The segments below provide a brief overview of MACo’s work on finance policy in the 2026 General Assembly.

In the 2026 session, fiscal policy took center stage as the General Assembly faced slowing revenues, rising costs, and competing priorities across government. Budget constraints drove debates over tax policy, aid formulas, and funding commitments, with a sharper focus on how the State and local governments share costs and responsibilities.

Maryland’s 448th legislative session opened with significant concern about the State’s fiscal outlook, as revenues softened and service costs increased at every level of government. Lawmakers still moved a wide range of policy issues through the 90-day session. MACo advocated for practical, balanced solutions, and its Legislative Committee set the association’s positions on hundreds of bills across policy areas, securing meaningful compromises that reflect counties’ broad responsibilities.

Counties rely on stable, predictable revenue to meet growing demands, from tax policy and revenue structures to intergovernmental aid and funding formulas. MACo focused on protecting local revenues, promoting fiscal sustainability, and pushing back on policies that shift disproportionate costs onto county governments.

Follow these links for more coverage on our Conduit Street blog and Legislative Database. 

MACo supported HB 135/SB 287 – Economic Development – Tax Increment Financing – Noncontiguous Areas. This bill builds on existing tax increment financing (TIF) authority by allowing counties and municipalities to designate specified noncontiguous blighted areas as a single development district. This expansion could help promote housing opportunities in underdeveloped neighborhoods. This bill PASSED in the 2026 session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

MACo supported HB 1374 – Alternative Fuel, Fuel-Efficient, and Electric Vehicles – Highway Use Fees with amendments. This bill would have revised how the State charges certain alternative vehicles for their use of public roads. MACo urged the State to fairly allocate revenues from either the current fee or the revised fee proposed in the bill. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

MACo supported HB 1605 – Compensation for Individuals Erroneously Convicted – County Cost-Sharing – Repeal. This bill would have corrected a flawed policy enacted as a small component of the 2025 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act that required counties to fund wrongful-incarceration compensation decisions made entirely through State processes. MACo argued that funding responsibility should align with the entity that controls the process. In this case, counties have no role in prosecutions, appeals, or compensation decisions, nor do they have management or oversight authority over the actors responsible for these functions. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

As amended, MACo took no position on HB 1096 – Property Tax Credits – Notice Through Property Tax Bill. As amended, this bill requires each county tax collector to include, with the property tax bill, a website address or a quick response (QR) code for a county government webpage listing each property tax credit available to taxpayers in the county and a brief explanation of how to apply for the tax credits. MACo worked with the sponsor to establish a more feasible path forward that improves awareness without imposing an impractical mandate on county governments. This bill PASSED in the 2026 session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

MACo supported HB 559/SB 288 – Transportation – Highway User Revenues Capital Grants – Calculation. This bill would have prevented a nearly $100 million reduction in local transportation funding. MACo warned that the looming drop in funding would leave local roads far short of the needed funding for safety and maintenance costs, as it resets local transportation funding at a permanently lower baseline. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session, setting the stage for a broader conversation on transportation funding in the post-election 2027 legislative session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

MACo submitted a letter of information on HB 916/SB 674 – Transportation – Regional Transportation Authorities. This bill would have established three Regional Transportation Authorities and authorized new regional tax surcharges dedicated to transportation purposes. MACo’s letter urged careful consideration of the bill’s fiscal and governance implications for county governments as counties maintain more than 80% of Maryland’s roadways and rely heavily on Highway User Revenues (HUR) to fund critical infrastructure. This bill DID NOT pass in the 2026 session.

Bill Information | MACo Coverage

For more finance-related legislation tracked by MACo during the 2026 legislative session.