In their opening salvos ahead of the 2026 General Assembly, top Maryland lawmakers from both parties planted a policy flag on affordability.
They’re wrestling over the “A-word,” just as Democratic and Republican lawmakers in D.C. have, and at the start of an election year when the governor and all members of the General Assembly will be on the ballot.
The six-syllable mouthful (uh-for-duh-BIL-uh-dee) proved a winner for Democrats in 2025 elections, as candidates pointed to a Republican-dominated D.C. failing to bring down costs.
In Maryland, Democrats are branding their policy pitches with the word. Across the aisle, Republicans say it’s they who have long carried the affordability mantle, blaming decades of the majority party’s decisions for the state’s economic distress.
Political experts say this messaging from Maryland Republicans, outnumbered 2-1, is likely to be undermined by their own party.
“The midterm elections are going to be dominated by the fact that the Republicans are in power nationally,” said David Karol, a University of Maryland political science professor.
Pointing out what’s wrong when your party controls the presidency and Congress won’t win over voters, he said.
But that won’t stop Maryland Republicans from bemoaning what they say are Democratic missteps.
Republicans blame Democrats for lofty policy ideas without long-term payment plans. Take, for example, the state’s expensive public school reforms, which lawmakers will have to address in future budget years. They also blame Democrats for short-circuiting the state’s energy supply by closing coal-powered electricity plants in hopes of expanding clean energy options.
“When you have someone who’s deciding: I can’t get my medicine, I can’t get my food, I can’t make my car payment if I pay my energy bill, ask them how they feel about climate change,” said Del. Jason Buckel, an Allegany County Republican and House minority leader.
Buckel said lawmakers should have anticipated that a behemoth federal administration trillions of dollars in debt would cut the size of government.
Del. Jesse Pippy, a Republican representing Frederick and Carroll counties, pointed to inefficiencies that waste taxpayer money.
“This is the party of affordability,” he said.
But the Dems have a different perspective.
Maryland Democrats largely blame the Trump administration for the financial crunch. Tariffs have rattled supply and demand. The Republican president denied federal help to Western Maryland after a devastating flood ruined key infrastructure. Cuts and buyouts at federal agencies have cost Maryland workers 25,000 jobs. And D.C. policies have put the squeeze on federal assistance programs run by the state. They’ve also spiked health care costs.
Gov. Wes Moore and the presiding officers have said they’ll tackle a budget gap without raising taxes and will explore plans to make more housing attainable, expand energy supply and decouple the state’s economy from its reliance on the federal government.
House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk said she’s viewing the session through “the lens of affordability.”
“States are where we can deliver relief on the most pressing concerns,” Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said Friday.
Despite the political point-scoring, there are places they agree.
The changing tides in D.C. hold too much sway over Maryland’s economy, both parties say. And easing the way for private industry, diversifying the economy and lowering Marylanders’ bills are all approved in principle.
Democrats’ plans will likely prevail. But Republicans said they won’t roll over and bypass a chance to deliver a well-timed “we told you so.”
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