Here comes catastrophe. Gov. Martin O’Malley must find $1 billion more of our money, fast. When he presents his 2010 budget in January, projected revenue and expenses will be off by that much, at least.
He cannot raise taxes without killing our economy. Lately he says he can make “painful” cuts. But a billion? So right now Maryland is locked into a death spiral of revenue growing only about 4 percent and spending at about 6 percent.
Our leaders call it a “structural” deficit, hoping we will not notice it is their structure. If they refuse to restructure it, we the people must.
We did in 1916 by passing an amendment requiring balanced budgets. Obviously, that 92-year-old mechanism is failing us. In 2010 we get a chance, as we do every 20 years, to force a cumbersome constitutional convention to rewrite the entire document.
We can’t wait for that, even if voters approve it.
Comptroller Peter Franchot’s revenue estimates confirm what we all knew. He refers to the special session as “just another fiscal fairy tale … here we are one year later forced to face reality.”
Now Franchot calls for “a top-to-bottom review of state spending to ensure taxpayers are getting the most for their dollar,” which always is a good idea.
O’Malley says he can cover the fiscal 2010 hit from the rainy-day fund and unallocated surplus. Then what?
Fundamental flaws in our system will remain unless we do two things now:
First impose real, permanent savings — line by line, job by job, contract by contract — not the temporary reductions in increases politicians call cuts.
Then do what we did 93 years ago, amend our constitution so politicians can’t seep around fiscal barriers to increase spending at double the rate of inflation.
Franchot wants a panel including business leaders to go over state spending. OK, take it to another level and have them draft an amendment as Johns Hopkins University President Frank Johnson Goodnow’s Commission on Efficiency and Economy did almost a century ago.
Certainly Franchot and O’Malley are wise enough to see that merely throwing reserves into the breach and making some temporary cuts will never pull us back from the fiscal abyss.
Put an amendment on the ballot beside the convention question and give voters a choice. Or we may choose to recall.
MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND
For more information, follow these links:
The Board of Revenue Estimates letter
Contact information for Gov. O’Malley and our Legislators
(Or call Gov. O’Malley at 410-974-3901; 800-811-8336; fax 410-974-3275)
email the Governor
State budgets
Details of the Fiscal year 2008 Closeout Report and earlier Detailed
Revenue Estimates Reports
mlis.state.md.us/other/2007_Fiscal_Briefing/June_27_overview.pdf
Department of Legislative Services Documents and Publications
The Department of Budget and Management
Maryland constitutional convention 2010
Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute
State agency and phone directory
