Even a $3.7 billion federal lifesaver isn't enough to solve all of Maryland's budget quandaries.
While the state is now flush with federal dollars for education, Medicaid and infrastructure projects, other state functions, among them the prison system, mental health programs and juvenile justice, are facing significant cutbacks. In some cases, lawmakers and advocates have questioned how agencies will be able to function within constrained budgets.
Meanwhile, the economy continues to deteriorate and state officials are bracing for more bad news later this month when the latest estimates of tax revenues are due. Analysts have warned that annual collections have fallen as much as $500 million below expectations for the current budget year and next.
"Everyone thinks the stimulus money is going to solve every problem in the world," said state Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster, "and I'm trying to manage expectations."
Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to submit a supplemental budget to the General Assembly this week, incorporating money from the federal economic stimulus package enacted last month, as a number of pressures come to bear in Annapolis.
Several state agencies have submitted requests for additional funding, competing for a share of $50 million, a relatively small pot of money that has not been dedicated to other programs as part of the stimulus. Hundreds of state employees plan to gather outside the State House tonight to protest budget cuts that stretch their workloads and strain services.
States across the country are faced with budget shortfalls as demand for social services has increased. O'Malley, a Democrat, had to grapple with a $2 billion shortfall in the state's $14 billion operating budget when he crafted his original spending plan earlier this year, and the General Assembly will put its mark on an amended budget in the coming weeks.
One agency whose budget is likely to receive a lot of attention is the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which would receive a slight increase under O'Malley's budget but remains "badly underfunded," said Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Prince George's County Democrat and chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee. The agency would need an added $77 million to operate at full staffing, according to one analysis.
"I am concerned about control in the prisons," said Del. Galen R. Clagett, a Frederick County Democrat who chairs a House panel that oversees spending in the department. "It's scary."
