Partners for Open Space Director Ann Jones, Maryland Association of County Park and Recreation Administrators (MACPRA) President John Byrd, and MACo Legal and Policy Counsel Les Knapp visited with over 20 legislators on February 10, urging them to stop the ongoing cuts and fund transfers from Program Open Space (POS). The targeted legislators included members of the Senate Budget and Tax Committee; the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee; the House Appropriations Committee; and the House Environment and Transportation Committee.
The group provided a handout that detailed the importance of POS for both open space land preservation and the construction or upgrade of recreational facilities and the history of cuts and transfers to POS. Jones, Byrd, and Knapp urged for a restoration of POS funding in the FY 2016 budget. Acknowledging the fiscal challenges faced by the State, they argued that an even more important goal was the creation of a multi-year plan to restore some level of funding certainty and consistency to the program.
