Split-rate taxes on land and improvements allow governments to properly align tax incentives with desirable outcomes, encouraging development that will deliver on the vision of local master plans, provide community benefits, and generate its fair share of the revenue needed to support public infrastructure.
Category: Statewide
Testimony: Support for WMATA Operating and Capital Budget (MD)
The Coalition for Smarter Growth strongly supports funding for WMATA. We support the proposed governor’s allowance with amendments that the State of Maryland provide full operating funding contribution identified by WMATA in its proposed FY27 budget, and, starting in FY28, the DMVMoves capital funding increase of $152M per year.
Testimony: Support for Starter and Silver Homes Act (MD)
Maryland is experiencing a housing shortage, and losing residents to other states where housing is more affordable. SB 36 can help change that trend by ensuring our communities can build homes that reflect the diversity of needs of Maryland residents.
Support 3 key reforms for better Maryland transportation
A transportation trifecta is moving through the MD General Assembly: more climate-friendly projects, more options than driving, and more homes and businesses near transit. Send an email to make sure these three bills get passed!
Testimony: Support for Board of Public Works Contract Review – Climate and Sustainability Information (MD)
The Coalition for Smarter Growth supports SB116 Board of Public Works, Contract Review, Climate & Sustainability Information.
SB116 will ensure that Maryland’s capital investment and procurement decisions are informed by how well they support the state’s climate change goals.
Testimony: Support for HB 386 — Metro Funding Modification Act (MD)
The Metro Funding Modification Act will ensure that critical tri-state capital funding for WMATA is adjusted for inflation and scaled to meet state-of-good repair needs starting in FY29. The funding will also enable timely modernization of outdated rail system infrastructure.
Maryland can make progress on housing and transportation
Maryland faces real challenges including high housing costs, unsafe streets, aging transit systems, economic doldrums, and impacts from climate change. This legislative session, we have the opportunity to address these interconnected challenges with smart growth reforms.
Event materials: Maryland Housing Needs & Solutions: Why is housing unaffordable, and what can we do to fix it?
At this webinar on December 8, 2025, we discussed two recent reports offering insight into why housing is so unaffordable, what its impact is, and what to do about it with a Maryland all star cast ⭐️:
- Kathryn Howell, PhD, Director of the National Center for Smart Growth, University of Maryland College Park & Associate Professor, Urban Studies & Planning Program
- Dani DiPietro, Policy Research Director, Office of the Comptroller of Maryland
- Natali Fani-González, Council President and District 6 Councilmember, Montgomery County, Maryland
- Moderated by Scott Gottbreht, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Strategy, & Research, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
View the reports, presentations and event recording here:
- Presentation: Maryland Housing Needs Assessment 2025 Update
- Presentation: Housing and the Economy, MD Comptroller
- 2025 State Housing Needs Assessment, prepared by the National Center for Smart Growth for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
- Housing & the Economy Report, the Comptroller of Maryland
- View the event recording on CSG’s Youtube channel
Testimony to the Montgomery County State Legislative Delegation in support of WMATA funding
Transit and transit-oriented development are critical to the economic competitiveness of Montgomery and the state.
Press Release: CSG welcomes Governor Moore’s executive order to boost housing production in Maryland
The Coalition for Smarter Growth commends the Moore-Miller administration for enacting the Housing Starts Here executive order, demonstrating Maryland’s commitment to building the homes we need in a strategic, sustainable, and inclusive way.