Editorial By JOHN MYRICK FOR GOVERNORDR. BRENDA J. THIAM FOR LT. GOVERNOR January 23rd, 2026
As Maryland faces yet another huge budget deficit, the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits (OLA)
continues to uncover evidence of massive fraud, waste, and abuse of our taxpayer dollars nearly every day. According to reports, the OLA has uncovered $992 million in “questionable Taxpayer-funded transactions” over 3 State agencies in the last 60 days!
In 2025, it was reported that the Maryland State Highway Administration “knowingly charged” $360 million in unauthorized expenses to federal projects. The U.S. Department of Transportation, at some point in time, will demand repayment for these expenditures. That money will come from the pockets of Maryland taxpayers and will further exacerbate Maryland’s already deepening fiscal hole.
In November of 2025, it was reported that over $66 million had been stolen through “organized fraud” from Maryland’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This was in addition to Whistleblower reports that State officials had been conspiring to keep the payment error rate inflated in order to avoid $240 million in federal penalties.
Most recently, OLA has reported that Maryland overpaid unemployment compensation to the tune of $807 million, and that over $700 million of that has been deemed “Unrecoverable.” The vast majority of the losses were due to rampant fraud and incidents of identity theft. As a Maryland Taxpayer, I find it maddening that the State would simply choose not to do everything in its considerable power to recover our money. Surely, they have records of the addresses and account numbers where our money was sent. Given that a vast majority of those payments were made electronically, any money obtained through fraud would be a Federal offense. This means that the FBI and the U.S. Department of the Treasury could be called upon to investigate and, potentially, recover our money. Why is the State choosing not to pursue this avenue?
And then there is the Maryland Department of Human Services Employee that billed we taxpayers for $400massages for her and her co-workers. That employee is STILL employed by the State! Why is someone that steals from the taxpayers still receiving a paycheck from those taxpayers? Why was she not arrested and prosecuted? Have our tax Dollars been recovered for this theft?
These egregious examples of fraud, waste, and abuse of Maryland taxpayer Dollars are but a sample of what is really going on. The issue here is that the Maryland Office of Legislative Audits appears very capable in finding abuses of taxpayer funds, but they lack any authorities to do anything more than to report their findings.
Maryland needs a non-partisan, autonomous Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to put some teeth into the OLA’s efforts. Every State surrounding Maryland has an Inspector General’s Office: Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware; and even the City of Washington, DC. These OIGs have investigative and subpoena powers and refer cases of fraud and corruption for prosecution. Maryland taxpayers stand alone without any real protections from these abuses of the public trust.
JOHN MYRICK FOR GOVERNOR
DR. BRENDA J. THIAM FOR LT. GOVERNOR
Post Office Box 25, Bowie, MD 20719-0025
Politicians talk about problems; We solve problems.
Website: Johnmyrickformdgovernor.org Phone: (301) 751-5651
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571896501886
Email: jo*********@**************md.org
Our current Governor has repeatedly stated that he sees no need for an independent Inspector General. He points to his creation of a Chief Performance Officer as some kind of a magic solution; however, the Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement lacks any authority to do anything about fraud, waste, and abuse.
State Senate President Bill Ferguson has stated that he sees no need for an independent Inspector General. As Maryland’s next Governor, I will push for the establishment of a non-partisan, independent Office of the Inspector General. Maryland taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned tax Dollars protected. Where there is waste, we will cut it. Where there is fraud, we will prosecute it. That’s what good stewards of the public trust are supposed to do.
Nearly $1 Billion of your hard-earned tax Dollars in question while we are facing a $1.5 billion State budget deficit. This after the largest tax and fee increase in Maryland history. As a Maryland taxpayer, I have but one question for these politicians: What are you afraid of?
John Myrick is a Republican Candidate for Governor of Maryland. He is a former Harford County Deputy
Sheriff, retired federal Senior Counterintelligence and Intelligence Officer, and a retired, highly decorated
combat veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserve. A life-long Marylander, A life-long Marylander, he currently resides in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
