ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — Maryland Democrats under Gov. Wes Moore closed the 2025 session with the largest tax-and-fee package in state history, by the business lobby's and Republican caucus's reckoning — about $1.6 billion, with some fiscal analyses putting the FY26 take closer to $2 billion. Moody's cut the state's AAA. About a year later, the administration stopped paying Moody's. The Shore already carries the stacked rates.

The package: new top income brackets above $500,000 and $1 million for single filers, with joint thresholds at $600,000 and $1.2 million; a 3 percent tax on many information-technology services; a 2 percent capital-gains surcharge on income over $350,000; and higher takes on recreational cannabis and sports wagering. The stated reason was a multi-billion-dollar hole. The political fact is that a Democratic governor and a Democratic General Assembly chose taxes over a smaller government.

Credit rating: On May 14, 2025, Moody's cut Maryland from Aaa to Aa1, ending a streak at the top grade that dated to 1973. In late May 2026, about a year later, Moore's administration dropped Moody's as a rater. A senior press secretary said the state still has one of the strongest credit ratings in the country — easier to say after the firm that took the AAA away is off the payroll.

Ballot and Shore: Moore won the June 23 Democratic primary with about 88 percent against Eric Felber. He faces a 2022 rematch with Republican Dan Cox on November 3. Talbot households already pay Maryland's stacked rates on income, property, and the new service taxes. The Shore does not get a discount because the governor headlines a business summit at the Tidewater Inn.