In Maryland, the heavy tax burden on ordinary citizens today is eroding initiative and discouraging their successful investment and participation in the economy in many ways. High Maryland taxes have already forced many in Maryland to leave the state for lower tax states elsewhere.
In the General Assembly, the current leadership has been a primary continuing drag on progress towards lower taxes, favoring instead irresponsible, excessive taxing and spending, which has made Maryland one of the highest taxed states in the nation. This destructive pattern of excessive taxing and spending favors only a narrow few special interests, rather than the general good of all.
High taxing and spending is unsound government policy because it stifles free market economic growth, reduces the available tax base, and promotes a spiraling pattern of inefficiency, corruption and government dependency that is hard to break. For example, leadership in the General Assembly has established a pattern of excessive spending for government welfare and subsidies, which has created an incentive to perpetuate a dependent lifestyle among many. To sustain such spending, taxes must be continually raised from among the more productive, responsible elements of society.
The solution to this high spending for long-term government dependency is to create a sufficiently strong incentive to pursue a more independent, self-sufficient life style. For example, require able-bodied welfare recipients to work and maintain a drug-free life style. In this way, we can lower taxes and resolve issues of chronic poverty and unemployment through free market solutions that assure a favorable climate for new business investment and job growth in the non-government sector of the economy.
Today, leaders in the General Assembly often justify higher taxes and spending to improve public education. However, many studies in Maryland and elsewhere show that more spending is unrelated, and possibly even harmful, to quality in this area. For example, a 2015 report by the General Assembly’s Department of Legislative Services (DLS) found that Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties already spend nearly the same amount per pupil, $15,171 and $15,553 respectively, yet Montgomery County is ranked #1 in terms of student performance and Prince George’s County is ranked #23. The school system that spends the second most per student is Baltimore City at $16,740 per pupil, and yet their student performance is ranked #24 — the lowest in the entire state!
In fact, quality in public education will only come through non-financial changes in the system. For example, research conducted by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) found that over 50% of teachers in Maryland leave the profession not due to low wages, but rather due to non-economic issues, such as stress and conflict with excessive restrictions and administrative control from above. In addition, other studies show that funding increases in public education go predominantly to administrative, rather than instructional costs. In one recent national study, it was reported that several counties in Maryland ranked among the highest in the nation for percentage of public education spending for administration, as opposed to instruction.
Maryland citizens need relief from this oppressive burden of ever increasing taxes and spending, to make our state a much more attractive place for all to life and work. With more responsible leadership in the General Assembly, taxes can be significantly reduced without harm to progress and quality in public education and other essential services. In the Maryland state Senate, I will work for lower taxes, fees and penalties, while maintaining and even improving the quality and value of essential government services.