Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy says it will have ‘ a major impact’ on priorities across the state.
Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy
Frederick, Md (KM) Maryland lawmakers will be “walking into a substantial budget deficit” when the 2025 General Assembly begins next year. Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy says it will have “a major impact” on priorities across the state. :”A requirement of our Constitution here in Maryland is we have to a balanced budget. There’s really two ways to get a balanced budget: you either cut expenses or you raise taxes. There’s going to be some challenges this year for sure,” he says.
Pippy says he’s against raising taxes or fees. “Maryland does not have generally a revenue problem. It has a spending program. And we’ve had certain administrations that like to spend a lot more,” he says.
“I hoping that we can prioritize important expenses like infrastructure, and maybe reduce expenses in other areas that are not as essential,” Pippy continues. “We’re going to have to see. It’s going to be a budget challenge for sure.”
One area that is feeling the pinch right now is the project to widen Route 15 in Frederick from Interstate 70 to Route 26. It is the county’s top transportation priority, and was set to receive some construction funding a few years ago.. “What we saw in the last month was that the remaining $14 million that was marked for the project to keep the design phase going was also stripped out,” says Pippy.
He also says he wants to know how the state got into this budget shortfall. “The current administration came into a several billion-dollar surplus. And within 18 months, they managed to change that into a potentially several billion-dollar deficit. I have a lot of questions about the priorities of the administration and I’m hoping to get that sorted out this year,” he says.
The local Legislative Delegation is holding a public forum on Saturday, December 7th, 2024 at Winchester Hall beginning at 10:00 AM. Pippy says residents, citizen groups and other non-government organizations can present their ideas for bills to take to the General Assembly, or express their position on certain issues.
The 2025 Maryland General Assembly begins its 90-day session on Wednesday, January 8th.
By Kevin McManus