Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Maryland House passes FY2027 budget after votes on disability funding and energy-fund transfers
Summary
On March 12 the House approved Senate Bill 282 (FY2027 budget) 114–22 after floor fights over a one-year fix for disability services (DDA) funding and a proposed transfer of Strategic Energy Investment Fund money; lawmakers warned the DDA amendment could jeopardize federal waiver dollars while proponents urged protecting vulnerable families.
The Maryland House voted to pass Senate Bill 282, the fiscal year 2027 budget, on March 12 in Annapolis, approving the measure 114–22 after extended floor debate over amendments addressing disability services funding and a proposed transfer from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund.
A delegate from Harford County pressed an amendment to restore funding for the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA), saying the budget’s cuts would force family caregivers to reduce work and could make it impossible for some to remain in Maryland. “These are the families that are actually being affected…that are going to be negatively impacted if we do not restore this funding,” the maker of the amendment said, describing caregivers who have given up jobs to provide full-time care.
Appropriations leaders and the subcommittee chair opposed the one-year restoration, arguing Maryland faces a structural cost-growth problem and that federal cost-neutrality rules tied to the state's Medicaid waiver could be jeopardized if the program’s average cost rises. The chair warned that an 18% further increase could risk $1.7 billion in federal matching funds. The floor leader described the hard tradeoffs between preserving services today and maintaining the federal waiver that underpins the program.
That DDA amendment was rejected on a recorded vote; the clerk announced 97 votes in the negative. The House then debated and defeated a separate amendment that would have moved $282 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund to the general fund to reduce liabilities and pay down balances; the committee chair and appropriations leadership said doing so would leave the state with no fund balance and was fiscally irresponsible.
Members across the chamber framed their votes in value terms and fiscal realities. Supporters of the budget highlighted significant investments, including $1.7 billion in SNAP, $426 million in low-income rental assistance, and $2.2 billion in state funds allocated to the DDA to preserve federal matching. After explanations of votes the clerk reported the final tally: 114 yes, 22 no. Senate Bill 282 passed with a constitutional majority and will move forward according to the legislative calendar.
Next procedural steps include conference committee work on unresolved budget details and the scheduled third-reading processes elsewhere in the session.
