One obvious target would be aid to local governments; about 40 percent of the state's operating budget goes to localities. But counties and municipalities have a strong ally in O'Malley, former mayor of Baltimore, and are likely to mount fierce opposition.
Other advocacy groups also are expected to fight to preserve their share.
"We're well past the point where we can cut fat in the state budget," said Matthew Weinstein of Progressive Maryland, a coalition of unions, community groups and clergy members. "Now we're at the point of cutting muscle and bone, and you've got to minimize the impact on those who are most vulnerable."
One budget-balancing option that appears to be off the table is tax increases.
A small minority continues to call for raising the alcohol or gasoline taxes, which have remained at the same level for years, or to apply the sales tax to a broader array of services. Neil Bergsman, director of the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, which represents nonprofit groups, said tax increases could spare more painful cuts to education or health care.
"We're to the point that this level of cuts would be so bad that more revenues might be the lesser evil," Bergsman said.
But legislative leaders have said repeatedly that the votes aren't there to raise any taxes. Del. Sheila E. Hixson, a Montgomery County Democrat who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, has joked that her committee with purview over taxes will have little to do this session.
With no money for new big-ticket programs, O'Malley and lawmakers plan to forge legislative agendas around policy changes.
The governor's agenda, to be announced in the coming weeks, is expected to address domestic violence laws by giving judges broader authority to confiscate guns from abuse suspects and to embrace recommendations from a task force to combat drunken driving. That group recently proposed several legislative changes, including an automatic six-month driver's license suspension for underage individuals found guilty of alcohol possession.
Other proposals backed by O'Malley are expected to be resurrected from previous years, when they failed to win enough support for passage. Those include a repeal of the death penalty, an issue on which the governor has staked significant political capital, and legislation to allow law enforcement agencies to use speed cameras.
Some laws could be tweaked, including a series of bills approved last year to help stem the foreclosure crisis that might be changed to ensure that homeowners are getting the help they need. Other potential legislation is aimed at recent controversies, including surveillance of activist groups by the Maryland State Police that has been decried by civil liberties groups, and a fatal Medevac crash in September that has prompted calls for an overhaul of the system for transporting accident victims.
Many other ideas just won't be considered, lawmakers acknowledge.
"Many policies, regardless of how good they may be, will be pushed aside because we can't afford to do anything new," said state Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat and chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee. "There are going to be a lot of good ideas that bite the dust."
What to watch: Some major issues facing the legislature and possible actions. PG 8
