Agenda For a Maryland Solidarity Economy
Introduction
According to The 2023 Maryland State of the Economy Report, “The State of Maryland has a robust and resilient economy that leads the nation in key economic indicators: the lowest unemployment rate, the highest median household income, and among the highest educational attainment levels.”
At the same time, growth in the Maryland economy basically stalled in 2017, and as of 2021 nearly 40% of Marylanders can’t afford the basics in the communities in which they live.
Our state government is stable and predictable, but Republican and Democratic Governors alike are afraid to increase taxes on the wealthy and close the loopholes that allow corporations to evade paying their fair share. This means that each time the state makes a major investment in Maryland’s future, we run into a budget crisis and politicians choose to make austerity cuts to services and programs. This is the approach the administration of Governor Wes Moore is taking right now.
This cycle is destructive. It benefits the wealthy, harms working class communities, and removes public resources from those that most rely on them.
It doesn't have to be this way, we can build an economy rooted in justice, so that everyone can thrive. To do so we will need to repair harm from previous policy decisions and reinvest in communities that have had resources taken from them. Racial justice, economic justice and environmental justice must be core elements of how we govern and how we budget.
Communities, working people, and families should be at the center of our economic policies--not corporations, banks, and wealthy developers. We need a fairer distribution of wealth, but even more, we need a fairer distribution of power. As governor, I will use the power of my office as chief executive of Maryland to provide resources directly to working class people and communities. We will work together with the movements, groups, and people in Maryland building our new solidarity economy.
During my administration we will implement the largest redistribution of power, wealth, and opportunity Maryland has ever seen.
That's my pledge to you--and it's a call to action for all of us.
A Gathering of Solutions
Marylanders have the energy, organizing skills, and knowledge to run an economy that prioritizes human needs and environmental responsibility. Communities across the state and organizations working directly in those communities are talking the talk and walking the walk. Just as our campaign is committed to listening and learning, my gubernatorial administration will invite those communities and organizations into our economic policymaking, not just to share their ideas, but to lead the solutions. Together, we will build an economy that reflects your values, your concerns, and your priorities.
Our current list of key policies and positions – a wealth tax, tax credits and income support, community repair and reinvestment funds, a public bank, worker-owned cooperatives and community ownership – is meant to open, not close, the conversation. Between now and November 2026, we'll be asking you for your input and ideas. We will plan our new economy together, so that each of us and all of us can thrive.
Solution- Tax Policy
Increase Taxes on the Wealthy and Close Corporate Tax Loopholes
The Maryland Center on Economic Policy recently estimated that a millionaire's estate tax, higher tax rates on those with income over $250,000, the closure of corporate and personal tax loopholes, and a surtax on capital gains can raise hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue every year.
Working Class Tax Credits
Our campaign will be regularly reminding folks that economic hardship is not a matter of personal failure. Tax credits that help working and poor people are vital means of ensuring many Marylanders meet basic expenses, find resources when they need care, and support people's safety and security. One such existing tool to put money in the hands of working class people is the Earned Income Tax Credit. We need to expand and simplify the state EITC and make it fully refundable so that it does not just reduce a working families tax burden, but it also gives them money back.
As governor, I will push for just these kind of policies. We will ensure that Maryland's millionaires, billionaires, and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. We will also make sure that the tax credits and tax breaks we do offer will benefit working and poor Marylanders and families.
Solution-Basic Income
Put Cash in The Hands of People Who Need It
When I ran for State Delegate in District 45 in 2018 I advocated for a targeted basic income for Baltimore City youth and for people returning from incarceration, and voters loved the idea.
Today, several Maryland jurisdictions are experimenting with focused basic income programs. From the pilot program in Prince George's County launched last fall, to Montgomery County's 24-month program that is helping hundreds of people transition from homelessness, to Baltimore's payments of $1000 a month to young families. We have many opportunities to see what works, and then beyond pilot programs.
