Governor Moore calls for bold but restrained approach for state budget at Chamber of Commerce Luncheon in Salisbury

SALISBURY, Md – Governor Moore called for a need to invest in Maryland’s strengths during a speech at the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Luncheon Tuesday, calling for a need to grow the state economy which he says has grown only .2 percent per year since 2018.

“As our budgets have gotten bigger over time the problem is our economy has not,” Governor Moore said calling for a need to invest in Maryland programs that could drive growth that he says has been stagnant compared to our neighbors.

Leaders at the conference say the event was a chance to get facetime with the Governor to help pitch programs they believe need state funding to fuel the economic growth Moore says will be necessary for Maryland in the coming decade.

Wicomico County Executive Giordano says those strengths include an expansion to Salisbuy’s airport pilot program with UMES that she got a chance to sell the governor on helping to fund.

“This is investing in our youth, this is investing in education, this is investing in workforce development, so it is a beautiful project and it’s unparalleled to anything else in the nation and  I am very excited and I think that he knows it’s such a great opportunity for all of us,” she said.

Maryland State Senator Mary Beth Carozza tells 47ABC she is grateful the governor has committed to supporting dredging efforts in the ocean city inlet to help protect local fishing and tourism.

“The Ocean City Inlet is such an asset, everything for our commercial watermen, our recreational boaters, the White Marlin Open, so to have his support, have his team on that boat, challenging to see the seriousness of that, I wanted to personally thank him for that,” she said.

Governor Moore says the state has less money to spend means the state needs to pick projects with big potential future payoffs.

“We’re going to be very intentional about the type of industries that we know continue to give our state a real measurement of growth and have a significant societal return on those investments. So we are going to be investing, we’re going to be bold, but we’re going to be very data-driven about the things that we are investing in,” Governor Moore said.

He tells us those investments include the Offshore wind, which he says can help make Maryland the clean energy and offshore wind capital of the US in the coming decade if the right investments are made.

“The budget that we have is one that has been completely lifted by federal infusions of cash that are not there anymore,” Governor Moore said adding “It means we are going to be intentional and invest in industries of the future, that’s going to give long-term economic growth, that’s going to benefit every part of the state and not just some parts of the state.”

Moore says the budget negotiations are set to begin this fall, where many of those funding priorities will be put into policy.