Includes “Maryland has a huge $2.5 billion fund balance in the state budget, largely due to federal stimulus aid during the pandemic, the state’s comptroller announced Wednesday. Comptroller Peter Franchot made the announcement as the state closed its books for the last fiscal year. The $2.5 billion fund balance represents more than 5% of the state’s $48 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2021.” (Note: Maryland ranked 37th of the 50 states in our latest Financial State of the States study. Here’s a look at our bottom-line "Taxpayer Burden" measure for Maryland’s financial position in 2009 and 2020.)