Gov. Martin O?Malley is proposing a $31.5 billion state budget for fiscal year 2009, a 4.1 percent hike in state spending that he said Wednesday is one of the smallest increases in years, calling it “fiscally responsible.”
O?Malley noted “another year of record-high funding for public education,” with $5.3 billion set aside for k-12 public schools. That?s $184 million higher than last year, including the first funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index, though the governor has slowed the growth of the Thornton school aid.
The Thornton change was part of the $550 million reduction in the growth of projected state spending the legislature mandated during the November special session. That includes the elimination of 500 mostly vacant positions in state government. But the governor is also asking for at least 282 new positions, most of them in public safety and corrections, as well 58 new jobs in state parks that had been underfunded for years.
Democratic House Speaker Michael Busch praised the governor for bringing his budget under the recommended spending affordability guideline of 4.27 percent growth. By other measures, the budget grew by over 5 percent, said Senate Republican Leader David Brinkley, a member of the budget committee who said his members were still digesting the three-volume budget.
“I?m sure there will be some modifications” in the O?Malley proposal, including “some additional reductions,” said Appropriations Committee Chairman Norman Conway, D-Wicomico. “We have to remember that not everybody in this state is wealthy,” though Marylanders have the highest median income in the country.
O?Malley noted that personal income in the state had gone up 5.7 percent and the budget will grow less than that.
“It?s a very scary time” in the economy, O?Malley said. “It?s a time when a lot of Marylanders are hurting,” with increased electric payments, gas prices and house payments.
The budget sets aside $146 million for the rainy-day fund, bringing it up to $739 million for use in economic hard times if revenues decline.
BY THE NUMBERS
Total Budget: $31.5 billion
Operating Budget: $15.2 billion
Capital Budget: $1.5 billion
Rainy Day Fund balance at end of 2009: $739 million
General Fund balance at end of 2009: $177 million
Spending cuts: $550 million
CAPITAL BUDGET BY THE NUMBERS
Health: 25 percent
K-12 Education: 21 percent
Higher Education: 16 percent
Transportation: 13 percent
Human Resources: 6 percent
Public Safety: 6 percent
Other: 6 percent
Natural Resources/Environment: 2 percent
Legislative/Judicial/Legal: 2 percent
Public Debt: 2 percent
Reserve Fund: 1 percent
