By Michael Phillips | Maryland Bay News
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore this week rolled out the DECADE Act of 2026—short for Delivering Economic Competitiveness and Advancing Development Efforts—billing it as a business-friendly strategy to jump-start job growth and restore Maryland’s lagging competitiveness.
On paper, the proposal checks familiar boxes: extend research and development tax credits, expand incentives for security-clearance-dependent industries, lift caps on film production credits, and reorganize innovation grant programs under the Maryland Department of Commerce. The administration argues these moves will help Maryland “grow its way out” of looming budget pressures.
But for many center-right observers, the DECADE Act looks less like a bold reset—and more like a recycled playbook that avoids the state’s deeper structural problems.
Incentives Without Accountability
The bill’s headline provisions are largely extensions of existing or recently expired programs:
- R&D tax credits reinstated and extended through 2031
- Employer Security Clearance tax credits extended through 2032
- Film production credits expanded by removing the per-project cap
- Build Our Future grants extended through 2030 for tech infrastructure
Supporters frame these as necessary tools to compete with Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas. But critics note that Maryland has spent years layering incentive upon incentive—without reversing its long-term trend of underperforming private-sector growth.
Maryland continues to rank poorly in business tax climate, regulatory burden, and population retention. Simply extending credits does little to address why companies leave—or never come—despite decades of targeted subsidies.
“Picking Winners” in a Tight Budget Year
The timing is also notable. Maryland faces a projected multi-billion-dollar deficit over the next several years, driven by Medicaid overruns, pension obligations, and slowing revenue growth. Against that backdrop, the DECADE Act’s fiscal note shows revenue losses climbing into the tens of millions annually by the end of the decade.
From a center-right perspective, this raises a familiar concern: government “picking winners” instead of fixing fundamentals.
Targeted credits disproportionately benefit firms already positioned to navigate state bureaucracy—often larger, well-connected companies—while small businesses, trades, and rural employers see little relief. Broad-based reforms, such as lower overall tax rates, streamlined permitting, or regulatory simplification, remain conspicuously absent.
Leveraging Federal Assets—But Ignoring State Barriers
Gov. Moore frequently cites Maryland’s proximity to federal anchors like Fort Meade and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as justification for expanded incentives in cybersecurity and aerospace.
Yet those assets have existed for decades. The real question is why Maryland has failed to fully capitalize on them—while neighboring states with lighter tax and regulatory regimes consistently outperform.
Without addressing high corporate taxes, energy costs, labor mandates, and a reputation for unpredictable policymaking, incentives alone are unlikely to shift long-term business decisions.
A Growth Message—Without Structural Change
To his credit, Moore acknowledges that Maryland has lagged national growth and that economic expansion is preferable to broad tax hikes. But the DECADE Act stops short of the kind of structural reform many in the business community say is necessary.
There is no comprehensive regulatory rollback. No serious effort to reduce the cost of doing business statewide. No commitment to making incentives temporary bridges rather than permanent fixtures of the budget.
Instead, the state doubles down on managed growth—administered, certified, capped, and overseen by Annapolis.
The Center-Right Bottom Line
The DECADE Act may marginally improve Maryland’s competitiveness at the margins. It may help retain a handful of projects or attract a few high-profile investments. But it does not confront the core reasons Maryland continues to lose residents, capital, and entrepreneurs.
For voters and lawmakers skeptical of government-directed economic policy, the bill reinforces a long-standing concern: Maryland prefers incentives over reform, credits over cuts, and press conferences over structural change.
If the Moore administration truly wants a “decade of growth,” the harder work still lies ahead—shrinking government’s footprint, broadening tax relief, and trusting the private sector to do what incentives alone never will.
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