Maryland comptroller looks ahead to 2025
MARYLAND – Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman is beginning her third year in office this week. Lierman spoke with WMDT’s Blake Lipton and outlined her priorities for the year ahead.
“I’m really excited because so much of what we have been laying the groundwork for over the past two years, is going to actually come to fruition starting this year,” she said.
With two years under her belt, Lierman says the groundwork has been laid to modernize the Maryland Office of the Comptroller. They are planning on doing that through several technology upgrades.
“For instance our new website coming online later this spring, we’ll have a brand new unclaimed property site by the end of the year, a brand new customer relations management system,” said Lierman. “We’ll also be launching a dashboard to show Marylanders and provide more transparency to Marylanders on all the spending through the Board of Public Works.”
In addition, Comptroller Lierman is focused on investments that can help grow revenues. Last year a report on the state’s economy showed businesses continue to struggle with hiring because fewer people are working.
“Right now, for Maryland, so much of it is how do we create a more affordable state so that people want to move here, stay here and how do we encourage them to get into the workforce,” said Lierman.
Comptroller Lierman is also planning on rolling out three bills during this year’s legislative session. One of those would update the Abandoned Property Act. She said the laws and procedures for unclaimed property system are decades old.
“We have a bill in about unclaimed property that would actually allow us to proactively send money and send checks that are small to people so they don’t even have to file a claim,” said Lierman.
The bill would also allow the state to collect newer forms of property including cyrptocurrency, gift cards and certain individual retirement accounts. Lierman said it’s just one tool her office is using to spur the state economy.
“I’m constantly looking for ways to build a more transparent and responsive government and much of that is going to continue to happen and really be more visible to Marylanders this year,” she said.
As for the second and third bills Comptroller Lierman plans on rolling out, one would encourage businesses to share information about the Earned Income Tax Credit. The other would help update the Field Enforcement Bureau Citation Process.
For more information on the Maryland Comptroller’s Office, log on to Marylandtaxes.gov.
