Budget Analysts

Budget analysts for the General Assembly are urging legislators to divert almost $60 million a year that had been intended for the state's Transportation Trust Fund to general use starting in 2013 - a move opposed by the state Department of Transportation. The Department of Legislative Services said the move would "relieve funding pressure on the general fund." The recommendation came at a budget briefing held Wednesday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, where lawmakers questioned state Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley on her department's plans and priorities at a time of slumping transportation revenue.

Carl Nathan Greene, a retired FBI budget analyst, died after he lapsed into a coma Nov. 21 at Good Samaritan Hospital while being treated for respiratory, heart and kidney failure. The Severn resident was 49. Born in Baltimore and raised in Waverly, he attended Abbottston Elementary School and was a 1979 Lake Clifton High School graduate. Family members said that while he was a student, he worked part time for the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn. As a young high school graduate, he was hired as a clerk in the FBI's finance division in Washington.

Legislative budget analysts, testifying in hearings in Annapolis yesterday, recommended delaying a program that would provide scholarships for college students planning to become teachers, and holding off on committing more money to the state's prepaid tuition plan until it proves viable.In the first airing of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's higher education initiative before the Health, Education and Human Resources Subcommittee of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, analysts for the Department of Legislative Services called for trimming $6.4 million from the Maryland Higher Education Commission's $102 million budget.

Budget analysts for the General Assembly are urging legislators to divert almost $60 million a year that had been intended for the state's Transportation Trust Fund to general use starting in 2013 - a move opposed by the state Department of Transportation. The Department of Legislative Services said the move would "relieve funding pressure on the general fund." The recommendation came at a budget briefing held Wednesday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, where lawmakers questioned state Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley on her department's plans and priorities at a time of slumping transportation revenue.

The booming national economy and a rebounding local real estate market are expected to significantly increase Baltimore's tax collections and present an uncharacteristically rosy financial picture for the city this year, the chief budget analyst said yesterday.But some of the predicted $20 million surplus in revenue is being offset by overspending in several city departments.The Finance Department has ordered the Public Works, Recreation and Parks and Police departments to draft plans to curtail their spending.

A state property tax cut pushed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and approved by the Board of Public Works has delayed $16 million in school construction projects across the state, legislative budget analysts said yesterday. The projects include $1.8 million for Baltimore, about $2 million for Carroll County and $8.4 million for a new high school in rural Allegany County. An agency that gives final approval for construction was supposed to sign off on the spending this week. But because some state officials say the money needs to be used to support the tax cut, the agency delayed its decision.

In their grimmest assessment to date, legislative policy analysts warned yesterday that Maryland faces a potential budget shortfall of as much as $1.7 billion by the end of next year. The budget woes are due to higher-than-expected costs for Medicaid and other programs, at the same time that state revenues are plummeting in a weakening economy, analysts said. The bad news was delivered in a report to the Joint Spending Affordability Committee, a panel of legislators and business leaders that advises the governor and General Assembly on spending limits.

Maryland's growing welfare caseload has added another $10 million to the state's projected budget deficit for the current fiscal year, boosting the deficit to an estimated $433 million.The latest red ink appears on the books of the Department of Human Resources, which processes most of the state's welfare cases. The state is required by law to pay welfare benefits.Maryland's welfare caseload continues to climb, said Dennis H. Parkinson, a state budget official, and the latest jump has boosted the department's deficit to $80 million.

Here's some really bad planning - straight from the state Planning Department. The agency wants to move from the Baltimore State Office Complex on Preston Street to Prince George's County - home to agency Secretary Audrey E. Scott, a former Bowie mayor and County Council member. Ms. Scott says the move is needed because of a lack of office space at Preston Street for the Maryland Historical Trust, which is joining the department. She also says such Cabinet agencies could be better distributed around the state and not so concentrated in Baltimore.

GOV. ROBERT L. Ehrlich Jr., a law-and-order Republican, has made drug treatment efforts a top priority of his administration. He has focused on putting nonviolent, drug-addicted offenders into treatment instead of jail, and offering treatment to prisoners before they return to the streets. But a key aspect of the administration's initiatives now before the Maryland General Assembly is in danger of being derailed by cost-cutting, shortsighted legislative budget analysts. Targeted for cuts is the administration's plan to enhance drug treatment and education programs for Maryland prisoners - a welcome reform of the prison system.

