Budget

The beautiful pictures of historic buildings attracted me to reading "Closing the door on history" (Feb. 9), about how many of those structures are woefully short on maintenance due to budget cuts. To support the idea that the cost of such maintenance is over budget, the article focused on renovation of the Perry Point grist mill as a training site and as a small museum. But "to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the agency would have to install an elevator.

Traditionally, the bride's parents are the hosts of the ceremony. They send out the invitations, pay for the reception and coordinate a long day of celebration. The groom's family takes care of the bride's ring, the marriage license and their honeymoon.  That sounds all fine, well, and good. But, neither Enrique's nor my parents work, and we've yet to find that elusive bride. Planning duties fall on us and we have to do everything within our already busy schedule.  Enrique works in northern Virginia and has weekend duties at a gym. I work in Baltimore and attend classes four nights a week.

During the last election County Executive Kevin Kamenetz spoke about how Baltimore County was fiscally under control. Now, they have a $38.5 million shortfall ("Kamenetz seeks to raise Baltimore County Business license fees," Feb. 26), so he wants to increase business licenses fees to create $1.2 million annually. I guess he doesn't see what is happening in Wisconsin. If he would cut his budget, he would not need the extra monies. He could start by reducing the pension and benefits the County Council enjoys.

Elisa Lane is not much bigger than the pigtails she wears when she gardens at the Whitelock Community Farm in Reservoir Hill. But she has a big impact. She sells the fresh vegetables from the empty corner lot that she just kind of took over at below-market prices to residents of the neighborhood. When her farm stand isn't open, residents can buy from the corner market that she supplies. And she has enough to sell to restaurants like Woodberry Kitchen and at the Waverly Farmers Market to help subsidize her cut-rate prices for the garden's neighbors.

Members of Congress must all have personal finance managers to manage their family budgets because otherwise Congress would be the largest single group of people filing for bankruptcy protection. Why would any of us try to solve our family financial problems by cutting our spending to the bone, while at the same time trying to find ways to reduce our income? Yet this is exactly how Congress is attempting to solve our national budget problem. The House of Representative is focusing solely on finding ways to cut spending and reduce taxes while ignoring the glaring need to also find ways of increasing income.

Editor: As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have been very busy working on the state budget for the last six weeks. The Minority party members of Appropriations crafted a budget plan that relies on level funding the budget based on last year's spending. This is a reasonable and level headed plan that balances the budget without raising taxes or shifting expenses to the counties. Our plan would cut over $1 billion in increased spending...

I was surprised and pleased to see David Fahrenthold's article on the federal "cuts in spending" approved in 2011 ("'Smoke & mirrors,'" Feb. 24). I wished he would have pointed out the added smoke and mirrors that persists from this president. President Barack Obama repeatedly went in front of the television cameras touting the $2.5 trillion in cuts with the fiscal cliff agreement. Looking at that number in detail, the truth is that there wasn't a dime of cuts to the federal budget.

Maryland's General Assembly failed to pass a balanced budget, according to a memo obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Enacting a balanced budget is the legislature's primary constitutional requirement. "The [fiscal year] 2013 budget is nearly $70 million out of balance," wrote Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster in a memo to all of Gov. Martin O'Malley's Cabinet secretaries. She recommended that the governor not sign any legislation that reduces revenues "until the imbalance is addressed.

Gov. Martin O'Malley released a $37 billion spending plan Wednesday that for the first time in recent years contains no drastic cuts or proposed tax increases. Amid a stronger economy, O'Malley also proposed to boost the pay for state workers, expand tax credits for some high-tech industries and set aside more money to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. "These have been challenging years to say the least," O'Malley said. Since the onset of the recession, the state has raised income taxes for the wealthy, increased taxes on alcohol and cigars, expanded gambling, shrunk the state workforce and cut projected spending, among other moves, to close a structural budget gap that once stood at nearly $2 billion.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller should promptly step down following his outrageous, irresponsible, unprofessional, petulant, self-centered performance during the final days and hours of the just-completed 90-day session of the General Assembly ("Debacle in Annapolis," April 11). He purposely sabotaged the budget compromise for his personal campaign to expand gambling to a sixth site in Maryland. Senator Miller's arrogance and egotism are breathtaking. Mr. Miller then has the audacity to suggest yet another, special session of the General Assembly at an additional cost of $21,000 to $100,000 per day to the already-overburdened Maryland taxpayers.

