Issue Position: Taxes
Issue Position
Maintaining low tax rates is absolutely essentially to keeping Maryland's economy moving. Without taxes policies that support working families and business Maryland can not expect to continue to be a leader in an ever-changing economy. As a delegate I have always fought for lower tax rates and policies that are pro-growth and pro-jobs. I will continue to fight hard for Maryland working families by maintaining policies that keep jobs here in Maryland and by fighting to reduce the tremendous tax burden.
During the 2007 Special Session, the General Assembly approved the largest tax increase ($1.4 billion) in State history (with the most tax categories ever raised in a single legislative session) to resolve the State's budget shortfalls -- these shortfalls were the result of the Administration's budget for the "2008' fiscal year. At no time was there any serious attempt to control spending, in fact, the Special Session created $128 million in net new spending. With our nation's troubling economy and the tax increases implemented this past November, the General Session was a critical time for our State Government to finally initiate fiscal responsibility. Despite these grim realities, the General Assembly approved the Governor's budget package for the "2009' fiscal year (Senate Bill 90).
The Governor's submitted budget increased state spending totaling $31.5 billion in "2009', this is an increase of $1.8 billion or 5.9% from "2008'. The House Republican Caucus brought forth three (3) individual budget plans that would have preserved state services and controlled spending without raising taxes -- each of those plans were soundly rejected. In addition, Republican Legislators introduced several amendments to the budget that would have reduced budget growth to $733 million. The Democratic Majority also rejected these amendments.
If the Democratic Majority and their Leadership's true intentions were to reduce the burden on Maryland taxpayers, it was not reflected in their vote favoring the Governor's budget. Furthermore, their "campaign" to aid Maryland's working families was completely abandoned when they voted for Senate Bill 309/House Bill 712.
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