Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is instituting a hiring freeze for new state employees, offering voluntary buyouts, planning to eliminate vacant jobs and possibly consolidating offices.
The actions combined would save $121 million for the next budget year that begins on July 1.
The Moore administration declined to answer on the record questions about the plan, which was announced to thousands of state employees in a memo sent midday Tuesday.
The state budget, which was negotiated between Moore and lawmakers, cut the personnel budget by more than $100 million, but did not dictate how the governor would handle the cut. It also directed the state to abolish 150.5 vacant positions or new positions that hadn’t yet been filled.
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“We have always taken a responsible, deliberate, and innovative approach to making State government work for Marylanders,” Moore wrote in the memo.
Del. Ben Barnes, a Prince George’s County Democrat who chairs the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee, said he was satisfied with the decisions Moore made to hit the savings target.
Barnes said the personnel cost savings are a small part of the broader, roughly $3 billion in budget cuts that were made to keep the state’s bottom line in balance — especially important as the federal government may cut aid for key programs like Medicaid health insurance.
“I think we’ve put our house in order,” Barnes said.
Sen. Guy Guzzone, who chairs the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee, said the governor’s plan is “logical and appropriate” and minimizes harm to important state programs like education and healthcare.
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“I believe the governor’s people have done a good job,” said Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat.
The full details of the personnel moves were not provided on the record by the Moore administration, such as the financial terms of the buyouts and who would be eligible, or which vacant positions may be cut.
The personnel actions represent a change in strategy for the state and for Moore, who entered office in January 2023 pledging to fill at least 5,000 of the estimated 10,000 vacant jobs across state agencies.
Moore took office after eight years in which Republican Gov. Larry Hogan downsized government agencies through attrition — eliminating state positions when employees retired or moved on to other jobs — raising concerns that the state government was left significantly understaffed.
Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Maryland Council 3, which represents 26,000 state employees, said in a statement that decisions about state employees need to consider the state’s “ongoing issues with chronic understaffing, dangerous working conditions and unsustainable workloads.”
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It’s also unclear what this means for Moore’s plan to expedite the hiring of former federal workers laid off by President Donald Trump’s administration into state jobs.
The moves were immediately praised by Republican lawmakers, who unsuccessfully sought for deeper budget cuts during the recent General Assembly session.
In fact, Republicans claimed credit, saying it “closely mirrored” some of their proposals.
“This is a textbook example of how Republican fiscal discipline ends up saving the day,” said Sen. Stephen Hershey, an Eastern Shore Republican and Senate minority leader.
“The level of government employee growth under this administration is unaffordable and unsustainable,” Del. Jason Buckel, a Western Maryland Republican and House minority leader, said in a statement. “I am glad they finally realized it.”
This is a developing story.
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