BALTIMORE — Maryland Republicans say President Donald Trump is getting unfair blame from Democrats for the state’s economic woes.

“The Democrat-controlled Maryland government is trying to blame their disastrous $3 billion budget deficit on President Trump,” Maryland Republican Congressman Andy Harris said in an X post on Monday. “The truth is, Democrats in Annapolis have spent recklessly and taxed aggressively. This is classic Democrat misdirection — create a mess, then point fingers at anyone but themselves.”

Harris’ comment follows criticism from top Democratic politicians in Maryland about Trump’s financial impact on the state. While Democrats denounce Trump’s tariffs and cuts to federal spending and agencies, Republicans note that Maryland — under Democratic control — has been grappling with a multibillion-dollar deficit since before Trump took office.

“We came into session on Jan. 8 with a $3 billion deficit … but Donald Trump wasn’t president on Jan. 8,” said Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties.

Ready added that it’s possible some federal actions “could end up meaning less revenue,” for Maryland. “But that should have been, and was, expected at some point no matter who the president was,” Ready said, adding that the “federal government can’t just continue to balloon” its debt.

Pointing fingers

In his Sunday appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico will have a “disastrous” impact on the state’s economy, including harm to businesses, the port and farmers on the Eastern Shore.

“We’re already seeing the impacts of these disastrous and, frankly, not very well-thought-out policies when it comes to tariffs,” Moore told CBS.

In an emailed statement to The Baltimore Sun, Harris said the Moore administration “should focus on his Democrat-controlled Maryland General Assembly and their efforts to hurt all of the Eastern Shore and Maryland farmers by mandating solar on rural agricultural land, by excessive regulations, by burdening the poultry industry, and by not rejecting the new business-to-business tax.”

The business-to-business tax is sponsored by Democrat Del. David Moon of Montgomery County and would impose a 2.5% tax on businesses that provide services to other companies. Moore said Monday he will not agree to a “broad” business service tax.

Ready accused Moore of “finger-pointing.”

“If he wants to point fingers at anybody, he could point fingers at his own party in the General Assembly because that’s really the decisions that have been made over the course of several years that have helped to get us to this point,” Ready said. “And then the governor himself did not do anything to retrench in the first couple of years either.”

Ready added that Virginia has more federal employees as a percentage of its state workforce than Maryland but without a “massive budget deficit.”

“This is a Maryland problem,” Ready said.

Republican Del. Nic Kipke of Anne Arundel County said the budget deficit was caused by Maryland’s multibillion-dollar education plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

“All Republicans in the legislature voted against the bill and Governor Hogan vetoed the bill because the state can’t afford it,” Kipke said in an email. “We are seeing the consequences of the Democrats in the legislature who overrode his veto and put these funding increases in motion.”

Moore’s senior press secretary, Carter Elliott, said in an email, “Having been in the legislature for over a decade, Sen. Ready and Del. Kipke are likely well aware that Maryland’s structural deficit has been long predicted — since 2017.” He added, “While it’s clear the governor inherited an economic flatline, he is committed to growing Maryland’s economy by investing in working Marylanders, industries of the future, and businesses across the state.”

Moore also will continue working to “ensure the long term success and sustainability of Maryland’s Blueprint for the Future,” Elliott said.

Blame on “both sides”

Republicans are right to point out Maryland’s budget deficit hit before Trump’s second term, said Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs. But Democrats are also right to note that “if there was a hole now, there’s going to be a massive hole coming, and it’s due to the Trump administration,” he said.

Flavio Hickel, associate professor of political science at Washington College, said there’s “plenty of blame to go around to both sides of the political spectrum.”

“There likely has been some overspending in certain areas, and people can have reasonable disagreements about whether those were necessary expenditures that are worth the debt they carry,” Hickel said.

Federal job cuts affecting workers in Maryland could mean more state services will be required while the state also takes in fewer taxes, Hickel said. There are also concerns that Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts could mean the federal government will contribute less to state programs like Medicaid, he said.

In addition, tariffs could have negative impacts in Maryland since the state relies heavily on the port for a variety of industries, Hickel said.

Recession fears

Maryland’s Democratic Senate President, Bill Ferguson, warned last week that the state may be heading into a statewide recession and said the Trump administration is making “voluntary choices that have a hugely negative impact on Maryland.”

He also said that “all options” are on the table moving forward — including the business-to-business tax — when it comes to balancing the budget and protecting “against the looming cuts coming from the Trump Administration.”

Ready said he thinks it is “possible” the state could head into a recession.

“I don’t know how possible,” he said. “I think preparing for the worst and hoping for the best is usually a good strategy, at least from a planning perspective.”

He added that if the state is going into a recession, then raising taxes should not be the solution.

“That’s all they’re talking about down here is, ‘What taxes can we raise?’” he said. “If we’re serious that we think we’re gonna go into recession, you do not want to raise taxes — certainly you don’t want to raise taxes on job creators in a recession, for sure.”

Ferguson did not respond to a request for comment, and Moore’s office referred The Sun to Moore’s Monday comments about the business-to-business tax.

----------

©2025 The Baltimore Sun. Visit at baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.