Despite multibillion-dollar deficits projected for future state budgets, several Maryland lawmakers are championing planned increases in education spending, including publicly funded pre-K.

“We know that we have a structural deficit. There’s no hiding that,” said Del. Jared Solomon, a Montgomery County Democrat, speaking on Thursday to a group of private child care providers at a symposium hosted by the Maryland State Child Care Association.

But Solomon says pre-K and child care spending should not be on the chopping block next year. “If anything, I think we should be making more investments,” he told The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland was downgraded earlier this year by one of the nation’s top credit ratings agencies from a stable to “negative” outlook — an assessment largely driven by education spending under an initiative known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Spending under the initiative is expected to increase to $4.1 billion per year by fiscal 2029.

The Blueprint contains five pillars, the first of which is early childhood education, which includes expanded access to publicly funded pre-K in both public school classrooms and private child care facilities.

When it comes to budget solvency, Solomon noted that economic forecasts change.

“We have plenty of time to fix it and — or to address the situation. And I know that is top on the minds of, I think, most of us, going into 2025,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of private child care providers at Thursday’s meeting, Randi Albertsen, an early childhood education specialist, expressed concerns about providers’ ability to pay for staff benefits as part of the pre-K expansion. Solomon suggested a solution: Allow a child care provider to buy into the state benefits package.

“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out the legalities, the cost around it.”

Funding discussions will take place after the election, said Marty McGowan, who serves as director of communications for House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and attended the meeting.

Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, a Howard County Democrat, said she is “absolutely” against cuts to child care funding in next year’s budget.

“We just made gains last session, so we shouldn’t, you know, take a step backward in the very next session.”

She’s also opposed to any other cuts or timeline adjustments for Blueprint spending.

“I think if we see some data saying that it’s not working, or certain parts of it aren’t working, then we can start talking about cutting the Blueprint,” Atterbeary said. Asked about where else in the budget cuts could be made, she said she doesn’t know right now. She said it’s too early to discuss until after the election.

Del. Aletheia McCaskill, a Baltimore County Democrat, said she thinks the Blueprint should have been rolled out one pillar at a time, instead of all at once. “Agencies weren’t ready. MSDE wasn’t ready, even though we knew it was coming.”

McCaskill said there “for sure” will be cuts in the next budget, adding that the state needs to be more creative in increasing revenue. She also emphasized having an “even more rigorous conversation at the federal level” — not just on child tax credits, but also on other incentives for private child care providers.

New revenues don’t necessarily mean new taxes, she said, but declined to offer specifics.

“We’re still looking over audit reviews to figure out where we can either close off some of those other revenues and bring back, or bring some new revenues,” she said. “I don’t think that it’s going to be as gloomy as we think it may be, but I do know that we’re going to have to be very creative in our spending.”

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