O'Malley Proposes Spending Cuts, Bond Sales to Close Budget Gap

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O'Malley Proposes Spending Cuts, Bond Sales to Close Budget Gap


Jan. 21, 2010


by Brady Holt

Capital News Service

ANNAPOLIS – Gov. Martin O'Malley said Tuesday that the state should continue furloughs, lay off several dozen employees, raise college tuition, and transfer nearly a billion dollars from sources that include its capital fund in order to close a projected $2 billion budget shortfall.

O'Malley described his proposed fiscal year 2011 budget, which also includes a variety of other spending cuts, as a continuation of the "fiscal responsibility" he said has defined his administration.

"If you're not fiscally re-sponsible, everything comes collapsing down like a house of cards," O'Malley said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

The state government has shrunk under his administration, O'Malley said, with $5.6 billion in total spending reductions over his term and the elimination of 3,500 positions – 202 this year alone – "in a state that's already pretty lean."

O'Malley proposes slashing $375 million from funding for state agencies and $330 million from assistance to local governments.

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