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O'Malley Summons Special Session
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is receptive to a referendum on slot machines.
(Toni L. Sandys/the Washington Post)
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O'Malley said that he was hopeful the special session would end by Thanksgiving but that he is not inclined to rush the legislature. "We do not want this to be a slap-dash process," the governor said.
House leaders who had opposed the session said yesterday that they are prepared for a full airing of O'Malley's proposals and are looking forward to public input.
"It's been called, so we need to move forward," Speaker Pro Tem Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) said.
O'Malley said his proposals would generate nearly $400 million a year for transportation priorities in addition to closing the projected $1.7 billion shortfall in fiscal 2009, which starts in July.
O'Malley argued yesterday that the shortfall will grow if the legislature does not act this fall.
To balance the budget in coming years, O'Malley is counting on increased collections from income, sales, corporate and tobacco taxes starting in January. If the legislature waits until next year to raise those taxes, O'Malley said he will be forced to propose more than $500 million in additional spending cuts or tax increases.
"The alternatives are pretty damaging to the quality of life that all of us cherish as Marylanders," O'Malley said.
Maryland's budget problems are largely the result of an income tax cut initiated a decade ago and an education initiative passed by lawmakers in 2002 without new revenue to pay for it. At its current pace, Maryland is projected to spend about $1.10 for every $1 the government collects in taxes.
O'Malley balanced this fiscal year's budget by using nearly $1 billion from the state's "rainy-day" fund, a move he said would provide time to search for long-term solutions and to let wounds heal after four years of partisan battles between lawmakers and former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R).
As a result, Maryland's budget is projected to remain in balance until June, when the current fiscal year ends.
