Governor Martin O’Malley, Senate President Mike Miller, and Speaker of the House Mike Busch will meet Tuesday, April 24 to discuss holding a special session to finalize the State’s FY 2013 budget. As previously reported on Conduit Street, the General Assembly session came to end without lawmakers passing the accompanying legislation to fully implement the agreed upon FY 2013 budget plan that would have shifted teacher pension costs to county governments and enacted a number of revenue measures to fund certain priorities in the budget. Instead a “doomsday” budget will take effect.
The calling of this meeting follows a letter sent by President Miller offering a compromise on a revenue plan and the shifting of teacher pensions costs to counties. From WBAL-AM:
In his letter, Miller asks for a compromise on an income tax increase. Miller says lawmakers should agree on raising income tax rates for individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000, and joint filers earning at least $125,000. The House passed a bill raising the rates for individuals with an adjusted gross income above $100,000, and joint filers earning above $150,000. The original Senate bill raised rates for individuals earning above $3,000 a year.
The Governor responded by calling a meeting and sending a letter back to President Miller. From the Governor’s letter:
“I’ve never known a session to end with a perfect result, but concluding the budget would certainly be a positive step forward.”
Additional coverage can be found in the Washington Post.
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