Maryland agriculture officials defend new LEAF program, seek clarity on reimbursements and IT accounting during appropriations hearing

The House Appropriations Committee Transportation and Environment Subcommittee heard detailed review and questioning of the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) fiscal 2026 operating budget, with agency leaders urging clarification on federal reimbursements and workability of new programs while defending staff hiring and IT project costs.

The Department of Legislative Services’ analyst, Andrew Gray, told the subcommittee the MDA budget falls about $6.9 million (5.2%) to $125.9 million and flagged multiple items that need further explanation, including a $2.2 million reversion tied to tree-planting funding, a proposed new Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming program (LEAF), and several large information-technology cash-flow changes. “The agency is not able to use the full $2,500,000 and therefore there's actually a buffer provision to reduce that amount by $2,000,000,” Gray said during his presentation.

Why it matters

Committee members pressed the agency on program intent and the limits of state authority, particularly for new programs and outbreaks that carry federal reimbursement questions. The session laid out possible conditional budget actions the legislature could take — including restricting or reducing new program money — and asked the agency for written follow-up on funding sources, vacancy rates and federal communications.

Key details and agency answers

- Avian influenza reimbursements: The committee pressed MDA about federal reimbursement for work on highly pathogenic avian influenza. Heather Barthel, MDA assistant secretary for administration, described the federal process: a pre-award preserves funds while the emergency cooperative agreement is reviewed. Barthel said the department’s emergency cooperative agreement with USDA had been approved after submission, and urged continued coordination with federal partners on eligible costs.

- LEAF (Maryland Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming): Secretary Kevin Addick (for the record: Kevin Addick, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture) described LEAF as an incentive program to reward farmers who “stack” conservation and community-engagement practices and to connect producers to institutional buyers. DLS noted inconsistencies between the administration’s fiscal note and the budget reconciliation financing act (BRFAA) reductions; DLS recommended reducing the initial appropriation and making part of the FY26 funding contingent on the policy bill creating the program. Addick said LEAF builds on prior policy work and is designed to increase farmer engagement across multiple programs.

- Vacancies and personnel: Gray told the committee that, as of Dec. 31, 2024, DLS recorded about 45 vacancies and recommended reducing six newly requested positions because existing vacancies could be used to meet staffing needs. Secretary Addick said MDA has since reduced its vacancy rate through active hiring and estimated a 4.68% vacancy rate going forward. Addick defended four positions tied to a food-processing-residuals (sludge) oversight program and one lab pathologist position tied to avian influenza response; another requested position would support the LEAF program.

- Information technology accounting and modernization projects: MDA officials said an apparent spike in prior-year IT costs resulted from an accounting correction by the state DoIT office that reallocated earlier shared project expenses (work on the OneStop platform) to agency projects. Heather Barthel told the panel, “we did not even realize until last week that the cost… was showing us having this ballooned amount of money for prior years.” Gray and MDA staff asked the committee to treat some IT cash flows conservatively when judging year-to-year changes.

- Electric vehicle (EV) charging station inspection authority and equipment needs: DLS and committee members questioned who would regulate reliability and uptime for EV chargers (as opposed to accuracy). Rachel Jones, MDA director of government relations, said the interim work group left the ultimate assignment to the Legislature and observed that MDA’s weights-and-measures division already has authority over accuracy but lacks the equipment and staff to test reliability. MDA estimated the needed test equipment at roughly $600,000–$650,000, a figure the agency said did not make it through an earlier appropriations process.

What DLS recommended during the hearing

DLS recommended a set of contingencies and reporting requirements, including: (1) reducing or restricting six new positions and related funding given the previously reported vacancy pool; (2) reducing the FY26 LEAF appropriation from the proposed $900,000 to $500,000 and making up to $100,000 contingent on a required program report; and (3) deleting a proposed $2.0 million federal grant appropriation that DLS expects will not be received. The department agreed to provide written follow-up on several of these items.

Context and next steps

Public witnesses representing the Rural Maryland Council and five regional councils told the subcommittee that reductions to pass-through grants would reduce awards for rural economic and small-business development. Charlotte Davis, executive director of the Rural Maryland Council, said last year the council received requests for roughly $20 million in grants and awarded a little more than $6 million.

The committee asked MDA for more detail on the LEAF program design (contracts vs. grants, number of staff positions), documentation of federal communications about avian influenza reimbursement, and updated vacancy and IT-cost accounting information. DLS said it will include requested follow-up in the agency’s fiscal file and asked the committee to withhold any final budget actions until outstanding issues are clarified.

Ending note

MDA leaders emphasized the department’s dual needs to respond to near-term animal- and plant-health crises while building longer-term conservation and value-added agriculture supports. The committee closed the agriculture portion of the hearing after the agency agreed to provide the requested written follow-up materials and clarifications.