we have SERIOUS demands. Annapolis must listen now.

We, the taxpayers of Maryland, call for a comprehensive realignment of state governance—one that redefines how public services are managed and funded. Our vision embraces a transition from outdated, fragmented practices to an integrated system characterized by fiscal discipline, transparency, and innovation. By restructuring state spending around principles of efficiency and accountability, we can streamline bureaucratic processes, modernize regulatory frameworks, and implement data-driven policymaking. Our leaders in Annapolis must recognize the urgency of these reforms and commit to transforming governance for a sustainable, accountable future that benefits every Marylander.

Tax realignment

Maryland will transition from a traditional income tax system to a structure based on land value taxation, consumption taxes, and levies on externalities. This reform is designed to internalize external costs, reflect genuine economic activity, and link revenue generation to measurable service improvements. Growth-oriented taxation will allow Maryland to continue to reduce the tax burden on individuals over time, especially with improved fiscal discipline in budgeting practices.

• Institute a statewide tax on the unimproved value of land, with differentiated rates to preserve our farms and forests and avoid expanding suburban sprawl while capturing speculative economic rents without penalizing productive use.

• Adjust the tax structure to levy consumption on discretionary goods and services while exempting basic necessities, ensuring the tax base reflects current spending patterns across Maryland.

• Introduce taxes on activities that generate external costs, such as air pollution from industrial practices, encouraging cleaner practices and funding environmental remediation.

• Connect incremental tax receipts to performance benchmarks in sectors such as education, healthcare, and transportation, guaranteeing that additional funds yield verifiable service improvements.

• Phase out legacy tax exemptions that create economic imbalances, replacing them with targeted incentives that reward demonstrable improvements in efficiency and quality.

• Utilize state-level predictable tax instruments to create a steady revenue stream capable of supporting long-term, fiscally-disciplined planning for urban renewal projects in cities like Baltimore.

• Utilize the state tax on the unimproved value of land to eliminate local income taxes, encouraging greater workforce participation and allowing workers greater discretion in what they consume.

• Ensure that county and municipal governments adopt outcome-based budgeting models that directly tie revenue increases to improved service delivery, with pilot programs in certain services, eventually expanding to all parts of the budget.

• Consolidate tax collection processes for all taxes and streamline compliance procedures to reduce burdens on taxpayers and local government agencies.

• Provide transitional support for businesses adapting to the new tax environment, including advisory services and phased implementation schedules tailored to different sectors.

• Allocate a portion of new tax revenues to reducing or eliminating corporate income taxes, allowing Maryland to remain competitive in retaining and attracting new businesses and jobs.

• Establish a robust public reporting mechanism that details tax revenue allocation and performance outcomes, fostering accountability and citizen engagement.

Spending Controls

Maryland will implement a rigorous fiscal discipline framework to ensure that every expenditure is justified and aligned with service outcomes. By employing outcome-based budgeting, strict cost-accounting, and extending the all-payer rate-setting model to various public services, the state will control expenditures and optimize the allocation of public funds.

• Establish a statewide budget limit, from all sources, that ties nominal annual expenditure increases to objective, external indicators such as population growth and productivity metrics.

• Mandate that each state agency revalidates its entire budget every fiscal cycle, requiring a detailed justification for every expense to eliminate unnecessary spending and consolidate administration.

• Link budget increases directly to performance improvements in critical areas such as public health, education, and infrastructure, with explicit, quantitative benchmarks and targets.

• Remove safe harbor provisions and non-DSH payments that enable inflated Medicaid cost claims, ensuring that public reimbursements are based on audited, verifiable service delivery expenses.

• Expand the all payer rate-setting mechanism — successfully applied to hospital pricing — to areas such as childcare subsidies or compensation for medical providers, standardizing cost growth across services.

• Require increased comprehensive audits of all state spending by independent, empowered oversight bodies, with findings published in highly-accessible, well-publicized reports.

• Effectively empower a central fiscal oversight committee that brings together representatives from all state agencies to coordinate spending strategies and continuously eliminate redundancies.

• Develop specific, quantifiable benchmarks for each agency, ensuring that expenditures are directly linked to improvements in service delivery and operational efficiency while reducing administrative expenses.

• Institute mandatory, periodic renegotiations for long-term agreements to reflect current market conditions and eliminate outdated pricing structures that no longer represent actual service costs.

• Integrate stricter penalty provisions in construction and infrastructure projects that hold contractors financially accountable for delays or overruns, ensuring adherence to budgets and improving quality.

• Require that all significant service providers undergo periodic benchmarking against industry standards, with contractual adjustments enforced when costs exceed established global norms.

• Shift from variable, fee-based payments to fixed-payment schemes for recurring and costly public services, stabilizing costs and ensuring predictable budget planning from year to year.