Gov. Wes Moore’s 2026 Budget is causing controversy on the House floor
MARYLAND – Lawmakers are at it again and this time coming together has created more conflict.
“When I saw the former Governor Shaffer, saw his picture in the lounge, and this morning again it kept going over and over in my mind back in 1991 when I was in 9th grade and he made the statement that “The Eastern Shore is the Outhouse—” and for some of you who are younger, you might wonder what that is, it’s called a — house..”
Budget Beef
That was Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes in response to Governor Wes Moore’s 2026 Budget Proposal, which set the Republican Party on fire on Wednesday as lawmakers voted Yay or Nay, Conservatives say this will negatively affect all Marylanders, and when one Democrat agreed, it caused controversy on the House Floor.
Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes voted down Gov. Moore’s proposed budget and was the only Democrat to do so. She was met with contention after going her allotted time to speak. She says more and more, the Eastern Shore is becoming an afterthought
Shore Suffering
“I stand here because I feel like I don’t have a place in this place anymore, I don’t and it’s for some of these reasons in this budget… I certainly have been a supporter of the Blueprint, making sure education is optimal and paramount in our state… But we must put a pause on that when we are hearing directly from counties throughout the entire state, that they cannot financially afford it.
Governor Wes Moore addressed some concerns, saying in part – “We did not create this fiscal crisis, but we are determined to fix it.
Our common-sense proposal balances the state budget through strategic investments in growing the middle class. ” End quote–
Democrats Determined
However, not all lawmakers are against the Proposal. Delegate Marc Korman District 16 of Montgomery County had this to say.
“There is no way this small but mighty state that the minority leader’s son can’t find on a Ruby Tuesday’s map is going to pay to everything that folks want to pay for. But I’m glad we have a budget where we’re at least going to make an effort to invest infrastructure in all corners of the State- which is why I am voting green on this budget.”
Disrespected for Disagreeing
Republican Delegate Matt Morgan shared a Facebook post in support of Sample- Hughes. He says this budget has a historic tax increase and that she was disrespected for disagreeing.
“This budget spends $67 billion, it contains $1.6 billions of tax increases, it’s the largest tax increase in Mayland history… basically, she kind of got steamrolled over by the parliamentarian and the speaker I think did want to allow her some extra time to finish. But she wasn’t afforded that opportunity, and I thought that was kind of rude. ”
Outcaste Opinion
Hughes says this isn’t the first time she’s been outcaste for doing the right thing for the shore, and it won’t be the last.
The office of Maryland Governor Wes Moore said earlier this year, “By prioritizing economic growth, modernizing government, and making taxes simpler, fairer, and for the vast majority of Marylanders, lower, we will weather this storm and emerge stronger.
I look forward to partnering with the Maryland General Assembly to tackle this historic budget crisis and set Maryland on a path of sustainable economic growth.”
The budget is now in the hands of the Senate.
