The Governor’s FY 2019 budget contains millions more in capital improvement program funding — the central source of state funding for Maryland school construction.

The following chart shows the Governor’s FY 2018 budget proposal for school construction, the General Assembly’s final capital budget for FY 2018, and the Governor’s FY 2019 budget proposal.

Additional capital funding is provided to schools with high enrollment or high numbers of relocatable classrooms, and to Baltimore City schools, under separate statutory provisions.

The General Assembly may add or subtract funding from the capital budget. The General Assembly may not take final action on the capital budget until they have passed the operating budget. Following the General Assembly’s passage of the capital budget, the capital budget bill must be signed by the Governor and is subject to the Governor’s line-item veto power.

As described by the Department of Legislative Services:

Unlike the operating budget, in acting on the capital budget bill, the legislature
may amend the budget to add and delete projects from the capital bond program. The legislature may also increase project funding and add contingent, conditional, or restrictive language to the bill regarding how the funds may be applied.

For more information, see Maryland’s Budget Process from the Department of Legislative Services and the FY 2019 Governor’s Budget. Within the capital budget book, here is a direct link to the school construction program section.