Advocates urge Maryland lawmakers to stop proposed $150M disabilities services cuts

Katharine Wilson, Baltimore Sun on Mar 12, 2026

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More than 100 people stood outside the State House on Thursday, faced with sleet in March, and heard testimonies from people with developmental disabilities who said they are worried about losing their support services under Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed state budget.

A Maryland State Senate committee is slated to finalize its version of the state budget on Friday. Under Moore’s proposal, released in January, the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) could lose $150 million, which advocates previously told The Baltimore Sun would be essential for care costs.

“Every dollar is a lifeline. It means access to education, transportation, health care, economic independence, things many take for granted,” said Danielle Bustos, who said she needs a personal care assistant to help her work and live independently, said to the crowd. “Without these supports, our world grows smaller and possibilities shrink.”

The proposed cuts to the department are part of efforts to address the $1.4 billion budget shortfall.

“We know that the budget situation in Maryland is really difficult, and people are here in the rain and the sleet because we haven’t seen a lot of movement, unfortunately, and so we’re getting down to the wire, and people are here in this dreadful weather to say: you have to do something,” said Laura Howell, the CEO of the Maryland Association of Community Services, in an interview. “We cannot have services for Marylanders with developmental disabilities cut at this level.”

Moore’s proposal could cap how much the DDA can spend on an individual’s care services and would also cut wages for the staff who work with them, which advocates said would put those in need in a precarious position. Still, the department’s overall budget growth has increased, which the governor’s office previously stated that other state programs “are not dealing with as dramatic a growth as DDA.”

Last year, Moore proposed more than $200 million in DDA funding cuts, most of which were mostly restored by the Maryland General Assembly.

Mat Rice, the executive director of People On the Go Maryland, an advocacy group made up of people with “intellectual and developmental challenges,” told the crowd Thursday, “let all the folks here in Maryland know that our lives matter, our choices matter. We can’t go back to institutions. We will never go back.”

Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Sen. Guy Guzzone told reporters Tuesday that “there is no question that there has to be some sort of cost containment,” regarding the Developmental Disabilities Administration. He said there have been conversations with advocates, and that there were several different ideas for cost containment proposals for the department being considered.

State lawmakers are also considering a bill to prevent administrative errors and delays, causing people with developmental disabilities to lose Medicaid coverage. The bill is awaiting a Finance Committee vote to move to the Senate floor.

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