state do not fall neatly in partisan red or blue lines,” Moore said during the signing ceremony. “We care more about solving problems than we do scoring points, and we know that the strategy is working."