Others, like Del. Frank S. Turner, face different circumstances. A state employee by virtue of his job as a professor at Morgan State University, Turner faces both a furlough and the request to donate a portion of his legislative pay.
"Every year since I've been in the legislature, I go on [job] leave without pay," said Turner, a Democrat.
The 61-year-old Turner said he's too old to likely recoup stock market losses to his retirement savings, but he's still planning to donate part of his legislative pay.
Democratic Dels. Guy Guzzone, Shane Pendergrass and Steve DeBoy, and the county's three state senators, said they felt no hesitation.
"Look, I think we all need to pitch in," Guzzone said. "I believe in sticking together with everybody who is part of the government."
Pendergrass said she gives to charities every year.
"I will donate substantially more than I would lose if I were furloughed, because I do it anyway," she said.
The county's three senators, Kasemeyer, James N. Robey and Allan H. Kittleman, also said they support the idea. Kittleman, the county's lone Republican senator, and Bates and Miller said they plan to make a joint donation.
But Miller and Bates offered harsh criticism of O'Malley for what they feel are unwarranted spending increases compared to what they say was former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s fiscal frugality.
"Ehrlich faced real, real deficits and never furloughed," Bates said. "There are places cuts can be made. We don't need to do it."
"We have proposed reasonable reductions in spending. If they had followed them, we wouldn't be in this mess," Bates said.
Miller made similar points.
"I think it's an excellent gesture, but I have to say it's a little disingenuous after our budget discussion last year," he said. "Last week, the governor says he's saving $38 million [with furloughs] but he spent $72 million to preserve open space."
But Kasemeyer noted that in his last year as governor, Ehrlich raised spending by 11.4 percent.
"They never talk about that," he said. "You can use all sorts of numbers."
Bobo said comparing budget policy with donations in response to employee furloughs is like comparing apples to oranges.
"I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of cuts proposed by the O'Malley administration," she said.