When I am governor, my office will use a focused basic income to put more money in the hands of poor and working class Marylanders.
Solution-Grow Community Repair and Reinvestment Fund
Repair The Harm. Rebuild the Community
Cannabis legalization in Maryland created a Community Repair and Reinvestment Fund, meant to use recreational cannabis tax revenue to provide resources to communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. Thirty five percent of tax revenue from the sale of cannabis currently goes into this fund. Each county in Maryland will need to establish a local mechanism for allocating the monies in this fund.
As governor I will work to expand the sources of revenue for the fund, and work with each of the counties to implement community controlled democratic institutions to administer the local funds.
Solution-Public Banks
Community Wealth. Community Banks
Big banks have been damaging Maryland communities for centuries. More revenue and reinvestment won't do much good if finance capital continues to drain, cheat, and bet against cities, schools, neighborhoods and people. Gov. Wes Moore's answer was to sign the Access to Banking Act, but the real "access" protected by that law is big banks' access to individual and community wealth--to extract it from us through interest rates and risky Wall Street speculation, and to undermine communities through redlining.
Maryland needs a state-owned public bank, and will also benefit from municipally-owned banks. Public banks serve as depositories for state or local funds, which can then be leveraged to support community needs. Baltimore's Abell Foundation, the Northeast-Midwest Institute, and the Maryland Center on Economic Policy have all concluded that public banking will improve economic equity, access to capital, improvements in infrastructure and public services. Although bills to study the feasibility of a public bank have been introduced and even initially passed in Annapolis, nothing has made it to the governor's desk. When I am governor, that will change.
Solution-Worker Cooperatives
Worker Ownership Grows Local Economies
Worker ownership has a proven record of greater success, productivity, and worker empowerment than the boss-worker model. Worker-owned cooperative businesses improve pay, benefits, and working conditions. Worker owned cooperatives are good for all communities, but especially those that are suffering from decades of disinvestment.
Maryland already has some worker-owned businesses, and cities have experimented with start-up assistance in the past.. Still Maryland law does not recognize worker-owned cooperatives, treating them like LLCs and corporations.This makes it difficult and legally complicated for cooperatives to start and grow. I will work with the general assembly to pass common sense laws that will give statutory recognition to worker ownership, provide additional technical support to cooperative businesses, and make it easier to create and run healthy worker owned cooperatives.
As Governor I will take every opportunity to rebuild local economies by clearing the barriers that hold back workers from forming and running worker owned community based business.
Solution- Community Ownership
Public Ownership for Public Good
Ownership is power, and large portions of power should be shared. Entities that affect everyone's lives should be owned by everyone. These are the principles that have influenced my advocacy for public ownership of the Baltimore Orioles. It doesn't make sense that one private owner can extort limitless concessions from a city or the state, when cities and counties and the state can own those entities instead. Much of our focus for this discussion so far has been on the Orioles, but that is only one example of the current Maryland way, elected leaders fall all over themselves to establish public private partnerships that give billionaires and corporations public subsidies and massive tax breaks, while working people and communities take the risk and pay the price.
When I am governor that will end. If we want shared power and responsibility, real transparency, and accountability, communities should control their own resources, and utilities and other public goods should be publicly owned. There are several ways other communities have successfully done this. Our campaign is here to learn from them, and my administration will facilitate a transition to collective community power in Maryland.
Help Us Build The Solidarity Economy
This is just the start – we know there is a lot of work to do to build a Maryland economy were we can all thrive. Over the next year we will be taking on other issues, including:
Housing costs and rental prices
Labor and collective bargaining
Workforce Development
Higher education
Community Wealth Building
Child care
Transportation
Re-entry
Health Care Costs
Debt relief
Just transition from fossil fuels
Tax Breaks for Corporations and Universities
Do you want to help us develop these solutions? Do you have resources or ideas you would like to share? Let us know, by sending an email to ideas@gogreen2026.com.
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