Dear Friend,

Now that the 2023 General Assembly session has concluded, I am excited to provide you with a brief snapshot of both our work and accomplishments - and some of the larger items that the Governor and General Assembly approved. I don't usually send emails this long, but thought you would want to hear about some of what we did. 

It was my first General Assembly session in many years on the "other side" of the witness stand, and I'm so grateful for the partnership of my former colleagues and Speaker Jones and President Ferguson. The fiscal committees all made time for us to come brief them on the "state of the agency" so we could share our ideas for change and opportunities we see, as well as present our challenges. Below are just a few of the many items we worked on collaboratively with the General Assembly and the Governor to build a better Maryland.  

FY24 Budget Highlights

The FY24 operating and capital budgets introduced by the Governor and amended and passed by the General Assembly are fiscally prudent and socially responsible. The budgets are based upon the revenue estimates overseen by the Bureau of Revenue Estimates, within the Office of the Comptroller. I'm proud of our partnership and the work we did this year.

Some highlights include:

• The Governor put forward and the General Assembly approved a fiscally responsible and balanced budget which includes increased funding for public education, investments in clean energy, expanded tax relief for low- to moderate-income Marylanders, and begins the long process of fully staffing our state agencies. 
• We worked collaboratively with the Governor and General Assembly to craft our agency's FY24 budget. We secured over 50 new positions for the office, many of them in critical roles that will help provide better service for Marylanders. These positions are essential for technology support, tax administration, and data sharing. 
• We hired the agency's first-ever Chief Information Officer and our first Chief Equity and Transformation Officer. Next we will hire a Chief Information Security Officer to strengthen our systems that protect our state's most sensitive data. 
• We received $5.3 million for technology upgrades to the office, which will be used for critical internal infrastructure. 

Legislative Highlights

Legislators introduced over 1500 bills and passed over 750 of them. I was proud to work with many legislators to provide thoughts on how to ensure their policy priorities could be implemented faithfully by the Office of the Comptroller. We also introduced seven bills, including several key priorities. 

Comptroller Legislation

• Create a Taxpayer Advocate - A key promise of mine and recommendation of the Transition Team was to create a Taxpayer Advocate within our agency. This passed legislation will do just that! This Advocate will work with taxpayers to resolve more complex and sensitive problems while also helping to compile data on taxpayer complaints, survey taxpayers annually to obtain their feedback on the quality of services received, and identify barriers we can remove to make government work better. 
• Modernize Our Accounting System - Maryland has one of the oldest accounting and payment processing systems in the country and it's time for an update and upgrade! Because this legislation passed, we will now work with the Treasurer and Budget Secretary to begin a thoughtful process to replace this outdated state accounting system to guarantee continued service to vendors, businesses, and non-profits who rely on timely state agency payments, as well as help balance the state's checkbook every year. 
• Close Tax Loopholes - Tax cheats and bad actors try to take advantage of the state tax system! Our office identified a number of loopholes to close so we can ensure everyone pays their fair share and we can be a responsible steward of our state's money. 

Major 2023 Legislation

Comptroller-Related Items

In addition to Comptroller-specific legislation, there were numerous bills impacting our tax system that the Comptroller will play a significant role in administering. These include: 

• Cannabis reform - our office has already begun the labor-intensive project to stand up a tax system for when adult-use cannabis becomes legal on July 1, 2023. The tax will be 9% for all retail sales from a dispensary. 
• Prompt payment for non-profits - the Comptroller's office is the paymaster for every payment the state makes. Our office processes 95% of all payments that get submitted to our office within 5 days. This update to the law sets up a system to encourage state agencies to submit their payments to our office in a timely manner so nonprofits around the state are able to serve their communities without interruption. 
• One of the Governor's main policy initiatives was the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit which is critical for combating childhood poverty. Our office is excited to work with the public to ensure all eligible filers claim this important credit. 
• We worked with the sponsors of the legislation to add a new check-off box on the state tax return form to help bring in additional revenue into the Veterans Trust Fund, which provides financial assistance to our veterans and their families. 

Other major initiatives include

• Several pieces of significant gun safety legislation passed aimed at protecting communities, preventing youth suicide, and keeping guns out of sensitive areas. SB1 was written to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling which created confusion around Maryland’s concealed carry laws. This bill prevents guns from entering sensitive places such as within 100 feet of a public accommodation. The General Assembly also passed Jaelyn’s law after years of trying which requires safe storage of guns where children likely could have access while also setting up a stakeholder group aimed at preventing youth suicide.
• Significant additional funding, specifically for public schools and students in poverty, was added to the budget. 
• The Maryland POWER Act designed to increase Maryland's use of clean energy. 
• The Trans Health Equity Act requires Maryland Medicaid to provide coverage of gender affirming care. 

All of this is just a fraction of what my team and I worked in collaboration with our General Assembly and Administration to pass through our legislature over the last 90 days. I'm so proud of the work the Office of the Comptroller was able to do in such a short amount of time, and I look forward to continuing our work together in the years to come.

Thank you for reading! Please be sure to reach out if you have ideas for ways we can build a better Maryland from the Comptroller's Office. 

My best,

Brooke

(she/her/hers)