WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Maryland Has Taken Hit After Hit” from Trump

No other state is as vulnerable to Trump’s recklessness than Maryland

Marylanders are seeing wall-to-wall coverage of how Donald Trump’s irresponsible tariffs, layoffs, and spending freezes are threatening jobs across the state, raising prices for consumers, and undermining critical services like health care and public education. 

HERE’S WHAT MARYLANDERS ARE READING:

Baltimore Sun: Gov. Wes Moore, state lawmakers leave Annapolis on edge more than ever as they wait for Trump’s next move

By Sam Janesch

April 8, 2025

• In the opening months of Trump’s return to power, Maryland has taken hit after hit.

• • $280 million in anticipated vanishing tax revenue because of workforce cuts.

• • $400 million in canceled reimbursements for schools.

• • $200 million slashed from local health departments.

• • $330 million in grants frozen for projects through the Maryland Department of Transportation.
  • $15 million in grants frozen for projects through the Maryland Department of the Environment.

• Federal funding scheduled to reach the state has been flagged as either at risk or cut on a weekly basis.

• Trump and the Republican congressional leaders’… contemplated cuts to Medicaid during the next budget negotiations, for instance, would mean a hit to the largest single source of federal funds in Maryland, totaling about $10 billion annually.

• “Many of the things that are happening have been direct attacks on Marylanders,” Moore said while warning that Trump’s threat to revoke the plans for the FBI headquarters relocation to Prince George’s County would mean further harm.

• Maryland has the most at risk with the federal cuts compared to every other state, the credit rating agency Moody’s reported in March.

• About 29,000 federal workers in Maryland are expected to be out of their jobs through the next fiscal year because of Trump’s actions, state fiscal officers announced in late February. The anticipated $280 million financial hit to the state budget as a result of those layoffs was the largest and most direct way the federal actions made their mark on the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

• The indirect impacts on Maryland’s economy are even more widespread. The shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development, for example, led to Johns Hopkins University cutting 2,000 positions — both globally and in the U.S. — when it lost $800 million in federal support.

Baltimore Banner: The $1B problem that everyone in Annapolis is worried about

By Pamela Wood and Meredith Cohn

March 7, 2025

• The Republican-controlled Congress wants to extend and expand tax cuts, and that means slashing $880 billion worth of federal spending over the next decade to pay for it. House Republicans believe they can find hundreds of millions in Medicaid savings, but outside analysts say they can’t reach the goal they set without cutting coverage.

• [Medicaid is] a lifeline for about 1.7 million Marylanders, and a significant source of funding for hospitals, behavioral health providers and nursing homes in the state. Two in five of those in Medicaid are children… and Medicaid pays for 60% of nursing home stays.

• Republicans have signaled that they want to shift more of the funding burden onto the states, a move that would be financially devastating in Maryland.

• The cuts won’t end with individual Americans losing coverage or benefits but “will cause a cascading negative impact on the entire health care system,” according to a letter to congressional leaders from the medical associations of all 50 states, including the Maryland medical association, or MedChi.

• The loss of Medicaid funding, the groups said, could lead to some hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics and nursing homes closing and health care workers losing their jobs. Other patients would have to pay more, and everyone would have less access to care.

• The burden would also fall on physicians, emergency rooms, hospitals and all other patients. Rural communities would be hit first and hardest because they tend to have a higher number of Medicaid patients. In Maryland hospitals overall, about 20% of patient revenue comes from Medicaid.

• Hospitals could lose significant revenue if people lose coverage, threatening access and services to all patients, warned the American Hospital Association.

• Cuts could mean more go without coverage, including federal workers in the state who are losing their jobs and will need private insurance or Medicaid, which would further burden state coffers.

Maryland Matters: The shadow Donald Trump is casting over Annapolis

April 5, 2025

By Albert Wynn

• In stark contrast to his Republican predecessor, Gov. Wes Moore doesn’t have a federal financial cushion to rely on. In fact, the governor has to balance the state budget at a time when Donald Trump is starving our state of federal resources.

• Cuts to federal programs, particularly in areas like health care, transportation and education, aren’t just abstract numbers on a ledger – they have real-world consequences for Marylanders. Programs like Medicaid and SNAP rely heavily on federal funding, and as those resources dwindle, the state is forced to pick up the tab so that our residents don’t get left behind.

• Our proximity to Washington, D.C., also means we have a higher concentration of federal workers than most states, making us especially vulnerable to federal layoffs. When the government cuts jobs or freezes hiring, Maryland feels the pain, with thousands of families directly affected by the loss of income and stability. These layoffs ripple through our communities, affecting not just federal employees, but local businesses and services that depend on their spending power.

• And with so many goods passing through the Port of Baltimore, we’re acutely susceptible to Trump’s tariffs. Tariffs on imported goods increase costs for businesses and consumers alike, disrupting supply chains and raising prices on everyday products. For Maryland, which relies heavily on trade and transportation, these tariffs could have serious economic consequences, threatening jobs at the port and in industries that depend on the goods it handles.
  

Capital News Service: Maryland officials worry about ‘chaos’ to come

By Emma Tufo and Jack Bowman

April 8, 2025

• Maryland could potentially lose the new FBI building it was supposed to get, while also facing stock market volatility and a tariff policy Moore described as a “national sales tax.”

• “While I’m thankful for the progress we’ve made in this session, we know that protecting Marylanders, and caring for Marylanders and defending Marylanders does not happen over 90 days,” Moore said.

• “We have been working this year to protect the state of Maryland against the draconian slash and burn actions of the Trump administration,” Ferguson said. “And with Elon Musk, who has been talking about efficiency, but really destroying Marylanders’ lives.”

• In a conversation about how to help laid-off federal workers, Sen. Jim Rosapepe argued that it’s hard to work out cost estimates in the current political climate. “It’s hard to estimate this because we don’t know how much damage Mr. Musk and his merry band are going to do,” said Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s, Anne Arundel).