Cut Costs

So you want to see big cuts in government, and you know how to do it. Finally, you can tell someone. Gov. William Donald Schaefer has set up a "hot line" for citizens who have ideas on making government more efficient. Given the depths of the state's deficit, our leaders are serious about finding better ways to run government more cheaply.The hot line isn't a big-budget item. That's because the Telephone Pioneers of America are staffing the phones with volunteers. They, too, are eager to make government more efficient, and less costly.

This week marks the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. For Marylanders, that means a health care system that is stronger than it was three years ago, and a future that looks even brighter. Marylanders who have health insurance now have more security, thanks to new insurance market reforms and consumer protections put into place by the law. Preventive services like mammograms and flu shots are newly available for free to 1.5 million people with private insurance plans. About 48,950 Maryland Medicare beneficiaries with the highest prescription drug costs have saved an average of $768 on their medications.

Retailer Filene's Basement is trying to renegotiate leases and maintenance fees with the landlords of its Towson and Hunt Valley stores as it tries to cut costs amid a weak retail environment. The retailer has been discounting everything in stock at the two stores and not taking returns on new purchases, sometimes a sign that a shop is preparing to close. But President Mark Shulman said that Woburn, Mass.-based Filene's, which moved to the Baltimore area in 2004 and has four stores in the region, is not at the point of closing.

Florence P. Haseltine knows the power of scientists meeting face to face. The former researcher at the National Institutes of Health notes a list of milestones achieved through networking and collaboration at conferences, such as the deliberations that led to advances that helped slow the spread of HIV. Now Haseltine, former director of the Center for Population Research of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Rockville, worries...

The Sun recently asked metropolitan government leaders to write about their goals for 1998. Here are the plans of Carroll County's commissioners: CARROLL'S greatest challenge is to build on our growth management efforts, so that our rural county can grow with grace.Greater funding for agricultural land preservation is a must if Carroll is to keep its farms. We must maintain our efforts to place 100,000 acres under permanent easements.We must continue our aggressive effort to attract and gain other clean industry that pays a living wage and gives our skilled work force greater opportunities closer to their homes.

DALLAS -- Kitty Hawk Inc., the world's largest air-only freight carrier, said yesterday that it will sell and lease its fleet of seven jTC Convair turboprop airplanes in an effort to cut costs.Kitty Hawk plans to lease five aircraft to an unidentified company, with an option to buy, for about $3 million. It will sell two planes for about $1.5 million in cash.High costs at its passenger-service unit led the Dallas-based company to begin a cost-cutting program, and it may abandon passenger flights.

Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. is expected to present a budget Monday that calls for pay raises for all county employees and maintains government services without raising taxes. The proposed spending plan for the fiscal year that begins in July is also expected to include contentious changes to employees' retirement benefits that are designed to cut costs. While not discussing specifics, Smith said yesterday that he hoped to present to the County Council "a well-balanced budget, meeting the community's needs and maintaining fiscal responsibility."

Trying to get grip on a growing deficit, Maryland Port Administration Director Adrian Teel today announced plans to eliminate 72 port jobs and said he has reorganized his staff.As many as 46 people could be terminated, he said at a press conference.Teel has asked his managers to review their staffing levels and make recommendations by Sept. 20 on which positions to cut. Teel said he is seeking a 15 percent work-force reduction at all levels.Currently, the MPA has 467 budgeted positions but 36 of these are vacant.

Tough economic times are forcing so many colleges and universities across the country to cut costs and adjust their ambitions that the shape of higher education may be significantly changed as the 21st century dawns.In these days of uncertainty, Yale University is planning major cuts to close a projected gap in next year's budget; Columbia University is laying out a strategy to meet deficits that could reach $87 million in 1993, and Stanford University has imposed cuts of up to 13 percent on administration and academic expenses to trim its budget $43 million over the next two years.

Legg Mason Inc. said yesterday that it has laid off 84 employees, or 1.6 percent of its work force, to cut costs because of the slumping stock market and weak economy. The employees let go included administrative staff and investment bankers. The workers were notified yesterday beginning at about 8:30 a.m. that they would no longer have jobs, said Timothy Scheve, chief administrative officer of the Baltimore-based asset-management and brokerage firm. "Reducing staff levels was a very difficult decision and one that we have not taken lightly," Scheve said.

