Train Wreck

The 2012 legislative session ended last night in a budgetary train wreck.

In the waning hours of Maryland’s 90-day legislative session, House and Senate negotiators had hammered out a deal on a revenue package. However, time ran out without the legislation receiving final approval on the floor of the House and Senate.

The revenue bill was caught behind negotiations regarding expansion of gambling to include table games at existing slot machine locations and a new casino in Prince George’s County. Approval of the revenue package also was delayed by a string of amendments proposed by opponents of a bill to require counties to levy fees for storm water management improvements.

The budget bill did pass into law shortly before the midnight deadline. It contains provisions that enforce additional deep cuts, referred to around Annapolis as “the Doomsday Budget.” It includes cuts to healthcare providers, colleges and universities, public employees and much more.  

To avoid the “doomsday” cuts, the legislature would need to return in a special session before July and enact a tax bill and budget reconciliation legislation. However, in comments after the end of the legislative session, Governor O’Malley did not immediately commit to call such a session into existence.

Maryland needs a balanced budget that protects essential services today and builds Maryland’s educated workforce of the future. The Governor, President and Speaker should commit to scheduling a special session devoted exclusively to completing their work on the budget and revenues. That special session should not take up gambling expansion, transportation revenues, or other matters – important though they may be. The legislature should agree on a revenue package that is fair, adequate to fund the budget without resorting to doomsday cuts, and sustainable to minimize the problem the state faces in future budgets.