Maryland is not the only state struggling with its budget this year, one of the most difficult in history for state governments that have been contending with a collective shortfall of more than $160 billion - and counting.
The red ink is spilling across the country. California is laying off thousands of teachers. Pennsylvania hasn't been able to pay state employees because of a budget impasse. Delaware raised taxes on income, tobacco and businesses.
Unlike the federal government, nearly all states must balance their budgets - and they have been slashing spending, increasing taxes and raiding reserves to address deficits for the fiscal year that began July 1. A handful of states still haven't agreed on a spending plan; others, including Maryland, face new shortfalls that opened after budgets were set.
The size of Maryland's shortfall relative to its overall budget puts it in the middle of the national pack, according to a recent report by the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The shortfall - a $1.9 billion gap closed during the General Assembly session this winter plus an unexpected shortfall of $700 million - amounts to 19 percent of the total budget. That's less than half California's combined shortfall of 49 percent but larger than gaps in a number of states, such as West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, according to the center.
"Maryland's economy held up longer than a lot of the other major state economies," said Mahlon Straszheim, an economics professor at the University of Maryland and adviser to previous Democratic administrations in Annapolis. "But in the last year, Maryland's economy has lost jobs at pretty much the same rate as other states."
The waning economy caused state tax collections to drop 12 percent in during the first three months of this year compared with a year ago, the sharpest decline since at least the 1960s, according to the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. And the decline worsened to 20 percent in more recent months, preliminary figures show.
Most state tax revenue sources are closely tied to the economy, rapidly rising in boom years and caving in recessions. States that have been hit particularly hard, including California, Arizona and Nevada, felt the brunt of the housing market decline - revenues from taxes levied on appliance sales to income taxes paid by bricklayers and mortgage brokers plummeted.