I know we all try not to think about it, but ... your wedding is likely one of the most expensive days of your life. Everyone has their own tips and tricks for saving money on the big day, so here's my two-cents on keeping a little extra in your pocket -- and how much I've saved so far using these strategies. The cake Tell your baker you would like to do two tiers on display with a sheet cake (or two depending on the size of your wedding) in the kitchen. This allows you to have a beautifully decorated cake on display for your guests but can save you significantly because the baker doesn't have to decorate as much.

Maryland stands to miss $5.4 billion in federal research funding under automatic budget cuts slated to begin in 2013, according to a study. Businesses and institutions in the state would receive $2.5 billion less in health-related spending and $2.1 billion less in defense spending from 2013 through 2017, according to estimates of research advocacy group Advancing Science, Serving Society. Other federal programs also would not receive expected funding. Overall, the state would receive 8.1 percent fewer federal research dollars each year than it would have without the cuts, according to a report the group released Thursday.

Could pollution "trading" really shave billions of dollars from the costs of restoring the Chesapeake Bay?  Or would the long-running cleanup effort suffer at the hands of those looking to make a buck on it? A study presented Thursday to the Chesapeake Bay Commission suggests there could indeed be significant cost savings from letting polluters pay others to make less expensive reductions in bay-fouling nutrient pollution elsewhere.  RTI International, an economic consulting firm from Research Triangle Park NC, found that savings could range from 20 to 80 percent, depending on how trading is structured.

Most Americans are just an email, Tweet or Facebook update away from reaching someone else - or the entire world. And the trend is accelerating, as the number of email accounts alone is expected to grow by almost a billion worldwide from last year to 2014. Now, the U.S. Postal Service has practically conceded that it's being left in the digital dust. The Postal Service proposed Monday changing its first-class delivery standard so mail will arrive two to three days after it is shipped, rather than as early as overnight.

Baltimore officials have identified a $52 million budget shortfall next year, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration is eyeing pension costs and other benefits after years of significant cutbacks to city programs and worker salaries to close previous budget gaps. But city workers could find some good news in the coming budget year. When drafting spending projections, officials included a 2 percent raise for all city employees as well as the elimination of unpaid furlough days, a savings measure that has been in effect for three consecutive years as the city struggled to balance its budget.

Solar panels under construction at a long-capped landfill in Howard County will soon be used to offset energy costs at a nearby elementary school. The county began installation of the solar arrays this week at the former New Cut Landfill, an 83-acre tract in Ellicott City that shut down operations more than 30 years ago. Officials expect the $462,000 project will be completed in about eight weeks and the panels will begin drawing energy from the...

WESTWOOD, Kan. - Sprint Corp. may eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its work force, to help reduce costs after profit fell at the No. 3 U.S. long-distance telephone company, some analysts and investors said yesterday. The company's second-quarter earnings fell 35 percent on a record sales decline of 3 percent. Sprint and the two biggest long-distance operators, AT&T Corp. and WorldCom Inc., have been hurt by lower calling prices and the loss of customers to new competitors, analysts said.

REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software company, will cut vacation time for new employees and charge U.S. workers a $40 co-payment for brand-name prescription drugs as part of plans to cut costs as sales growth declines. Microsoft also will reduce the discount for employee stock purchases to 10 percent from 15 percent starting in July, spokeswoman Tami Begasse said. Using generic drugs can save Microsoft as much as 80 percent in prescription costs compared with brand-name drugs, she said.

Baltimore County will move many of its operations online, a change intended to make it easier for residents to navigate the maze of county agencies. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz announced plans Tuesday to improve technological offerings across agencies over the next 6 to 18 months by implementing 23 initiatives, such as establishing an online "one-stop shop" for questions and requests from residents, simplifying the online application for the Comprehensive Zoning Map Process, and giving police officers a computerized ticket system.

Maryland will soon join a growing list of states in crafting a new way to deliver health care — one that pays doctors extra to both improve quality and cut costs. The pilot program, which involves 200 doctors and 200,000 patients, will test whether "patient-centered medical homes" can bolster primary care, particularly among the chronically ill, and avoid expensive treatments and emergencies. Participating doctors will focus on prevention by developing disease-management plans and more closely tracking prescriptions and trips to specialists.