Governor Wes Moore unveiled his 2026 Housing Package. Counties signal optimism of “compromise waiting to happen.”
Yesterday, Governor Wes Moore unveiled his housing agenda for the 2026 legislative session. The package includes three pieces of legislation that the administration believes will improve housing production, with a focus on transit-oriented development to expedite the revitalization of communities around transit stations, create housing, grow the economy, and increase transit ridership.
The administration will have three bills:
- Maryland Transit & Housing Opportunity Act of 2026 – Eliminates minimum parking requirements for certain transit-oriented developments, promotes mixed-use development around key stations, and gives the State more authority over the development of land adjacent to transit stations. The legislation also expands existing financial incentives for projects located near high-quality transit stations.
- Starter and Silver Homes Act of 2026 – Increases housing options by allowing smaller, more affordable homes, including smaller single-family homes on smaller lots and townhouses in residential areas statewide.
- The Housing Certainty Act: Addresses regulatory certainty and delays impact fee payments to improve long-term project financing. This bill will be sponsored by Senator Augustine & Delegate Behler.
For its part, MACo has worked for months with county leaders and the administration to shape housing legislation with the strongest potential to earn local support. MACo Executive Director Michael Sanderson recently summarized counties’ broad outlook on the Governor’s package in a Maryland Matters article:
“I feel like there is a compromise waiting to happen. We’ve been talking very aggressively over the last several months, all pointing toward ‘let’s get something done.’ So I’m optimistic that we’re going to find a path to ‘yes’ on a lot of issues that have been elusive up to this point.”
Read the full story from Maryland Matters.
