Wednesday, January 21, 2009
BRFA Slows State Spending Mandates
Governor O’Malley this morning introduced his spending plan for Fiscal Year 2010 designed to close the nearly $2 billion gap between projected spending and anticipated revenues. A major part of the budget plan would be implemented by SB 166/HB 101, the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2009 (BRFA). This bill is necessary to suspend formulas and spending mandates that comprise two-thirds of the state budget.
Although bill text is not yet available, the sections of law to be amended by the BRFA show that the following programs will get less than currently prescribed by law:
- Soil conservation districts
- Drinking driver monitors
- State reimbursements to counties for inmates
- Tourism
- MD Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation
- Education aid to counties
- Community college aid
- Private college aid
- Library aid
- Tobacco cessation
- State health center research grants
- Senior prescription drug assistance
- Health insurance for the medically uninsurable
- Program Open Space
- Waterway Improvement Fund
- Electric universal service program
- MD State Arts Council
- MD Strategic Energy Investment Fund
- Lottery agents’ commissions
- State employees’ and retirees’ health benefits funds
- Local income tax revenues
- Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund
- MD mined coal credit
- Local property assessment offices in each county
- Funding of the ICC
We will post more information about the budget soon.