Maryland lawmakers should consider a Plan B in case the roughly $389 million in federal stimulus funds Gov. Martin O'Malley is counting on to balance the state's budget doesn't materialize, the General Assembly's top budget analyst said Monday. "Some have questioned whether that money is reliably in the bank," Warren G. Deschenaux said at a hearing. "I would say that is not a certainty. The question then is: What to do about it?" Deschenaux also warned that the roughly $350 million in borrowing from a little-known state-income tax account that O'Malley used to help close the revenue hole "amounts to an erosion of accounting standards."

Maryland lawmakers should consider a Plan B in case the roughly $389 million in federal stimulus funds Gov. Martin O'Malley is counting on to balance the state's budget doesn't materialize, the General Assembly's top budget analyst said Monday. "Some have questioned whether that money is reliably in the bank," Warren G. Deschenaux said at a hearing. "I would say that is not a certainty. The question then is: What to do about it?" Deschenaux also warned that the roughly $350 million in borrowing from a little-known state-income tax account that O'Malley used to help close the revenue hole "amounts to an erosion of accounting standards."

Maryland lawmakers should consider a Plan B in case the roughly $389 million in federal stimulus funds Gov. Martin O'Malley is counting on to balance the state's budget doesn't materialize, the General Assembly's top budget analyst said Monday. "Some have questioned whether that money is reliably in the bank," Warren G. Deschenaux said at a hearing. "I would say that is not a certainty. The question then is: What to do about it?" Deschenaux also warned that the roughly $442 million in cash infusions from previously untouchable parts of the budget that O'Malley uses to help close the revenue hole "amounts to an erosion of accounting standards."

Gov. Martin O'Malley said Friday he plans to propose as much as $700 million in budget cuts for the fiscal year that began just 10 days ago, as income tax receipts are projected to be lower than expected. At an appearance in Baltimore, O'Malley said his Cabinet and senior advisers have been working on a list of budget cuts that he hopes to present July 22 to the Board of Public Works for approval. His remarks about cutbacks in a $14 billion budget came after the state legislature's chief budget analyst warned of a widening shortfall.

John Moncure Robinson "Monte" Mordecai, a budget analyst for Baltimore County public schools and Vietnam War veteran, died of esophageal cancer Thursday at his Pikesville home. He was 63. Mr. Mordecai was born and raised on Penhurst Avenue in Northwest Baltimore. He was a 1962 graduate of Friends School and earned a degree in graphic design from Michigan State University in 1967. Mr. Mordecai served in naval intelligence as a lieutenant from 1967 to 1971 - including a tour of duty in Vietnam - for which he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat.

Kenneth William Keeney, a retired federal budget analyst and World War II veteran, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Friday at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie. The Severna Park resident was 92. Born in Baltimore and raised in Lansdowne, he attended Glen Burnie High School and left school during the Depression to work with his father, who was blind and owned a grocery store known as Keeney's Corner near Hollins Ferry and Nursery roads. Mr. Keeney later received a General Education Development diploma and also studied accounting at American University.

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland, you were beautiful.A House Appropriations subcommittee decided yesterday that the Maryland, You Are Beautiful program, which honors volunteers throughout the state, is worthy, but not worth $124,948 in general funds.The money pays for three permanent positions and one contractual employee. The delegates voted 4-3 to cut taxpayer funding next year but said the campaign can continue with special funds, private sector money or volunteers."These are tough times," said Del. Martha S. Klima, a Baltimore County Republican.

Chronic overspending by Sheriff Robert Pepersack is inexcusable and a sign of "empire building," angry county officials said yesterday.After exceeding his budget last year, the sheriff is again running in the red, by more than $100,000. As a result, County Executive Robert R. Neall has proposed state legislation this week that would require Pepersack to live within the county's budget."There is a history of difficulties with the sheriff not living within the means of his budget," said Neall spokeswoman Louise Hayman.