The Maryland Department of Transportation has released a draft budget of $21.5 billion over six years that includes hopes for continued federal matching funds in an uncertain political environment.
"This capital budget focuses on our priorities of enhancing safety, maintaining our system and driving economic growth," said Acting Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Samantha J. Biddle.
"Thanks to Governor Moore's leadership and the General Assembly's commitment to transportation funding, the additional revenues allow us to continue to advance projects that achieve these goals."
The budget includes investments in transit, state highways, aviation, ports, local transportation and several "federally leveraged projects advancing to construction."
The budget accounts for Maryland's contributions to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, funds flowing into the Transportation Trust Fund and includes toll-based income.
"The Maryland Transportation Authority's toll facilities are financed, constructed, operated and maintained with toll revenues paid by customers using those facilities and represent an additional $5 billion investment in the State's transportation system in fiscal years 2026-2031."
The Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore is a tolled structure that collapsed after being struck by the container ship Dali in March 2024.
The Biden administration promised the federal government would lead the way on paying an estimated $1.9 billion in repairs.
The plan hit a speed bump as U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is questioning what the final cost of repairs will be and why the state isn't playing lead on funding.
Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore has emerged as an early target of the Trump administration as he and the president have traded barbs on social media over the possibility of the National Guard being sent into Baltimore.
The state is also reeling from cuts to the federal workforce which contributed to it's largest single-month drop in federal jobs in almost 30 years, as recorded in June.
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Maryland was denied $15.8 million Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for disaster relief in July.
In June the Trump administration announced that the FBI headquarters were staying in Washington, a change in the plan to build a new home in Greenbelt Md.
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The state is currently tinkering with a plan that would allow 980 state employees to quit their jobs under a voluntary separation program that aims to shrink the size of state government and cut expenses.
Maryland faced and solved a $3 billion budget shortage in May by raising tax rates on high earners, shifting retirement costs to counties and reducing the state workforce.
The budget draft goes "on tour" to the state's counties and the City of Baltimore this fall to solicit comments before being submitted to the state legislature in January for approval.
