Dear Neighbor,

The Department of Legislative Services (DLS) is a nonpartisan watchdog tasked with one simple job: to provide an honest assessment of the State’s finances. Its work safeguards taxpayers and, just as critically, the vulnerable Marylanders who rely on state services. The findings DLS presented last week regarding the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) should concern everyone.

At the February 5, 2026, Health and Human Services Subcommittee hearing, DLS laid out serious audit findings related to DHS’s financial management. DHS attempted to minimize these issues as “relatively small errors.” As Senator Cory McCray correctly stated, agencies do not get to determine what is insignificant, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee exists to ensure accountability.

Perhaps the most telling moment came before any questions were asked: the DHS Secretary neither appeared nor rescheduled the hearing.

In the absence of the secretary, committee members were left questioning staff about late, incomplete, and inaccurate financial reports. That absence spoke louder than any testimony.

DLS Findings:

FY2025 closeout deficiencies compounded unresolved errors carried over from FY2024.
Required documentation due October 1, 2025, was submitted more than two weeks late and lacked critical information.
Essential data on reversions, cancellations, and federal and special fund balances were missing and not provided to DLS or the Budget and Taxation Committee despite repeated requests.
Even the limited information submitted failed to reconcile with the Comptroller’s records.
Tens of millions of dollars in assistance payments, foster care expenditures, and energy assistance costs were inconsistent across reports.
Federal spending related to EBT fraud replacement varied dramatically across DHS documents, with some figures exceeding $70 million.

DLS also identified recurring audit failures, concluding that these issues “undermine the credibility” of DHS’s financial reporting:

$339 million in federal revenue accruals supported by only $33 million in actual expenditures.
An unresolved $103.6 million deficit in a non-budgeted fund.
Nearly $28 million in potential General Fund liabilities related to federal SNAP penalties that were not properly disclosed.

DHS highlighted several areas of progress, including:

Replacing stolen EBT benefits.
Staffing improvements.
System modernization efforts.
Ending the practice of housing foster youth in hotels, a practice that ended after the death of a foster care youth in the care of DHS.

Progress matters. But it does not erase unresolved failures:

There was no meaningful discussion of that child’s death.
Budget hearings are not just about spreadsheets; they are about real-world outcomes.
When a child dies under state supervision, silence is unacceptable.
Fiscal accountability without human accountability is hollow.

Maryland is in a budget crisis. Our credit has been downgraded. Families are struggling with rising costs, especially energy bills that climb every six months. DHS itself admitted FY2027 discussions should not proceed until FY2025 is reconciled, yet no firm timeline was provided.

This isn’t about partisanship, I respect Senator Augustine & Senator McCray for their forthright comments, when we spoke during the Q&A. This about trust. And trust requires leadership that shows up, answers hard questions, and tells the truth. Before expanding programs or reshuffling hundreds of millions of dollars, DHS must do the work it owes the public: finish the FY2025 reconciliation, correct inaccuracies, explain discrepancies, and account not only for the dollars, but for the lives affected when systems fail.

Marylanders deserve compassion and accountability. We can and must demand both.

I'll be talking to C4 and Bryan Nehman tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.; you can tune in at 101.5 FM.