Maryland officials expect about 28,000 federal workers in the state to lose their jobs as a result of decisions by the Trump Administration, according to data presented at Thursday’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates meeting. Those numbers do not account for many federal contractors or workers whose jobs rely on federal grants.
“I would stress that this is very much a floor,” said Bureau of Revenue Estimates Director Robert Rehrmann. “This is likely to increase as additional reductions are announced.”
Because employment numbers and other data are not yet available for February, the jobs numbers Rehrmann presented are largely estimates based on announced layoffs. Rehrmann also said the picture changes daily, especially with ongoing court challenges of President Donald Trump’s decisions.
Largely as a result of the federal layoffs, the state is expected to bring in $280 million less in revenues this fiscal year and next, Rehrmann said.
However, that number doesn’t fully reflect the damage federal spending cuts will do to the state’s economy, said Comptroller Brooke Lierman.
“These slash and burn cuts to federal agencies and ultimately to the public safety infrastructure in this country will harm Americans in all different ways, but will be a double whammy for the Mid-Atlantic region, where we are proud to host many federal workers and federal agencies,” the Democrat said.
Maryland companies and organizations get tens of billions of dollars in federal contracts and grants, according to the data presented Thursday. Contracts alone account for about 10% of Maryland’s private GDP.
Lierman also highlighted planned layoffs at the Internal Revenue Service, which she said would likely hurt tax compliance and as a result could further impact state and local tax revenues.
“Our country operates on a voluntary tax compliance system that only works because of the deterrent effect of audits,” Lierman said. “A gutted IRS is the dream of every tax cheat and disservice to every law-abiding American and Marylander.”
The reduction in anticipated revenues makes state lawmakers’ ongoing efforts to craft next fiscal year’s budget more challenging, at a time when they were already tasked with closing a roughly $3 billion deficit.
“We will do everything in our power to avoid the most difficult cuts to people who need it, because Marylanders are counting on us,” said House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes. “There will probably have to continue to be cuts that we look at as we move forward and revenue to make sure we can protect things like education, [the Developmental Disabilities Administration] and the like.”
