Finance and Procurement / Parks and Recreation / Public Safety and Corrections / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues / Transportation and Public Works
Appropriations Committee Approves Budget Plan: Rejects Pension Shift, Finds One-Time Funding for Local Roads, Reduces Assessment Shift

After a marathon 9 hour decision meeting, the House Appropriations Committee approved its plan to modify Governor O' Malley's proposed FY 2012 budget.  As a part of their plan the House Committee restored funding for education, raised motor vehicle titling and vanity plate fees to generate revenue for transportation, and modified other program reductions and transfers. The Committee also took actions to change retiree health benefits and modify the employee and teacher pension systems. The…

3 Comments
March 19, 2011
State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues
General Assembly Discussing a “Special Sales Tax” on Alcohol

As reported in the Maryland Politics section of the Baltimore Sun, members of the General Assembly are discussing whether an extra 3 to 4 percent "special sales tax" should apply to alcohol sales.  Apparently, Washington, D.C. has instituted such an approach and health advocates think it makes sense to do it in Maryland as well. Previously, efforts to increase Maryland's alcohol costs have focused on raising the excise tax, which is levied at the wholesale…

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March 18, 2011
Employee Benefits and Relations / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Emerging House Budget Proposal: Restore Education Funding, Reject Pension Shift, Reduce Assessment Shift

As reported by the Baltimore Sun, the House budget plan would restore some funding to K-12 education, and assist cashed strapped counties. The plan would shift $58.5 million back to schools by raising some fees and trimming elsewhere in the $14 billion general fund budget. Members of the House Appropriations Committee are scheduled to start voting Wednesday in Annapolis on those changes, which would restore two-thirds of the money that O'Malley proposed to cut. "Investment…

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March 16, 2011
Business Affairs / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues
County Issues Watch – Week of March 14-18

As the General Assembly's session has reached the two-thirds mark in days, much of the serious work remains to be done. Here we will detail issues of interest to the county community that are likely to unfold (or begin unfolding) during the week of March 14-18, 2011. Budget, Budget, Budget The House Appropriations Committee is expected to reach its budget decisions this week, likely framing the debate for the state's fiscal plan for the weeks…

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March 14, 2011
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
State Aid to Public Schools Key Issue in Budget Deliberations

Alan Brody writes in a March 11 article from the Gazette, that the General Assembly has focused recent attention on aid to education, in particular, the Governor's proposal to reduce the amount of per pupil aid formula. It (amount of per pupil aid) was scheduled to increase by $55, but O'Malley's budget proposes reducing that amount from $6,694 per pupil last year to $6,599 per pupil this year. Members of the House and Senate budget…

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March 11, 2011
State Budget and Fiscal Issues
House of Delegates Delays Budget Decisions

The Appropriations Committee's "Decision Day" has been postponed from March 11 to March 18, to allow one more week of deliberations before the Committee's budget plan takes shape publicly. A full revised schedule (with expected dates for floor debate on the budget and BRFA) is available online here, but expect the House to report out the budget on about Tuesday the 22nd, and for the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee to hold its decision meeting…

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March 6, 2011
Parks and Recreation / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Future of Forty One Year Old Program Open Space Threatened-State Association Speaks Out

In the Opinion Section of the March 4 edition of the Baltimore Sun, the Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association writes: As a lifelong Marylander, I believe that one of our most important assets is the wealth of parks and open spaces dotting the landscape. For over 40 years, the state of Maryland has used an innovative national model — Program Open Space — to provide a dedicated pool…

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March 4, 2011
Education / Employee Benefits and Relations / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Teacher Pensions: A Mid-Session Update

With widespread county attention focusing on the potential shift of teacher pension costs, and the legislative session about to focus on budget-balancing, this post will seek to "wrap up" where things lie on this far-reaching fiscal issue. The recent timeline on this issue: March 2010 - Maryland Senate issues a surprising amendment to the budget reconciliation bill, including a 3-year phase in of teacher pension cost shifts March 2010 - Maryland House of Delegates rejects…

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March 4, 2011
Parks and Recreation / Public Safety and Corrections / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
DLS Recommends Additional County Reductions and Cost Shifts

In its presentation before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and the House Appropriations Committee on HB 72/SB 87, the Department of Legislative Services (DLS) offered additional recommendations that, if adopted, would further reduce county budgets.  These recommendations are summarized below. Administrative Charge for Users of State Retirement Agency Provision as Recommended by DLS: Change the revenue source of the agency’s expenditures from the pension trust to a charge of the State agencies and local…

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March 3, 2011
State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Uncategorized
House Republican Caucus Presents Budget Plan

The House Republican Caucus presented their  budget reconciliation plan for FY 2012 before the House Appropriations Committee on March 1.  For FY 2012, the plan proposes to make an additional $621 million in spending reductions, cancel the proposed raids on the Bay Restoration Fund and Program Open Space, and the raid on the Transportation Trust Fund.  In addition, the plan proposes to eliminate the structural deficit by FY2013 through a reduction in state spending and…

1 Comment
March 2, 2011
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