Gov. Martin O'Malley has postponed tomorrow's round of planned budget cuts in light of a roughly $3.5 billion windfall in federal funds his administration is cautiously estimating will flow to Maryland over the next two years.
If passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, the much hoped-for stimulus package could allow a reversal of painful budget cuts already put in motion, O'Malley said. The money could also possibly forestall laying off workers and trimming millions of dollars from Baltimore schools next year.
Maryland's projected share of stimulus funds is derived from an $825 billion bill that is "all but certain to pass" the House of Representatives tomorrow, said Stephanie Lundberg, a spokeswoman for Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the majority leader from Southern Maryland.
Senate committees are expected to begin working on a similar bill today.
O'Malley, a Democrat, said recent discussions with Maryland congressmen have produced a firmer estimate of how much the state could reap from a stimulus package.
Last week, O'Malley presented the General Assembly with a spending plan that assumed only $350 million in anticipated federal funds, and which included cuts to local schools, community colleges and layoffs of hundreds of state workers to close a projected $2 billion revenue gap.
Additionally, O'Malley had planned to bring about $54 million in cuts before the Board of Public Works tomorrow, said spokesman Rick Abbruzzese. The Baltimore Sun reported this month that the governor's budget secretary had proposed $66 million in cuts to local jurisdictions, including reductions in state aid to public schools, community colleges, health departments and local police.
But with Congress and the White House accelerating work on an extensive emergency spending bill, the O'Malley administration has put those plans on hold.
The governor said conversations yesterday with Hoyer and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski have given him confidence that roughly $2.5 billion in operating assistance over two years and $1 billion more in infrastructure spending are possible.
"Governor O'Malley and I have been talking about the economic recovery package almost every day," said Mikulski, a Democrat who sits on the Appropriations Committee. "We've been BlackBerrying, we've been strategizing. ... The economic recovery package is on the move in the Senate. We are committed to working with our colleagues in the House to have it ready for the president to sign by Presidents Day weekend."
