Gov. Wes Moore: ‘Housing must come first’

Maryland is facing a housing crisis. And it isn’t just hurting some of us, it’s hurting all of us. Maryland is currently ranked the seventh most expensive state to live in — driven largely by sky-high housing costs. Nine in 10 Marylanders say that housing affordability presents a real obstacle, and a third of Marylanders aged 18 to 34 are thinking about leaving the state due to a lack of affordable, accessible housing. This crisis isn’t just affecting individual lives and livelihoods; it also diminishes our economic strength. The comptroller’s State of the Economy report found that Maryland’s economy grew at a rate of just 1.6% compared to 13.9% nationally, driven in part by the “availability of affordable housing for lower- and middle-income households.”