Though Maryland lawmakers will have to contend with a $1.4 billion budget gap in 2026, one top Democrat said Thursday that a second consecutive year of tax hikes is not in the cards.

“…[N]o, they are not on the table,” House Ways and Means Committee Chair Vanessa Atterbeary , D-Howard, said during a panel discussion at the Maryland Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 policy forum. “Perhaps it’s because it’s an election year, but no one after last year wants to deal with revenues.”

Earlier this month, fiscal analysts warned House and Senate lawmakers that the $321 million surplus they thought they would have heading into the 2027 fiscal year had morphed into a $1.4 billion deficit fueled, in part, by actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Next year’s budget gap is project

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