ANNAPOLIS – The Maryland Senate easily passed a series of tax increases and a plan to shift teacher pension costs to local jurisdictions Tuesday afternoon, sending a $35.5 billion budget plan to the House for a series of votes over the next two days.
Income taxes would rise for all Marylanders earning more than $100,000 a year, a move that would target nearly a quarter of Montgomery County taxpayers and 14 percent in the state.
One in 10 Prince George’s County residents also would see their tax bills rise.
Democratic senators said the special session budget deal was necessary given the state’s poor economic situation and the possibility of so-called “doomsday” budget measures that lawmakers were left with after failing to pass a complete budget plan during the 90-day General Assembly.
Raising taxes isn’t something any lawmaker wants to do, but voting for the tax increase was the right move to avoid more than $500 million in contingency spending cuts, mostly to education, that would have occurred otherwise, said Sen. Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County.
“I hope to live long enough to see us reverse some of these taxes that we need at this time,” she said. But the state does need the taxes right now, she said, “because we are in unusual times.”
Republic senators slammed the tax hikes as unnecessary after unsuccessfully pitching an amendment to the budget that would cut spending by 2 percent to balance the budget, rather than pass income tax increases on Maryland families with moderate incomes.
Joint-filers earning more than $150,000 also would see their taxes increase, from 4.75 percent to 5 percent, under the Democratic leadership’s budget agreement.
“The majority party says $150,000 is rich,” said Sen. Barry Glassman, R-Harford. “President Obama doesn’t even say that.”
