Posted on 07/04/25
| News Source: FOX45
Annapolis, MD - July 4, 2025 - Gov. Wes Moore made the rounds recently on cable news outlets talking about the One Big Beautiful Bill before the final votes were taken in Washington, and he took some shots at some of the details included.
During appearances on MSNBC and CNBC in recent days, Gov. Moore called the spending plan bad for families and “an assault on the American people.”
“This bill can be defined one way: greed. That is what it is,” he said on MSNBC. “Maryland, nor any other state has the resources in our state to be able to fill the hole that the federal government is now creating.”
Taking issue with several aspects, specifically cuts to SNAP and Medicaid benefits, Gov. Moore said states won’t be able to fill the gaps.
“Maryland doesn’t, and there is no state that does, have the coffers to be able to make up for this,” Gov. Moore said on CNBC.
While talking about how detrimental to Maryland the spending plan will be, Gov. Moore touted what he called legislative wins for the state during the last legislative session. He rattled off wage increases for state employees, helping more Marylanders become homeowners and supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses, and closing the budget deficit.
“Being able to turn our budget deficit into a surplus and give the middle class a tax cut,” he said on MSNBC. “We believe deeply in our state, if you can focus on affordability and those three pathways: work, wages, and wealth, it’s not just the right way to win an election, but it’s actually the right way to put together good policies that can make sure that people are part of the process.”
While on CNBC, Gov. Moore echoed a familiar line to those in Maryland: 94% of Marylanders got a tax cut in the last budget. However, Gov. Moore did not mention the more than $1 billion tax and fee increases that took effect July 1 nor did he mention the state hiring freeze that also just took effect.
“I mean, what the governor has touted that 94% number is just make believe,” Del. Ryan Nawrocki, R-Baltimore County said.
Del. Nawrocki, also a member of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, was a vocal critic of the governor’s budget proposal throughout the entire legislative session. Republicans in both chambers argued there were other ways to close the multi-billion-dollar budget deficit without raising taxes on Marylanders.
The plan that did pass did include cuts to state agencies and programs, though GOP members would have liked to see those cuts go further. Democrats also argued throughout the process that the tax and fee hikes were targeted, meaning not everyone in the state would be forced to pay them.
“As long as you, I guess, don't check on your vehicle or put new tires on your car, you might save some money on your taxes or fees, but every Marylander uses those types of things, so everybody is going to be paying more,” Del. Nawrocki argued.
Gov. Moore also argued that the relationship between states, including Maryland, and the federal government has been negatively affected by the Trump Administration.
“The communication oftentimes between our federal government and the states has been severed,” he said. “What we are now seeing with this bill is the relationship between the federal government and its people has actually been severed.”
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, argued that Gov. Moore’s blame on the Trump Administration for Maryland’s financial concerns is misplaced. He said the actions from Gov. Moore and Democrats in Annapolis are the reason, rather, Marylanders are feeling the financial pinch.
“At some point, the governor has to take personal responsibility for what's happening in the state of Maryland financially and to blame the federal government is a cop out to blame?” Williams said. “You can't raise taxes and fees and not understand that this is going to affect consumers, taxpayers and the state of Maryland.”
On July 1, when a slew of new laws, taxes, and fees took effect, several GOP lawmakers took the chance again to take aim at Democrats and Gov. Moore. In response, Gov. Moore’s team defended the actions and the economic policies over the last few years.
“In just two years, Maryland has added over 100,000 jobs, more jobs than the previous eight years—which has recently been driven by private sector growth. Maryland has among the lowest unemployment rates and one of the fastest job growth rates in the nation,” Carter Elliott, Gov. Moore’s senior press secretary, said via statement. “The Moore-Miller administration has created over 25,000 new places of business and is creating about 30% more new establishments each month than in 2019, right before the pandemic. That’s stronger growth than the country for the same period.”