Maryland’s Republican lawmakers refused Democrats’ invitation to propose budget cuts in a letter sent Tuesday to Sen. Ulysses S. Currie, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
“We respectfully decline your invitation and will not participate in the proposed election year antics that would only serve as a sideshow to the real battle of this session,” read the letter signed by Senate Minority Leader Allan H. Kittleman and Minority Whip Nancy Jacobs.
Democrats formally asked Republicans for their ideas on budget cuts in a letter last month, setting a Feb. 23 deadline.
Many Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate said they were surprised by the invitation. Some said they were pleased, but others expressed concern over whether their proposals would be taken seriously.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Tony McConkey, R-Anne Arundel County, said of Democrats’ invitation. “I think it’ll test the time to see whether they are serious about it.”
But now, the consensus on the Senate side is that the invitation is a “partisan political stunt,” according to the Republicans’ letter.
“To now come in the fourth year of the administration and say with one month’s notice we want you to come and give us your ideas, lacks sincerity,” said Kittleman, R-Howard County. “They are really not looking for ideas. They are just looking to gain some political points.”
In response to whether the request is a gimmick, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said, “of course it’s a political move. You want $2 billion out of the budget? You tell us what you want to cut.”
When asked what he expected Republicans to present at the Feb. 23 budget hearing, he said “nothing.”
But House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel, has said the invitation was an honest effort to generate more ideas on shoring up the state’s $2 billion shortfall.
