Commentary: Making Maryland more affordable starts with the cost of doing business

Affordability is front and center in Annapolis this legislative session — and rightfully so. Families across Maryland are working harder than ever to keep up with rising costs for groceries, housing, child care and transportation. Policymakers want to help Maryland families keep more money in their pockets. Businesses want the same.

Prices show up everywhere in daily life — in the rent or mortgage payment, the child care bill, the cost of fixing a car or the price of a meal out. But those prices start earlier, in the everyday costs of running a business: paying employees, keeping the lights on, covering insurance, buying supplies and meeting the requirements needed to operate.

Read a commentary piece from Maryland Chamber President & CEO Mary D. Kane on the issues facing Maryland's energy landscape. Article first published in The Baltimore Sun on March 16, 2026.