O?Malley: No slots, no perks

The state?s deficit is less than Gov. Martin O?Malley?s $1.7 billion estimate, which he made in the weeks leading up to the special session that?s under way in Annapolis, legislative analysts said Tuesday during a joint-committee hearing.

Warren Deschenaux, director of the legislature’s Office of Policy Analysis, put it this way: “$1.5 billion is the new $1.7 billion. But what?s a couple-hundred-million dollars?”