More details on the state budget have been released and the Senate president hopes to pare it down further.
Month: January 2010
GOP leaders join call for more open Assembly proceedings, votes
Republican leaders in both chambers of the General Assembly joined a chorus of lawmakers from both parties asking for easier access to committee meetings and voting records.
State Roundup, January 20, 2010
Today’s roundup is heavy on coverage of Gov. O’Malley’s proposed budget. MarylandReporter.com provides links to nine different stories about the budget.
Poll: Economy is top issue for Maryland voters, with more than a third worse off
The economy is the top issue for a majority of Maryland voters, according to a poll released Wednesday, and they are “somewhat optimistic” about the coming year, even though 36% say their family’s financial condition is worse today than a year ago.
The new poll of 816 likely voters last week by Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies also found Gov. Martin O’Malley’s job approval ratings fairly stable at slightly under 50%. In a head-to-head matchup with former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich, Democrat O’Malley leads 48% to 39%, a 9 point spread.
Republicans and independents also blame the state deficit on too much spending, but most Democrats believe it is due to the recession that has reduced revenues.
O’Malley budget decreases overall spending, borrows more
For the first time in almost 40 years, the state’s total spending will go down in the coming fiscal year under the budget Gov. Martin O’Malley released Tuesday.
State Roundup, January 19, 2010
Gov. Martin O’Malley is set to unveil his budget plan today, and there are lots of previews.
Analysis: Think cutting the budget is easy?
A Web-based video game shows how hard it is to balance Maryland’s budget without ticking somebody (or everybody) off.
Unemployment change might take longer than expected
The unemployment insurance reforms that Gov. Martin O’Malley has proposed could take some time to develop.
Budget talk can be confusing: How big is it?
After Gov. Martin O’Malley releases his budget today, there may be some confusion about how much he actually plans to spend.
The overall state budget – the one that shows up every year around page 7 in the official budget highlights book – will likely be about $31 billion, same as this year after all the cuts.
Many media reports focus on the “general fund” budget that is less than half that total, about $13 billion. Some accounts have even referred to this the “operating budget.” It is not.
Tuition freeze didn’t curtail hiring, six-figure salaries at universities
The end to the three-year tuition freeze at state colleges and universities announced by Gov. Martin O’Malley last week was hardly a surprise.
Higher education has been a real growth area of state government in the last three years under O’Malley. It grew even under Gov. Robert Ehrlich, despite significant cuts to the university budgets, leading to tuition hikes that were politically damaging.
In the last three years, employment in state-run higher education has gone up by 2,800 people, or 7.8 percent, while only about 200 jobs were added to the rest of state government.
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