Dana Beyer, MD, for Maryland State Delegate 2010

A budget is much more than a balance sheet.  Every line, every number, represents urgent priorities and goals.  A responsibly drawn budget expresses the collective will of the community.

In Maryland, the Governor presents the budget, and the Assembly can make cuts and adjustments, but it is not allowed to increase spending. But the real work of budget-making begins well before this time.

The issues that matter most to us must be helped to rise to the surface of the public debate.  When they reach the Governor’s desk, there needs to be a history of serious discussion, coalition support and evidence-based practice behind them.

To sit back and wait until the budget is presented in late March is to abdicate responsibility, and to handcuff oneself on the most important document to come from the legislature each year.

I will do the work of talking - to neighbors, colleagues and leadership - about the budget issues year-round.

I will work for tax fairness, not simply assume that the only solution to all our problems is to cut and then cut again.

I am not, like too many political insiders, resigned to the current tax system, where large corporations are permitted to avoid their taxes, where the wealthy do not pay their fair share, where fear of the Republican mantra of “always cut taxes” determines the boundaries of the debate.

A fair and progressive tax code can lead to growth throughout Maryland and across all income demographics.  This was the formula that brought decades of progress to the country and to our region.  Supply-side economics has failed, and the wealthy need to recognize that a healthy, fair society is just as important to them as to all others. We must stop being afraid to confront the politics that has led us to the worst inequality since the 1890’s.

I will also keep working to promote a fresh look at our budget, using a zero-based approach which has worked in many other jurisdictions. I have outlined this process in the document, “Budget 2009.” This approach is even more important for the upcoming fiscal years, as the Great Recession grinds on.