Led by Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell, the Republican Caucus will present its budget proposal before the House Appropriations Committee to eliminate the State’s structural budget deficit. As reported by MarylandReporter.com:

Republican delegates Tuesday will be offering their annual dose of “tough medicine” in the form of perhaps $1 billion in budget cuts, but it is unlikely that Democrats are any more willing to swallow the bitter pills than they were in past years.

Trotting out charts showing the steady uphill climb of state spending, House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell said, “it’s always going up… it’s always growing … it never stops, it never gets cut.”

Even in the face of an economy that is barely growing, the overall state budget of $34 billion is still up slightly from last year, but without the federal aid that helped avoid major cuts the last two years.

The GOP leaders did not specify what they would propose to cut at Tuesday’s budget hearing, but said they spending cuts would lead to “a significant fund balance” in future years.