The Baltimore school board unanimously passed a $1.2 billion budget Monday that essentially remained intact since it was presented. The last budget of outgoing schools CEO Andrés Alonso includes cuts to per-pupil funding and high schools but retains spending power for principals and adds academic programs. The $793 million that would go to schools represents a 36 percent increase since 2008, when Alonso implemented the "Fair Student Funding" structure — which funds schools based on enrollment and gives principals autonomy over their budgets and hiring.

The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training's Baltimore complex is full of neatly made beds and shining-clean floors, a military-like environment for homeless former service members working to get their lives back on track. Its executive director, a retired Navy lieutenant, would love to expand the nonprofit so he can take in families — children as well as their veteran parent. But as David T. Clements works to pin down new funding for that effort, he's worried about the money he's already got. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently warned the center to expect a cut in grant funding of more than 3.5 percent, which Clements said would hit late next year.

St. Mary's College of Maryland has only locked in about two-thirds of the students it needs for a full freshman class next school year, a shortfall that could cost the public liberal arts school $3.5 million in lost tuition. Though the school's admissions department is trying to fill about 150 vacant spots, the president warned faculty and staff to prepare for budget cuts. "All of the numbers on this campus are small numbers, so this has a large impact," said President Joseph R. Urgo, who since becoming president in 2010 has revamped the school's admissions department.

Hiring for federal jobs in Maryland has fallen 30 percent since 2008, and for the first time in years is being outpaced by the number of employees retiring or resigning - a trend that has raised concerns among some about the government's ability to deliver services in the future. The rapid reduction in hiring at Maryland-based federal agencies, a consequence of tighter budgets, mirrors a national trend that analysts say is all but guaranteed to become more pronounced this year as agencies trim spending further under the across-the-board government cuts known as sequestration.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman is scheduled to unveil her first-ever county budget on Wednesday in Annapolis. Neuman took over as county executive in February after the resignation of former executive John R. Leopold, following his conviction on misconduct in office charges. On Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Arundel Center, Neuman is scheduled to deliver a message outlining her proposed budget plan. Then, at 1 p.m., the County Council is slated to hold the first of several budget review sessions. The public is invited to attend the budget review session, but public testimony will not be part of that meeting.  The county will host public hearings on the budget on May 8, 7 to 10 p.m., at the Chesapeake Arts.

The Sun's editorial board just does not get it ("Neuman's reckless veto," April 30). Maryland has been taxed to the hilt in the last seven years. There is nothing left to give. There have been 37 tax and fee increases. That is a failure of leadership here in Maryland. Constantly crowing about making budget cuts that never occurred is a failure of leadership. Perhaps, The Sun should stop pushing its progressive agenda and start being objective when it comes to the tax-and-spend ways of Annapolis.

In my opinion, The Sun does not serve the public well by failing to question the preposterous "doomsday" threats oft repeated by Democrats and Whiner-in-Chief, Gov.Martin O'Malley. John Q. Public is constantly threatened with drastic cuts to the few truly essential services of government whenever the pols can't force us to open our wallets as wide as they would like. Why is it that the state budget for 2013 is $500 million larger than the budget we are surviving on this year? Did we not have enough money to pay for firefighters, teachers and police?

Negotiations to reach a final deal on the Maryland state budget were put off Saturday morning, raising new questions about whether the General Assembly can complete its work by the time it is scheduled to end its 90-day session Monday night. The cancellation of the planned 8:30 a.m. meeting of the budget conference committees fell through just hours after a House subcommittee unveiled a plan to radically rewrite the Senate's bill to expand casino gambling in Maryland -- a move that would likely doom the legislation.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman embraced a message of change in proposing her first county budget Wednesday, describing the $1.3 billion operating budget as an effort to reverse a government that had fallen "way behind in culture, attitude and investment. " Neuman, who was appointed executive by the County Council in February to replace John R. Leopold after he was convicted in January of misconduct in office, told the packed council chamber, "We will not be defined by a past of scandal and mediocrity.

Baltimore City school officials say the nearly $1.2 billion budget the system unveiled last week will fund a raft of new academic endeavors, among them a new team to upgrade instruction in the sciences to meet the higher standards of the new national "core" curriculum and additional programs for academically gifted students. This is all to the good if it helps the city attract and retain more young families with children for whom strong public schools are often the most important factor in choosing where to live.