But job growth continues with the state’s private sector.
Md. Comptroller Brooke Lierman
Frederick, Md (KM) How much impact federal job cuts will have on Maryland is big issue facing state leaders. Comptroller Brooke Lierman says the state has been home to a large number of federal employees for a long time. “So for many years, we been in a real symbiotic relationship with the federal government. That relationship is fraying, I would say,” she says. “And so it’s essential that to ensure that folks have jobs, but also to ensure the health of our economy, that our private sector grow more quickly that it has been in the past few year.”
And LIerman says it appears the private sector is doing very well in Maryland. “Actually, this year, our private sector economy is growing faster that it has been. I know the governor and his team are very focused on that. And it’s essential to ensure that happens so we can continue having the revenue we need to do things and so families can keep finding jobs,” she says
So does it look like Maryland could weather this storm? “I’m hopeful we can move forward. But we’ve got to be smart and capable and build more resilience,” she responds.
In addition to federal employees’ salaries, Maryland also benefits from contracts awarded by the government to private sector employers and grants provided to state and local governments. “All added up, historically that’s been about $150-billion per year over the last few years,” Lierman says. “So the question is what does it come to now under this new administration.”
Comptroller Lierman attended the town hall meeting last week in Germantown with 6th District Representative April McClain Delaney and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. Lierman said many people in the audience were worried about the actions of the Trump Administration and the Reconciliation Act, sometimes referred to the “Big Beautiful Bill.” The legislation cuts funding for Medicaid. “There was one woman in the audience who came up to me afterward crying. She’s on Medicaid and she’s concerned about losing her Medicaid and what would she do. There’s real fear and real concern about impacts on the federal agencies, and the big reconciliation bill that passed,” Lierman says.
According to Representative McClain Delaney’s Office, 130,000 Marylanders are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage, including 32,000 in the 6th Distinct.
Lierman also said those who attended the meeting were worried about federal jobs cuts. “It’s local, right. . It’s personal. People spoke to me about their friends and neighbors losing jobs. Concerns about agencies like NIST and Fort Detrick, and what was going to happen,” she said.
NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
By Kevin McManus