Update 3/21/2025
On March 20, the Governor’s Office and House of Delegates Appropriations Committee announced restoration of $150M in funding for the 2026 Developmental Disabilities Administration Budget.
This restoration amounts to about 68%-75% of total State General Fund financing, and with federal Medicaid matching funds, amounts to nearly $293 million of an estimated $457 million in reductions, or about 64%. There are still cuts, however, they are far less damaging to Marylanders with IDD and the direct support professionals who support them.
Recall that we estimated Makom cuts to be as much as 22% of our operating budget! Based on the Maryland House of Delegates budget proposal announced yesterday, we estimate cuts of about 2.3% in our funding. It is still a cut, at a time when our costs are rising dramatically; however, it is a far, far more modest cut, and we are confident we will be able to navigate it with minimal impact on folks we support and our staff.
THE BUDGET IS NOT DONE!
From the House of Delegates, the budget now goes to the Maryland Senate, which must meet its constitutional obligations that must result in passage of a balanced budget by sine die (adjournment) on 7 April.
As the process continues, we ask you once more to make your voices heard. From expressions of deserved gratitude to urging our elected officials to keep up the good work, please utilize the forms above to reach out to your delegates! While yesterday’s news is a very positive development, we are not done until we are done!
We also encourage you to send a special note of thanks to Maryland State Senator Guy Guzzone and Maryland Delegate Emily Shetty. Their leadership on this critical budget over the last two months has been exemplary, and although Senator Guzzone’s work isn’t done, his leadership has indeed been impressive. A short note of thanks for their leadership especially would mean a lot to them and to all of us at Makom.
Update: 2/21/2025
The Governor’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would have implemented cuts beginning April of this year (fiscal year 2025). Makom estimated that these cuts would reduce funding by $1.2 to $1.5M between April and June 30, 2025. We applaud the announcement by the Moore-Miller Administration and Leadership of the Maryland General Assembly that the vast majority of these proposed funding cuts will be restored. However, we do NOT know what comprises the remaining 6% in proposed cuts.
However, there is much work to be done to address significant cuts to the fiscal year 2026 budget, which the announcement does not address.
Of note, the Maryland House of Delegates Appropriations Committee, Health and Human Services subcommittee will convene a DDA hearing on Friday, 28 February, 2:00pm. In advance of this, we are asking you to, once again, utilize the forms below to reach out to your delegates in opposition to these cuts for fiscal year 2026. In addition, we welcome you to submit testimony prior to the hearing.
The Issue
The 2026 State budget for the intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) system proposes historical, unprecedented funding cuts to the services and supports on which 21,000 Marylanders depend. These include, but are not limited to:
· Over $235,000,000 in scattergun cuts to IDD services, from provider-delivered supports (like the kind Makom provides) to people with IDD who self-direct/control their own services and budgets; deep and dangerous cuts that will impact Maryland kids and adults with IDD.
· Because of this, the State will forfeit nearly $229,000,000 in federal Medicaid matching funds—bringing the total reductions in essential services and supports to well over $460,000,000. Just under a half billion dollars.
· For Makom alone, funding cuts may be as high as $7.0 million, as much as a whopping 22% of our budget. Anything close to cuts of that scale will decimate Makom and the critical services and supports to 250 people.
