The “doomsday” budget plan that Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. has promised to bring to the state Senate floor — a plan that would rely entirely on cuts — would not be the responsible way to fill the state’s looming $1.1 billion budget gap, Gov. Martin O’Malley said Wednesday.
“That’s always an option,” he said, adding that he balanced the budget without raising revenues for the last three years. “But I did not believe that a cuts-only approach was the most responsible approach or the best approach for the interests of the families of our state.”
O’Malley’s proposed budget combines $800 million in cuts with $311 million in new revenue generators, including caps on income tax deductions for residents who earn more than $100,000 a year. Among the proposed cutbacks is a controversial plan to shift half of the cost of teacher pensions onto Maryland counties.
