February 23, 2026
Budget and Taxation Committee
Health and Human Services Subcommittee
William Amoss Room, 4th Floor Miller Senate Building
Annapolis, MD

Budget Hearing — Department of Housing and Community Development
Carrie Kisicki, Maryland Housing Advocacy Manager

Dear Chair McCray and Members of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee:

Please accept this testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization advocating for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the D.C. region to grow. 

Our organization works extensively in suburban Maryland, focused on Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

We urge you to support DHCD’s operating funding requests. Montgomery County and Prince George’s County are each facing housing shortages that disproportionately harm low-income households. To meet the urgency and scale of our housing need, DHCD and practitioners must be fully supported and able to operate at full capacity. 

The ability to react in a timely manner at critical funding and decision points is essential to successful housing development, and depends on adequate staff capacity—both within DHCD, and for practitioners working with DHCD. 

DHCD’s operating budget not only supports the development of needed affordable housing across our state, but also the successful operation of programs like the Community School Families Rental Assistance Program to support families in need in our communities.

For these reasons, we respectfully ask you to fully fund DHCD’s operating funding requests.

Sincerely,

Carrie Kisicki
Maryland Housing Advocacy Manager