As many as one-third of Maryland lawmakers have not returned a portion of their legislative salaries - despite having been urged to show solidarity with state workers facing furloughs.
Amid budget woes, General Assembly leaders had encouraged lawmakers - whose pay is constitutionally protected - to voluntarily take payroll deductions or write a check to the state for the equivalent of as many as five days' pay. That's $605 for most members, and $785 for presiding officers.
The initiative could raise more than $100,000, a tiny sum that won't make much difference in a $14 billion operating budget suffering from huge revenue shortfalls. But General Assembly leaders and others said they felt it would be unseemly for lawmakers to be spared as state employees see their pay cut.
But to date, only about 120 out of 188 lawmakers have contributed either to the state or a charity, according to records obtained by The Baltimore Sun under freedom of information laws.
"They are adults. People should want to give back," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, who devised the donation program with his House counterpart, Speaker Michael E. Busch. "It's a matter of pride."
All state employees have already lost two days' pay through furloughs, and the highest-paid will have to give back three more before July under an executive order signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The governor's proposed spending plan anticipates 700 layoffs and no salary increases as part of closing a $2 billion shortfall in the next budget year.
It's unclear, though, whether everyone inside the State House will participate in the budgetary pain.
Some lawmakers have objected to the program, refusing to put money in Maryland's coffers and instead choosing to make donations to charities of their choice. They argue that the state has a poor fiscal track record and that their money would be better spent elsewhere.
State law prohibits the release of detailed salary data, so it's impossible to know how much each lawmaker contributed and who contributed to charities. Officials also caution that the number doesn't include lawmakers who made donations but didn't inform human resources at the Department of Legislative Services, which is administering the program.
Miller, a lawyer with a private practice who returned the maximum payroll deduction of $785, has urged lawmakers to participate by giving the money to the state. He took issue with lawmakers giving to charities of their choice, indicating that they might be trying to boost support among constituents and that those donations "defeat the purpose of what we're trying to do."
