Senator Greenip Fought For Maryland Families and the Preservation of Estate Assets 5/09

The announcement this month by Senator Janet Greenip that she plans to retire this year will leave a large void in the Senate Republican Caucus.  Janet is a dedicated member of our caucus and could always be counted on for assisting with caucus positions and floor strategies that focused on supporting Maryland’s families.

Among her many legislative causes was the effort to recouple Maryland’s estate tax to the federal law.  Under the Glendening Administration, Maryland’s estate tax was decoupled just at the time when Congress made significant changes so that the federal estate taxation would be less oppressive to working families, family farms and small businesses. 

Thus our state estate tax structure retains high tax provisions that contribute to the Maryland having one of the highest tax burdens in the country.  Senator Greenip consistently introduced legislation to help working families and reverse this short-sighted tax policy.

Today, the federal estate tax is assessed only on estates in excess of $3.5 million.  Under Maryland’s decoupling, however, state taxation begins on estates of $1 million.  More troubling, the state estate tax rate is an exhorbitant 16%.

Under Senator Greenip’s leadership, Senate Republicans have fought to repeal the Maryland decoupling provisions through legislation that would restore the federal exemption and allow Maryland decedents to pass to their families assets up to $3.5 million free of any state estate tax.

Governor O’Malley and the Democrat leadership in Annapolis continue to resist legislation that would put Maryland on par with most states that remain coupled to the Federal law.

The end result:  as analyzed by Baltimore Sun columnist Jay Hancock today, (click here) the Democrat high tax policies in Annapolis continue to fiscally harm Maryland’s families and spur the exodus of high-earning Marylanders from residency in our state.