Gov. Martin O’Malley amused students by juggling peaches Tuesday afternoon, moments after announcing a $24 million expansion to Leith Walk Elementary and Middle school in northeast Baltimore.
But O’Malley may have to juggle budget items to meet a budget shortfall of up to $1 billion forecast by state fiscal planners for next year. Speaking after an event at the school, O’Malley said the state’s slots referendum is the most important revenue source still up in the air.
“Right now we’re suffering a double whammy of the delayed implementation of slots, which must be approved by voters, and the downturn in the economy,” O’Malley said. “I’ve got my fingers crossed and am looking forward to doing what we need to do.”
Warren Deschenaux, director of the state Office of Policy Analysis, told legislative leaders in an Aug. 27 letter that the state will face at least a $500 million budget shortfall. He said the total gap could be as high as $1 billion.
Final figures for fiscal year 2008 showed state revenues coming in at $73 million less than expected, and state officials have said a general economic slowdown has hurt receipts from income and sales taxes.
O’Malley proposed $75 million in budget cuts in June, and at the time said additional reductions might be necessary. He re-iterated those comments Tuesday, but acknowledged the rocky economy’s effect on the state.
“We’ve done a lot of things to restore fiscal responsibility in Maryland,” O’Malley said. “Of course we also need our economy to rebound. I can’t predict when that might happen, no one can.”
But according to state estimates, slots benefits to the state in fiscal year 2010 would total nearly $49 million.
“Slots won’t solve our fiscal problems,” Comptroller Peter Franchot, a slots opponent, said last week.
Leith Walk was the first stop on O’Malley’s tour of state schools. While there, he touted the school’s improvement in test scores, including math proficiency scores for third-graders which jumped from 49.4 percent in 2003 to 85.2 percent last year.
The $24 million addition and renovation for Leith Walk is part of $741 million O’Malley has dedicated to school construction and repair around the state.
Staff writer Len Lazarick contributed to this story.
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