Maryland?s House and Senate must reconcile differences in their versions of the 2009 state budget after the House approved a $31.3 billion spending plan Thursday.
The Senate gave tentative approval to $1.5 billion capital funding with $332 million set aside for public school construction and $325 million for buildings at colleges and universities.
The House version of the operating budget increases spending by $1.3 billion from this year but is about $500 million less than what Gov. Martin O?Malley requested.
The Senate last week passed a version that included $390 million in spending reductions. House Democrats rejected about $600 million in additional cuts proposed by Republican leaders, saying the budget includes a $1 billion cushion for the pending economic downturn.
“Marylanders expect us to get our fiscal house in order,” said Del. John Bohanan, a St. Mary?s County Democrat. “This governor has been very responsive and brought us a budget that is fiscally responsible.”
Most House Republicans voted against the budget, saying it was made possible only by $1.3 billion in tax increases approved during the November special session.
They said the increases could have been avoided if new initiatives such as the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund and expanded health care coverage were delayed.
“Trimming a few hundred million dollars is a good first step but doesn?t go far enough,” said Del. Page Elmore, an Eastern Shore Republican. “We continue to spend like we have a constant flow of money coming in, which we do not.”
Once a budget is passed, Marylanders may be able to track state spending to the dollar through an online database gaining momentum in the legislature. Members of the House on Thursday approved the program, modeled after a new federally run database.
Sponsored by Del. Warren Miller and scores of Democrats and Republicans, the measure enjoys broad support.
If approved in the Senate, the bill would create a citizen-friendly online database of state expenditures in Maryland above a threshold of $25,000, said Ryan O?Donnell, executive director of political watchdog group Common Cause Maryland.
“It would be good if [the threshold] were lowered, but we will take what we can get,” O?Donnell said.
