ANNAPOLIS, Md — The Maryland Fair Funding Coalition wants to raise taxes, But only for a select few.
A bill introduced by the coalition only increases taxes for wealthy Marylanders, large corporations and people getting large inheritances.
Their estimate is more than a billion dollars annually into the Maryland economy.
"It would really support the foundations of our economy. Like a good education system, transportation, health care, child care, all those things that are really important both to families and our economy," said Kali Schumitz, with the Maryland Center on Economic Policy.
Here's how it would work.
The bill adds two new tax brackets for people making over $250,000.
Currently, Maryland's top tax bracket is 5.75%.
This would raise the highest bracket to 7% but you'd have to make a million dollars to get there.
The bill also makes it so corporations based in multiple states can't use accounting tricks to make it look like they didn't make money. Opting to show the profits were earned in other, more tax friendly, states or countries.
"One-third of the largest corporations in Maryland pay zero income taxes in a given year. That's unfair to our small businesses and those businesses aren't contributing from the things that they benefit from," said Schumitz.
It would also lower the amount of inheritance shielded from taxes from five to two million dollars.
The issue, Governor Wes Moore isn't on board with raising taxes this year.
The Governor's Office released a statement saying:
"Any conversation with the general assembly around taxes is going to have a very high bar for the governor, and any of those conversations will focus on creating fiscally disciplined ways of making Maryland's economy grow."
The coalition is hoping to change minds of top lawmakers as the session moves on.
