Md. Senate Passes Budget, Trims Initiatives
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., left, sought to limit the budget debate, sparking a protest from Sen. Allan H. Kittleman, right.
(Rob Carr - AP)
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Saturday, March 15, 2008; Page B01
The Maryland Senate yesterday approved a $31.2 billion budget for the coming fiscal year after scaling back several high-profile initiatives, including a new fund to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and a two-year-old program that provides grants for stem cell research.
The cutbacks reflected continuing challenges in balancing the state's $15 billion general fund, the largest segment of the budget, when a sluggish economy is producing lower-than-anticipated tax collections.
Debate in the Democratic-led chamber was sharply limited yesterday, a move that angered Republicans, several of whom argued that senators should have made deeper cuts to what Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George's), chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, said was already a "frugal" budget.
"Have we gone far enough?" asked Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley (R-Frederick). "I don't think so."
Seven of the chamber's 14 Republicans voted against the budget. All 31 Democrats who were present yesterday voted to approve it.
The budget now moves to the House of Delegates, where members the Appropriations Committee yesterday approved larger reductions than the Senate, with the goal of providing a bigger cushion in case economic woes worsen.
The budget approved by the Senate leaves $158 million in unallocated general funds in addition to a "rainy day" fund of nearly $740 million; the Democrat-led House is aiming to leave an additional $249 million.
Under the Senate plan, the general-fund budget would grow by 4 percent during the fiscal year that starts in July.
In many areas, senators allowed the budget to increase in the coming year but by somewhat less than Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) proposed in January.
State funding for higher education, for example, would rise by 4 percent on a per-student basis. O'Malley had proposed 4.7 percent.
State aid to public schools would increase by 3.5 percent. That is less than would have been mandated under a 2002 school funding measure known as the Thornton law. Lawmakers revised a formula in the law during a special session last fall called by O'Malley to address the state's long-term finances.
The Senate budget includes first-time funding for a geographic component of the Thornton law that provides additional money for jurisdictions, including Montgomery and Prince George's counties, where the cost of education is considered to be higher. Unlike other parts of Thornton, that portion of the formula is discretionary.
