Philip Cook is running for the Maryland State Senate while working in one of the industries Gov. Wes Moore is betting on as a future economic engine for the state.
But that industry’s present doesn’t look so good. Cook, a Montgomery County Democrat and a biomanufacturing associate at Charles River Laboratories, said Maryland’s biotech sector has been hit by federal funding cuts.
“At the company where I work, several employees have been let go,” Cook, a candidate in District 17, said in response to a questionnaire sent by the Local News Network to all legislative candidates. The questionnaires were used to produce the Capital News Service General Assembly primary voter guide.
The DECADE Act, Moore’s flagship economic bill, “will certainly help us to stay afloat until we have a new federal administration.”
Cook’s answer reflects one side of the debate Maryland candidates are having over the DECADE Act ahead of the June 23 primary.
Many Democrats embraced the bill as a start. They said for the state’s biotech, quantum and other high-tech companies to grow more vigorously, Maryland still needs stronger workforce pipelines, housing, infrastructure and support for small businesses.
Republicans, meanwhile, argued the state’s core economic development problem lies elsewhere: in taxes, regulation, energy costs and the overall climate for doing business.
Steve Whisler, a Republican candidate from Carroll County who is running for a District 5 seat in the House of Delegates, called the DECADE Act “a government-driven, top-down approach.” He said he was skeptical of “picking ‘lighthouse industries’ through subsidies and incentives.”
“Too often,” he said, “these types of plans benefit a handful of well-connected companies while small businesses and entrepreneurs continue to struggle under high taxes, costly regulations and rising energy prices.”
Aid for ‘lighthouse’ industries
The DECADE Act passed both chambers of the General Assembly and has been sent to Moore.
It moved through Annapolis as Maryland was trying to respond to two pressures at once: federal job losses in a state long tied to Washington and large projected budget gaps in the years ahead.
A January report commissioned by Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman said federal jobs in Maryland account for about 6% of the state’s overall employment but 10% of its wages.
Meanwhile, Maryland lost 29,700 federal jobs from January 2025 through mid-March 2026.
Moore’s administration has framed the DECADE Act as part of its answer to that moment. In January, the governor’s office described the bill as a push to strengthen Maryland’s economic competitiveness, especially in “lighthouse industries” such as biotech, quantum computing and aerospace.
“By making big bets on lighthouse industries and investing in Maryland businesses, we are positioning Maryland to lead the nation, drive innovation and create new pathways to work, wages and wealth for all Marylanders,” Moore said in January.
A package of changes
In plain language, the DECADE Act is not a narrow job-creation program. It is a package of changes to Maryland’s economic-development system.
According to the bill and fiscal note, it redesignates the Economic Development Opportunities Program Account as the Strategic Closing Fund, extends the Job Creation Tax Credit through 2032 and changes several financing, tax-credit and business-development programs.
That helps explain why candidates kept answering the DECADE question in broader terms.
Cook was one of the most supportive candidates in the survey.
Other Democrats supported the bill, too, though often with reservations.
Rocio Treminio-Lopez, the Democratic mayor of Brentwood and House of Delegates candidate in District 47A, called the DECADE Act “an important step toward strengthening Maryland’s innovation economy,” but said attracting and growing those industries “requires more than a single initiative.”
She said the state also needs technical training, stronger partnerships with universities and community colleges, support for small businesses and startups, and attention to transportation, housing affordability, energy costs and regulatory efficiency.
Kevin Ford Jr., a Democratic Senate candidate in District 24 in Prince George’s County, called the bill “an important step” but said “economic development shouldn’t only happen in a few corridors.” He said the state has to connect those industries to “good-paying careers and new opportunities” across Maryland.
Lou Bartolo, a Democratic Senate candidate in District 16 in Montgomery County, said he supports the DECADE Act “as a significant step to create more jobs.”
Then he added what he thought had to come with it: “workforce pipelines that connect residents from every zip code to these new jobs,” plus labor standards and small-business support.
Rebecca Stallworth, a Prince George’s County teacher and Democratic House candidate in District 23, said the DECADE Act “will be a boost in job creation.” But she also warned it targets high-skilled workers and could “bypass communities that need that boost” unless Maryland invests in training residents, as well as building apprenticeship and workforce pipelines.
A narrow strategy?
Some Democrats — and Republicans — were more openly skeptical about Moore’s signature economic development legislation.
T. George Newton, a Democratic House candidate in Baltimore County’s District 10, said the DECADE Act won’t do enough to create jobs. He said Maryland “already has more government (federal) jobs, more computing/tech operations and more biotech/sciences than anywhere else.”
What the state needs instead, he said, is “more private sector and trade jobs.”
Democratic House candidate Alleria Stanley put her concern even more bluntly.
“When we only focus on high-tech jobs, too many working families get left out,” said Stanley, who is running in District 4, which straddles Frederick and Carroll counties.
Republicans were sharper and more consistent in their criticism.
Jake Taylor, a Republican House candidate in District 34B in Harford County, rejected the underlying premise of the governor’s approach. “People create jobs and wealth,” he said. “The government creates obstacles.”
In his view, the state’s role in job growth is “to reduce its interference,” not to assume prosperity can be engineered from “committee hearing rooms and legislative chambers.”
Dianna Palmer, a Republican House candidate in District 2A in Washington County, struck a similar note.
“Investing in industries like biotech and quantum computing can be a good thing,” she said, “but it can’t be the whole strategy if we want real job growth across Maryland.”
Those industries, she said, “tend to be very specialized and concentrated in certain areas,” while many communities still depend on small businesses, trades and local employers.
“Economic growth should reach every part of the state, not just a few industries or regions,” she said.
April Rose, an incumbent Republican delegate from District 5, which includes much of Carroll County and a part of Frederick County, said the DECADE Act would not boost enough job creation in the state.
Rose argued Maryland should instead “pass legislation that fosters business growth in all sectors,” cut the corporate income tax and roll back policies she said make it more expensive for businesses to operate.
Whisler, the Republican House candidate in District 5, said Maryland should invest in workforce development “that aligns with real employer needs, including skilled trades and technical careers.”
“Economic growth isn’t about government choosing winners,” he said. “It’s about creating an environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”