Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley thought everything was just fine, relatively speaking, after he released his balanced spending plan for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 in January. He and his allies had made $2 billion in cuts in order to balance the $14 billion general fund, but they managed to prevent major state layoffs, slashes in aid to localities, hikes in state tuition, and more. O'Malley will owe Barack Obama free beer for life, though, because that stimulus package is basically paying for everything.
And then this morning happened. With one month left in the General Assembly's 2009 legislative session, the state Bureau of Revenue Estimates brought O'Malley the lovely news that he's going to have to make another $1.1 billion in cuts. Bad economy getting worse, etc.
Ugh.
Now all of that important stuff will have to be cut after all. Some help you turned out to be, Obama!
O'Malley isn't making major decisions just yet, but state Senate President Mike Miller has raised all sorts of doom & gloom possibilities that the governor may find himself reluctantly supporting in the near future. Miller has suggested repealing the freeze in state tuition hikes, forcing state employees to take more furlough days, or just cold cuttin' everyone's pay by 1 percent.
But here's the most bizarre option under discussion:
Another option lawmakers are exploring would alter so-called disparity grants intended to help less-wealthy jurisdictions such as Baltimore City. The proposal would shift the $120 million cost to localities, so that more affluent areas such as Montgomery County would essentially subsidize poorer areas, but with smaller amounts.
Once again, we'd like to thank all those major players from the housing boom for their wondrous effect on the global economy.
Jim Newell essentially subsidized poorer areas such as Wonkette and IvyGate.
