"I'm sure that the county executive's position on a bill is always a significant consideration for a county legislative delegation," said Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute. "Not always decisive, but certainly important." read more ...

Kai Jackson spoke with Neil Bergsman, Shirley Basfield Dunlap and Roscoe Orman and Shantrelle P. Lewis and Dr. Michelle Wilkinson. read more ...

Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, disagreed, calling the overall budget proposal fair, because it’s based on taxpayers’ ability to pay.

“This is about the most balanced and moderate proposal we’ve seen for helping to fix the deficit in the last five years,” he said.

“It’s important to have an approach to balancing the budget that includes some revenues because we have to keep our investments in education and quality of life. That’s Maryland’s edge.”

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To preserve Maryland's quality of life, it's time to 'eat our vegetables' and accept revenue increases along with cuts, writes MBTPI Director Neil Bergsman in today's Baltimore Sun.

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A day ahead of Governor O’Malley’s State of the State address, a discussion of the fiscal policy behind his controversial budget and tax increase proposals. With Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute, and Ron Wineholt, vice-president for government affairs for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. read more ...

MarylandReporter.com editor and publisher Len Lazarick talks about Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 2013 budget proposal with state Sen. David Brinkley, the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.

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Neil Bergsman, director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute, said some states are seeing double-digit increases in their public college tuition.

"I think when we had the tuition freeze everyone understood that it couldn't possibly last forever," Bergsman said. "A larger [tuition] increase this year would not have surprised me."

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The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank that has been pushing for months for the governor to incorporate tax increases in his budget-balancing plan, was tepid about a sales tax increase for that very reason. Such an increase, it noted, "would affect low- and moderate-income working families disproportionately" and would need to be paired with an increase in the earned income tax credit or other measures to help offset its regressive effects. But the group would prefer other revenue options, such as a resumption of the millionaires tax and reform to the corporate tax to make sure multi-state companies actually pay their fair share. read more ...

Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute Director Neil Bergsman said that the state needs to stop balancing budget shortfalls through cuts – but not just because state employees deserve to be paid a living wage, “but because Maryland’s competitive edge calls for a strong workforce, strong schools, and quality infrastructure.” read more ...