Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller predicted yesterday the General Assembly will need to go beyond its 90-day session to achieve a balanced budget and to resolve differences over legalizing slot machines and raising gasoline or other taxes.
If an extended session were to be needed, it would be only the second time in more than 80 years. The other occurred in 1992 during Maryland's last major budget crisis.
Miller's comments yesterday before the Maryland Association of Counties' annual winter conference in Annapolis highlight the task legislators and Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. face this year.
"My prediction is we are not going to get through in April. We are going to try real hard, but it could be a long, hot summer in the state of Maryland," Miller told the conference.
In the next 85 days, legislators - one-third of whom are freshmen - must close a more than $500 million shortfall in this fiscal year's budget and work with Ehrlich to fix an estimated $1.2 billion gap in next year's budget.
The General Assembly must also tackle Ehrlich's proposal to allow slot machines at four Maryland racetracks.
Miller first made his prediction of an extended session yesterday morning during a closed-door meeting with the association's executive board. Later, in response to a question, he made similar comments to the entire conference.
Miller said his prediction is based on the complexity of issues before the legislature and the number of new faces in Annapolis this year. There is also a new speaker of the House of Delegates, four new Senate committee chairmen and, after Wednesday, a new Republican administration.
"Because of a new governor, new General Assembly, new county commissioners, we are off to a very slow start," said Miller, who has been Senate president since 1987.
If the legislature fails to pass a budget by the end of its 90-day session, it is automatically forced into an extended session and is prohibited from acting on anything but the budget.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, who also spoke at the conference, was more optimistic about the legislature's chances of finishing on time. But the speaker said there is a "higher probability this year than previous years" that an extended session will be needed.
"There is a lot on the table here," said Busch, who was sworn in as speaker Wednesday. "I am hopeful that we can accomplish what we need to accomplish in this 90-day session."
