Moving Maryland Forward Network

What is Save Our State?
Save Our State is a coalition of community, education, and labor groups working to restore long-term fiscal health to our state.  One of the members is the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute (MBTPI), a member of the Moving Maryland Forward Network. Save Our State seeks to employ a balanced approach when dealing with budget shortfalls, which includes revenue measures in addition to budget cuts.  Public programs are important to Marylanders and need to be preserved.  Marylanders as a whole benefit when the state puts money into social programs and are also are impacted when there are cuts in state spending.

The Save Our State coalition has been hearing about how people are impacted by budget cuts during their community conversations that they have been hosting across the state.  Neil Bergsman, Executive Director of the MBTPI, and others, have given presentations on how the budget works in Maryland.  People in attendance have been discussing how they are affected by budget cuts and how they feel about tax issues.  Just some of the issues mentioned at these community conversations are:  teachers dealing with increasing class sizes and lack of proper materials in the classroom;  and that some parents are being put on long waiting lists in order to receive child care assistance.

What’s going on?
As a Maryland citizen, I’m glad that Save Our State is on my side, fighting to protect what is important to me and so many other Marylanders.  Did you know that there have been billions of dollars in state budget cuts over the last few years?  It may be difficult to realize this fact because often smaller parts of the budget are discussed and the state budget may seem like a daunting topic to understand.  These billions of dollars have been cut from a variety of areas such as the post office, libraries, schools, hospitals, universities, social safety net programs and many others.  That’s why some Maryland groups and organizations got together in the fall of 2011 to form a coalition to advocate for less cuts to the state budget, and thus, Save Our State was born.

What needs to happen?
There need to be changes to the system so that Marylanders can have needed services such as libraries, roads, shelters for the homeless, and quality school systems, state-of-the-art hospitals, and efficient transportation systems.  Millions of people across the state use these services.

Save Our State has proposed several measures by which the budget could be balanced. One solution they are proposing is to close corporate loopholes by requiring corporations to have combined reporting.  Another solution is to return the tax rate for millionaires back to 6.25% instead of 5.5%.  The sales tax for Maryland could be raised and also sales tax could be charged on online purchases.

The budget needs to include revenue measures in order for Marylanders to progress and thrive.  Save our State knows that it is  important to invest in Maryland, so that we can have greater returns for our future.

The Save Our State Coalition includes:
ACLU-MD Education Reform Project, Advocates for Children and Youth, Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO, AFSCME-MD, AFSCME Council 67, AFT Maryland, Maryland and DC Alliance for Retired Americans, Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, Maryland Education Coalition, Maryland Nonprofits, Maryland Retired School Personnel Association, Maryland State Conference NAACP, Maryland State Education Association, Progressive Maryland, SEIU Local 500, SEIU Maryland and DC State Council, and UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO.