At least from the GOP side of things. Don’t worry, I have my take too.
But let’s start with the Republicans in the House of Delegates and their opinion:
The Maryland House Republican Caucus today responded to Governor Martin O’Malley’s Fiscal Year 2011 spending plan by characterizing it as a template for Governor O’Malley’s mismanagement of the state of Maryland. The spending plan includes increases in state spending, the cleaning out of the state’s paltry special fund balances, place markers for more federal bailout money and leaves a $1.5 billion deficit for next year, which grows to more than $2 billion the year after. It also increases the governor’s staff budget, provides more environmental giveaways and continues the ongoing bloat at the University System of Maryland. The House Minority Caucus released the following statement:
“This spending plan by Governor Martin O’Malley shows his abject refusal to get Maryland on a fiscally responsible path,” House Minority Leader Tony O’Donnell said. “It leaves us with a $400 million hole this year, $1.5 billion next year and at least another $2 billion hole the year after that. He says he’s reducing spending but that’s not the reality. The fact is that he is spending more Maryland tax dollars this year while hoping for another bailout from Congress and the White House. Maryland has no more road for Martin to kick the fiscal can down. We are broke because of this governor and his allies in the General Assembly.”
Minority Whip Chris Shank added, “Our special funds are bankrupted. Our transportation funds are long gone. The remaining businesses Maryland has are set to go broke because of the policies of this administration and the majority in the General Assembly. Honest talk from this governor would require him to tell Maryland’s taxpayers that he’s going to raise their taxes again next year. That’s not likely to happen.”
O’Donnell concluded, “Enough is enough! It is time that this governor and the majority in the General Assembly start listening to the citizens of Maryland and get our fiscal house in order. Stop the election year buyoffs and start managing the people’s money for a better future today.”
And now for the Senate view:
Overshadowed by the deplorable state of the state budget released yesterday was the admission before the Senate Finance Committee by officials of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation that Maryland needs to borrow over $300 million from the federal government to replenish the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
State officials said that the claim volume is unprecedented because of the elevated levels of joblessness throughout the state since 2007 (the year Governor O’Malley took office).
“At this stage, the trust fund is bankrupt,” said Minority Leader Allan Kittleman (R-Howard, Carroll). “Moreover, Governor O’Malley’s legislative proposals would make things worse – we must not permanently expand program costs under a federal mandate that only provides short-term revenues. Obviously, that fix is not financially sustainable.”
Business groups join Republican legislators in opposition to O’Malley’s legislation.
So you have perspectives from the opposition in both houses of our General Assembly.
While the state portion of the budget is smaller than last year’s, spending as a whole only decreases slightly to $31.9 billion. All that means is that the federal share of the overall budget continues to increase to where federal dollars now contribute roughly $3 out of every $5 Maryland spends. To me, this is an untenable position, particularly if a future Congress and President ever grow a collective pair and restore the federal government to its proper role. Maybe that’s not in the cards anytime soon, but otherwise there’s little reason for state government and the Tenth Amendment may as well be stricken from the Constitution.
Meanwhile, there’s also the prospect of borrowing from almost every fund available except the “rainy day” fund, which Governor O’Malley claims needs protection to maintain Maryland’s bond rating. If there were ever a rainy day though, I would think it’s now.
And then we have the irony of borrowing $300 million to replenish the unemployment fund at a time when Maryland is one of eight states still losing jobs. When you run a state which has been ranked 45th in business friendliness, perhaps it’s time to reconsider what plummeted a state which formerly was in the middling ranks of that category to its depths.
Recently I wrote an op-ed on how businesses who have struggled maintaining employment have also seen local and state governments using the “clawback” provisions in their contracts to regain the taxes they abated to encourage employers to locate there. All that does is make it even more difficult for businesses to recover and my argument was that government shouldn’t be as harsh on employers who have only recently run afoul of the guidelines as on those who never lived up to their promises. Maryland is a state which seems determined to squeeze every dime out of their private employment base and make it all but impossible to make a profit in the Free State.
If O’Malley wins in November and Democrats keep their stranglehold on the General Assembly, I predict 2011 will be a repeat of 2007 – but without the contentious Special Session. He and his allies probably won’t wait to start twisting the vise on Maryland taxpayers and businesses some more, as happened in the 2007 Special Session. Last time we endured a tax increase on cigarettes, adding 1% to the sales tax, and an ill-fated “tech tax” increase which eventually morphed into an income tax surcharge on the few wealthy Marylanders left. Perhaps next time it will be a gasoline tax, utility tax, increasing license fees, or a myriad of other ways to attempt to make up an increasing shortfall. (Obviously video slots aren’t doing the job.)
When us regular folk have to make tough decisions we place all options on the table, but it’s apparent that Democrats don’t place everything on the table when considering budget cuts. Perhaps it was too ambitious to attempt to cover uninsured Marylanders or maintain a tuition freeze when their costs are going up. But everything needs to become an option, even those items Democrats hold their nose at like reducing the size of government.
