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It was Deja Vu for Maryland Wes Moore as he addressed Maryland Association of Counties last week.
Ever since the Blueprint for Maryland's future was implemented a few years ago, local jurisdictions have been warning the State of Maryland that the education overhaul was too expensive and would break not only the state and county budgets but will also drastically increase already high state and local taxes.
All along, Democrats have denied that this will happen, and members of the Kirwan Commission who developed the plan seemed to think that somehow the money to support this monstrous state overreach would appear as if by magic. Every time necessary tax increases to local jurisdictions are mentioned, Blueprint supporters claim the impact will be minor and that the citizens of Maryland should just suck it up and pay.
That strategy seems to be failing and State officials, including Governor Moore, are now trying to change the message regarding spending of the initiative.
At this month's Maryland Association of Counties (MACO) conference, Moore delivered a speech that pointed out the dire straits of the State's financial status. In June, cuts to the Public Works budget totaling $150,000 million were made to address the State's deficit of nearly one billion dollars. Going forward, legislative budget analysts project a structural budget deficit of $1 billion in the coming fiscal year, rising to $1.3 billion by fiscal 2027, and $3 billion a year later.
Now, after promoting the Blueprint as the answer for all education problems in the state, Moore is singing a slightly different, if not carefully crafted, tune. Clearly, he sees that this kind of deficit during his term will damage his re-election chances as well as any possible national aspirations. Blueprint funding must be addressed:
“But if there’s one thing that legislative history has taught us, it’s this: Laws of enormous potential must always be refined after they are passed,” Moore said. In other words, "we have to make cuts to this behemoth but we don't want to call them 'cuts'."
“I think people always want to hear details,” Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said. “Could we have heard more details? That’s the December speech, right?” Moore will address legislators in December to add more substance to the Blueprint message.
It's a message local officials want and need to hear as the Blueprint has increased pressures on their districts and caused them to make cuts in other areas to support the leviathan education bill. Many predict that the program will cause catastrophic economic collapse locally and statewide.
This while many see very little progress in the academic achievement of Maryland students.
Hopefully, Moore is getting the message from leaders around the state and has the common sense to make the needed changes. If not, his legacy may not be the one he wants.
And that won't get him into higher office outside of Maryland.
