Wednesday’s budget announcement was never going to be easy for Gov. Wes Moore. With the state facing yet another shortfall and Moore’s promise not to raise taxes or fees, Maryland’s financial health relies on unpleasant realities like program cuts and project delays.

But you might not have picked up on that from listening to Moore speak at his budget press conference Wednesday morning. Here are a few ways Moore described the plan:

• “This budget shows that we can spend wisely and also protect our values and demand more from how we are using our budget.”
• “This has to be a time, and is a budget, that is focusing on both protecting our values, making life more affordable for the people of Maryland, and also being the fuel that we need for our future aspirations.”
• “We’re not going to do politics as usual, but we’re going to do people always.”

You’d be forgiven for not realizing that the spending plan includes a $150 million cut to the Developmental Disabilities Administration, pulls nearly $300 million from a fund intended for renewable energy initiatives, and asks local governments to pick up $39 million in additional costs.

The spending plan is just a starting point for the General Assembly, which can make adjustments before the budget is finalized. It’s also a chance for Moore to demonstrate his priorities.

Here are five takeaways from the governor’s budget proposal:

No new taxes

Perhaps sensing that Marylanders are fed up with tax and fee hikes, Moore pledged not to raise revenues in his spending plan. He kept that promise, proposing a budget that will instead rely on cuts and financial maneuvers to make up the $1.4 billion shortfall.

The proposal is a stark difference from last year’s, which ultimately included $1.6 billion in taxes and fees. But this is an election year, and Moore is signaling he has national ambitions — even as he says he is not running for president in 2028.

He is likely also wary of repeating the mistakes of past governors.

Frustrations with Gov. Martin O’Malley’s reliance on tax and fee increases helped usher in eight years of Republican leadership in Annapolis under Gov. Larry Hogan, Moore’s predecessor. And while Moore remains popular among a majority of Marylanders, many voters can’t identify his accomplishments.

When in doubt, blame Washington

There was one common theme when Moore talked about Maryland’s budget shortfall: Donald Trump. Moore repeatedly pointed to the chaos coming from Washington, D.C., as a key source of Maryland’s money troubles.

“When we completed session last year, we turned a deficit into a surplus and we balanced our budget for the third consecutive year,” Moore said. “But then the introduction of this new administration had other plans.”

It’s true that the administration’s policies have affected Maryland more than any other state — 25,000 residents are out of work because of dramatic cuts to the federal workforce under Trump. The president has also disrupted federal funding, seemingly based upon his whims and political preferences, across a wide range of categories.

All of that meant less money coming into Maryland’s coffers. Moore described the cuts to federal partnerships as “altering our balance sheets by hundreds of millions of dollars.”

He’s not like other Democrats

Moore has been careful to position himself as a centrist in a Democratic Party where moderates and a more assertive left wing are both trying to set a new course.

That impulse was on display Wednesday, when Moore launched his budget presentation by emphasizing “record funding” for local law enforcement.

Moore first announced the $124 million in funding — a modest increase over last year’s allocation of about $122 million — on Jan. 8, a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. On social media, many viewed the announcement as a failure to read the room at a time when many Americans were grappling with the increasingly militarized role of law enforcement.

Moore doubled down on Wednesday: “We cannot make Maryland safer without supporting law enforcement,” he said. “Law enforcement will continue to play a crucial role in making our communities more livable.”

The governor’s down-the-middle stance makes some sense in a state like Maryland, where a deep blue core is flanked by Trump-supporting regions in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. It also sends a clear message to fellow Democrats about what kind of leader he would be on the national stage.

Moving money around

Moore’s proposed budget largely relies on financial maneuvers, rather than major cuts, to find savings.

It shifts a lot of money around: $322 from the Capital Budget, where it would have gone toward construction projects across the state, and nearly $300 million from the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which is supposed to be used for renewable energy projects.

The proposal also finds savings by adjusting projected spending, such as pay for state employees and clawing back income tax revenues that are sitting in a reserve fund.

Maryland Republicans said the plan simply kicks the can down the road and fails to address deeper problems in the state’s finances.

“Marylanders expect a responsible, sustainable budget that addresses the real challenges facing our state — not one that postpones difficult but necessary decisions,“ said Sen. Paul Corderman, a Washington County Republican who sits on the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee.

Learning from last year

For all the financial massaging, there are still cuts in this budget proposal. One of the largest is from the Developmental Disabilities Administration, which offers resources and services to people with developmental disabilities. It is the second year in a row that Moore has looked to the DDA for a place to cut spending.

Last year, that proposal triggered outraged protests from community members who rely on support from the DDA. This year, the Moore administration approached the issue of cost cutting more carefully, emphasizing that meetings with advocates in the DDA community took place in advance of the budget announcement.

“We are committed to continuing to work with the advocates and the legislature on finding the right path with this,” acting Department of Budget and Management Secretary Jake Weissmann said. “We believe the approach we are taking is a balanced approach. We are not wedded to it as the only solution.”

Now, Moore’s spending plan heads to the General Assembly, where lawmakers have a chance to make their own changes before voting on the budget.