Maryland finances 'in a deep pickle'

The Senate budget committee Friday finalized $300 million in spending reductions and transfers in Gov. Martin O?Malley?s $31 billion spending plan for next year. The panel cut the new Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund in half to $25 million, disappointing environmentalists.

“This makes up for the revenue write down” on Thursday, said Warren Deschenaux, the legislature?s top budget expert. Expected revenues for next year were projected to be $258 million lower. “It leaves us where the governor started” when he submitted the budget seven weeks ago, Deschenaux said.